Shamus had done a lot for him, for his sister, but the man could be a real tool. He’d either take the cost of the lost case out of Liam’s hide or make him work off the debt for months — or both. Earning three hundred was one thing, but owing thousands or more for a lost computer part, or whatever was in that bloody attaché, scared Liam shitless.
No matter what, he had to find that case and deliver it to Taj.
He leaned over the edge, gazing into the tunnel, listening for the sound of an approaching train. Liam heard nothing, so he sat down, his legs dangling over the edge of the platform. Then he lowered himself to the tracks, careful to avoid the electrified third rail.
Oil and layers of filth covered everything at track level. Rats scurried around him, one ran over his foot. Liam yelped and shuddered. Then he exhaled and began to search the area, keeping one ear cocked for an approaching train.
His sneaker caught on a switching circuit and he stumbled and fell. His hand came within an inch of touching the electrified third rail. Liam carefully pulled his hand back. As he began to rise, he spied a bit of shiny silver metal — the attaché case. It had ended up under a cluster of signal lights, hidden from view above.
Liam moved quickly to the case, picked it up, and examined it in the station’s dim light. Except for a few scratches and dents, it appeared to be fine. He was tempted to open the case, check the contents for damage — but Shamus had commanded him not to open it under any circumstances. Figuring there might be some sort of alarm or something, he decided to leave the case shut.
With a rush of relief, Liam stepped to the edge of the still-deserted platform. Boosting himself up wouldn’t be easy. And there was no way he could do it while holding the case. Reluctantly, he swung the case over his head, heard the attaché land with a hollow clatter. Then Liam jumped and grabbed for the platform’s edge. His fingers slipped almost immediately and he dropped back to the tracks.
Liam spit into his palms and rubbed his hands together. Under his scuffed tackies, the ground began to rumble. This time he put all his strength into the leap. He caught the platform’s cold concrete edge with a firm grip and hung on tight. Legs kicking, he pulled himself up until one elbow rested on the platform. A few feet in front of his face, the attaché case lay on its side. Under him, Liam could feel the platform vibrate, hear the roar of the approaching train.
He kicked his legs again, rose a few inches — and then stopped. Something sharp had caught the pocket of his Levi’s. No matter how he squirmed, he could not free himself. Lights appeared at the end of the tunnel, reflected off the dirty beige tiles.
At the opposite end of the tunnel, a Number 2 train roared into view.
10. THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 6 A.M. AND 7 A.M. EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME
The motorman sounded the train’s horn, activated the emergency brake. A shrieking squeal filled the subway station, but the train was too fast and too heavy to stop on a dime. Its continuous forward motion bore down on the terrified boy dangling off the platform.
Liam kicked wildly but couldn’t free himself from whatever had snagged his clothing. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee…” In seconds the train would cut him in half. Liam closed his eyes. “Jesus, God, help me.”
Strong brown hands gripped his forearms.
“Come on!” a deep voice boomed over the roar of the approaching train.
Liam felt someone pulling him upward. There was a tearing sound and he was suddenly freed. The man who’d tugged on his arms stumbled backward, dragging Liam onto the platform and out of the path of the steel monster a split second before it crushed him.
Trembling, Liam lay on the platform, hugging the concrete. From what seemed like very far away, he heard the train stop, then a voice over the chugging noise of the idling motor.
“You okay, son?”
In mild shock, Liam lifted his head, stared blankly at the black man speaking. The Transit Authority policeman took Liam by the shoulders and lifted him to his feet. The officer’s brown eyes were wide with concern. Sweat stained his bronze-colored, pockmarked cheeks.
“I’m okay.” Liam’s voice was strained, even to his own ears.
“He okay?!” called the train’s conductor from the open window in the middle of the Number 2.
“Yeah,” called the cop. “Kid’s okay.” The officer turned his attention back to Liam. “Man! For a second there I thought we’d have to scrape you off the wall.” The policeman smiled, his relief evident.
“Thanks…thanks for helping me,” Liam muttered, knowing full well how inadequate his words sounded.
“What the hell were you doing down there? Did you slip? Or did somebody push you?” The transit cop glanced around the deserted platform.
“I lost my case and I had to get it back.” Liam pointed.
The officer saw the scuffed and dented case lying on its side. He brought the case to Liam. The boy snatched it back, hugged it to his chest.
“Thank you, sir,” he said quickly.
He felt the cop’s searching gaze, refused to meet his eyes.
“What the hell’s so important about that case that you’d risk your life for it?” the officer demanded.
Liam could hear the peeler’s tone was a little less friendly now. Still dazed, Liam searched for an answer, but his mind drew a blank. Finally, he stammered, “It. it’s my laptop computer.”
The policeman studied the boy’s expression, then the attaché case. “Is that right? Okay, then maybe we should open that case up and see if your ‘laptop’ is damaged.”
Tony Almeida handed his prisoner over to an armed detention team.
“Take him to room eleven. Prepare him for interrogation.”
“What’s with the third degree, man? So my visa expired. So what?” Saito cried, squirming against his cuffs. “This is America. Even illegal aliens have got rights.”
Captain Schneider fell into step with the guards. “I’m going with them. I don’t want to let Saito-san here out of my sight.”
The Japanese man smirked. “I’ll bet you’ve got great gams under those Hepburns, missy. Put on stiletto heels and you can punish me any time.”
The guards dragged the young man away. Tony signed his name on the entry log, then spied Ryan Chappelle approaching. He braced himself for a dressing-down.
“Good work, Agent Almeida. Great work, in fact,” said Ryan, slapping his back. “You and Captain Schneider are to be commended. I just got off the phone with Chet Blackburn. He told me you two captured a mainframe computer with its database intact.”
“That’s right, Ryan. Unfortunately we got there too late to stop the transfer of another Long Tooth missile launcher to another location. We don’t know where it’s headed, yet, and that should be our priority. Has Jamey dug up any information on that truck?”
“She examined the footage you sent her, but even with enhanced imaging filters she couldn’t get a license number off the plate. Nina issued an all-points bulletin, but there are a lot of white Dodge cargo vans in Los Angeles. ”
“We should start with the vehicles registered to Green Dragon and all the factory’s current employees. Then we should check the airports. Cargo shippers especially—”