Farbeaux watched as the three well-dressed men left the room. He reached up and scratched his nose, rattling the handcuffs on both wrists. He heard the door open and two guards walked in. One lifted him up by the arm and the other pulled out his chair—all done in a not-too-gentle manner.
“Okay pal, time to go,” said a voice behind him.
Henri was led out of the room, and instead of going straight to the elevator they made a detour to the stairwell on the fifth floor. One guard with dark hair opened the door and the other who stood behind Henri pushed him through the exit. There was a third man waiting in the shadows that he couldn’t see. The large man cleared his throat. Then he tossed something to the man standing behind him. Suddenly the Frenchman felt the pressure of the cuffs as they fell free of his wrists. Rubbing them with his hands Farbeaux thought he understood. What was about to happen to him?
“Ah, shot while trying to escape. Very good. After all, you could have me spilling too much about deep, dark government agencies no one knows exists, right?”
The large man reached out from the shadows and opened the second exit door. As Henri looked out into the stairwell and the bright sunlight beyond, he glanced back at his two guards. He saw the larger man step out into the lighted doorway.
“As we say back home, Colonel, you better get while the gettin’ is good.”
Farbeaux saw the captain named Everett, resplendent in his blue guard’s uniform, standing before him. Henri turned and saw Will Mendenhall and Jason Ryan as they peeled off their absconded uniform jackets and tossed them onto the handcuffed guards they had taken them from who were wiggling and cursing under taped mouths.
“Gentlemen, you have my thanks, so before someone changes his mind, I bid you adieu.” Henri ran from the fourth floor and didn’t stop until he was on the crowded street far below.
As Farbeaux crossed the street he saw a familiar form standing on the corner. He stopped short and smiled at the man staring at him. Henri then stood ramrod straight and saluted. Henri Farbeaux laughed and crossed the street, disappearing into the thick traffic of the capital.
On the corner watching the escape of one of the most wanted criminal minds on earth, Colonel Jack Collins nodded his head as he saw Henri escape from American justice.
Jack took a deep breath and turned as Sarah approached and took his hand.
“Satisfied?” he asked as he finally smiled and looked down at her healing face, seeing his own reflection in her sunglasses. Unlike Farbeaux a few weeks before, he was able to see his reflection and not turn away in shame.
Sarah McIntire smiled and went to her tiptoes to kiss Jack on the lips.
“Thank you, Jack.”
As Sarah released Collins he continued to look at her and wondered how long it had been since Sarah had started falling for the Frenchman.
“Shall we go home?” Sarah said, smiling up at Jack Collins, who was caught with his darkest thoughts running through his mind. Finally, he smiled back.
“Yeah, let’s go home.”
Also by David L. Golemon
Event
Legend
Ancients
Leviathan
Primeval
Legacy
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAVID L. GOLEMON grew up in Chino, California. He raised three great children and now makes his home in New York. Ripper is the seventh book in his Event Group series. Visit David online at www.EventGroupFiles.com.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
RIPPER. Copyright © 2012 by David L. Golemon. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Ervin Serrano
Cover photographs : Mark Owen / Arcangel Images; Benjamin Harte / Arcangel Images; Shutterstock
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Golemon, David Lynn.
Ripper / David Golemon. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-312-58080-3 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-250-01517-4 (e-book)
I. Title.
PS3607.O4555R57 2012
813'.6—dc23
2012010066
e-ISBN 9781250015174
First Edition: July 2012
Ripper Page 45