Looking down from the cafe window at the man he'd just shot, Ed Cade saw the
brilliant overhead flash reflected in the windows of the hotel across the street
and realized that something -- likely the car -- had exploded above the city.
Some guy dressed as a knight was standing smack in the middle of the street,
aiming a camera of some sort straight up at the sky. The light turned green at
the intersection and the guy almost tripped over his sword trying to scramble
out of the street.
Cade stepped back from the window and looked to his left and right. There
was only the Atlanta cop -- Avery -- standing next to him on the right. On his
left, one person still sat by the windows, apparently frozen in stark, staring
terror.
"Get away from the windows," said Cade.
Avery stepped back as Cade grabbed the frozen guy's coat to pull him to his
feet and insistently repeated, "Get away from the window, dammit!"
The man's eyes fixed on Cade's Glock and he said nothing, but as bits of
debris pelted down on the street outside the window, he stood quickly on shaky
legs and tried to comply.
His knees failed and he wound up kneeling, then sitting on the floor. Avery
came over to get a grip on the guy's other shoulder and they dragged him away
from the windows.
The rain of unidentifiable debris slackened quickly and seemed to end, and
Avery started back toward the window to look up between the buildings.
"Avery!" said Cade. "Not yet. Count to thirty before you go near that
window."
Cade put his Glock back in its shoulder holster under his field jacket and
looked around again. Nine people. Five men, four women. Two had apparently left
the cafe.
He heard more debris-rain hit the street and buildings outside and saw Avery
cast a wondering glance at him.
"Some of it had farther to fall," said Cade.
As if to punctuate his words, a car bumper slammed into the street, narrowly
missing a black Lexus, and spinningly bounced out of view toward the
intersection.
Glancing past the group clustered by the cafe entrance, Cade saw the two
missing women hurrying past the reception desk and he took off after them at a
trot.
He caught up with them by the elevators and didn't bother with
introductions; they'd likely remember him.
Stepping in front of them, he said, "Ladies, get back to the cafe. You're
witnesses to a shooting."
"I'm not going back in there!" the one on the right said in a
near-hysterical tone. "I'm not! You can't make me!"
Snatching her purse off her shoulder, Cade said, "I won't have to. The
cops'll find you with whatever's in this."
Turning to the other woman, he asked, "Are you going to give me a hard time,
too?"
Shaking her head slightly, she said, "No. I didn't think we should leave,
but Judy..."
Interrupting her, Cade said, "Cool. Let's go, then."
Putting his arm through hers, he led the way back to the restaurant. After a
moment, Judy followed. Cade turned the ladies and Judy's purse over to Avery,
then stepped away from the group to have a look at the street below the window.
The street was empty of people. Between the blonde hauling the car upstairs,
the gunshots, and the blast in the sky, most of them had at least had sense
enough to get off the sidewalks and under the cover of the Rivage's
drive-through.
The rent-a-cop who'd been directing foot traffic across the street between
the hotels was one of those under cover. Cade whistled to get his attention and
pointed to the body on the sidewalk, then yelled that he should keep people away
from it. The guy nodded and headed toward the body. Cade went back to Avery, who
was talking to someone on his radio.
Avery finished his immediate conversation, then turned to Cade and said,
"Teams five and nine got lucky, too. Two dead and one in custody. The guys on
the roof are coming down, so we'll have some help here in a few minutes."
Nodding, Cade said, "I'll go out and keep the tourists away from the one on
the sidewalk."
Extending a hand, Avery said, "Okay. Hey, if I don't see you again, it's
been good working with you. Why won't they tell us where you extra guys came
from?"
Shaking Avery's hand, Cade said, "Damned if I know. I'm from Florida, if it
helps any."
"Oh, yeah," laughed Avery. "That helps a bunch."
"Great. Later, then."
Moving past the coffee bar, Cade stopped and looked around for the
attendant, then knocked on the counter. A man in a suit separated himself from
the crowd by the door and came to say that the coffee bar was closed.
"You're management?" asked Cade.
"Yes, sir. Look, we're rather busy at the moment..."
"I'm the guy who shot out your window and I have to go guard a body on the
sidewalk. How much is a coffee to go?"
The man seemed to have to find a way to attach the two concepts in his mind
before he said, "Uh, just take one, sir."
"Thanks. Why not offer all those spooked people a cup, too? It'll look great
on your record if you take charge and keep them quiet and happy until all the
note-taking is finished."
The guy glanced at the group and seemed to realize that this was his
middle-management chance to achieve some favorable and potentially useful
self-publicity. He nodded and stepped behind the counter to draw Cade a coffee
as he called the attendant over.
"Yes, Mr. D'Angelo?" asked the attendant.
Handing the coffee to Cade, D'Angelo said, "Go ahead and open back up,
Manuel. Free coffee for anybody who's supposed to be in here until the cops are
gone."
"Yes, sir," said Manuel.
"Could I have an extra coffee?" asked Cade.
Manuel drew another coffee and handed it to him. Cade thanked him and headed
for the stairs to the street. The rent-a-cop was standing by the body, as
requested.
He said, "You're the guy who told me to watch the body."
Cade handed him the extra coffee and said, "Yup, sure am. Here, I brought
you a coffee."
Someone aimed a camera toward them and Cade turned to face the cop --
Davies, by his nametag -- as the camera flashed. He kicked the gun that had
fallen into the bushes over by the body and toed it under a fold in the coat.
"Should you be moving the evidence around like that?" asked Davies.
"So tell 'em I kicked it. I just came down here to get your name and badge
number for the record and secure the scene."
Shrugging as he looked around, Cade said, "Now the scene is secure, I have
my info, and you have your coffee. Just stay put until the cops get here."
Davies almost choked on his first sip of coffee.
He glanced down at the body, then stared at Cade as he asked, "But... You
mean you aren't a cop?!"
"Never said I was," said Cade. "I've just been working with them today. See
you later."
As Cade turned to go, the guard said, "Hey, wait. Is there any word about
the blonde? The woman who, uh... who flew off... with the car?"
"I haven't heard anything."
Glancing up at the sky, Davies said, "God, I hope she wasn't still hanging
onto that car when it blew. I was looking right at it, but it was too far up...
Do you think she...?"
"No idea," said Cade. "Later."
With that, he headed back up the steps and into the hotel, where he gave
Davies' info to Avery and refilled his coffee cup, then sat down in a corner of
the cafe with an incident report form to wait for Lieutenant Bain.