Corrupts Absolutely

Chapter One 11:49 P.M., EDT, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20 WASHINGTON, DC. The '07 civic sun cruised slowly through the deserted parking deck, staying carefully within the chem-glow drive lines. Silently it rounded the corner and rolled down the ramp to the lowest level, then stopped in front of a new Corvette Electro-T, which was parked facing the wall. The Sun's tinted windows concealed its occupants until the passenger side opened. A brief flash from the dome light revealed two figures, a man behind the wheel and a tall, slender woman, who slipped out and quickly closed the door. Without a word to her companion, she walked around the Corvette, checking the interior, then the license plates. Satisfied, she signaled him to drive on. Over the barely perceptible hum of the electric engine, her footsteps echoed on the concrete as the small rental car moved toward the opposite end of the deck and parked. In a brisk, athletic stride, she approached the elevator a dozen yards distant and melded into the shadows to the left of the doors. She checked her watch and prepared to wait. Minutes passed. She did not move. Her vigil was rewarded by the low growl of elevator cables. She shifted position ever so slightly onto the balls of her feet. The doors whooshed open, revealing a thickset man carrying an attach' case. He glanced left and right, then stepped hurriedly from the elevator. She raised her weapon and took aim. He caught the motion from the corner of his eye and whirled, reaching inside his jacket. The only sound breaking the silence was a soft pop from her small automatic. A tiny hole no bigger than the tip of her little finger appeared in the middle of the man's forehead. His temples and eyeballs bulged grotesquely. Then, every bone in his body seemed to dissolve as he crumpled. Glancing around the dimly lit deck, the woman walked over to her victim and knelt beside his body. When she rolled the corpse onto its back, a thin trickle of blood oozed from its ear, pooling on the concrete. Eyes stared blankly into space. Ignoring the slack face of death, she pulled the attach' case from beneath the body. The Sun approached noiselessly as she stood up. She tossed the case inside and slid into the passenger seat. "You moved too soon. He caught you in peripheral," her companion said as he drove up the ramp. "I know," she replied in a tight voice. Glancing at her profile he grunted. "You okay?" She sucked in a deep breath. "No." The car circled up the ramp three more levels. As he slowed to make the final turn, she swung her door open and was violently sick on the concrete floor. Raising her head immediately, she slammed the door and said, "Go!" He anticipated the command, relieved to see a faint bit of color returning to her face. "The first one is always bad," he said. Fishing a texture wipe from her pocket, she scrubbed at her mouth, then replied, "Yes." "It'll get easier after a few more." She forced aside the image of that perfectly centered red dot just above those dead eyes. "God, I hope not." THREE YEARS LATER 2:12 A.M., EDT, TUESDAY, JUNE 16 ALEXANDRIA, VA. He was running flat out, his chest on fire as if someone were tightening a piano wire around it. Sharp, stinging pain lanced through his lungs as he gulped enough air to yell, "Stop! FBI!" Without breaking stride, he closed the distance between himself and the two men he was chasing down the narrow street. In the darkness, patches of light flashed between the buildings, black-and-white distortions, like images from an old twentieth-century cinema reel. The suspects&Hunt, Alexa is the author of 'Corrupts Absolutely ', published 2007 under ISBN 9780765350091 and ISBN 0765350092.