Page 114 of Goodbye Girl

It took a moment, but finally she breathed out a short huff of a breath and took the phone from him.

“I’m putting her on speaker,” said Gigi. “I want you to hear this.”

“Fine,” said Theo.

“This is Gigi,” she said.

Andie’s voice came over the speaker. “Hi, Gigi. This is Agent Henning. You can call me Andie.”

“Okay, Andie. Here’s the deal. Get me out of here, and I’ll tell you everything I know about Judge.”

Theo couldn’t hold his tongue. “Gigi, just talk to her.”

“No. First, I get out of London. Then I talk.”

“Where do you want to go?” asked Andie. Her tone was conversational and calm, like a trained hostage negotiator.

“With Theo. To Miami.”

“That’s not going to happen,” said Theo.

“Then I don’t talk.”

Andie said something over the speaker, but Theo wasn’t hearing it. He was tired of trying to convince Gigi to do the right thing, and his tone reflected it.

“Gigi, don’t play games.”

“I’m not playing.”

“More people could die if you don’t talk to Andie right now.”

“Then she’d better move fast.”

He knew she couldn’t possibly mean what she was saying, but words were flying, and Theo fired right back. “Damn it, Gigi! Tell her what you know!”

“Get me out of here and I will!”

“You’re being selfish!”

“You’re a user!”

“You’re acting like a spoiled child!”

“Well, it’s about damn time, isn’t it!”

Gigi jumped from the bed and ran toward the bathroom. Theo couldn’t see her face, but he knew she was crying and, after reminding her so many times that she was just a kid, it hurt to think that he’dblown everything up with his own impatience in dealing with a child. Gigi stopped at the bathroom door, pivoted, and threw the phone at him. Theo ducked and the moment he did, it sounded as though a rock had hit the window, the open blinds rattling. But it wasn’t the impact of the phone. A bullet punctured the headrest of the ergonomic chair in which, a split second earlier, Theo had been seated upright. The kill shot would have hit him squarely in the back of the head.

Gigi screamed, ran into the bathroom, and slammed the door. Theo dove to the floor, grabbed the lamp cord under the desk, and yanked the plug from the electrical socket. The hotel room went dark. The cellphone lay on the floor by the desk, still activated and glowing in the darkness. Andie’s voice came over the speaker.

“Theo, what’s happening?”

A second “rock” hit the hotel room window, the blinds rattled again, and the cellphone exploded into pieces. Theo had been warned about the skill of the Russian sniper on his heels, and he was witnessing her talents firsthand. But for the argument with Gigi and his sudden movement, his head, not the phone, would have exploded. He rolled across the carpeted floor and took cover on the other side of the bed, away from the window.

Gigi screamed from inside the bathroom. “Theo, what’s happening?”

“Stay in the bathroom! Get down on the floor!”

There was a phone on the nightstand, but it was on the dangerous side of the bed. Theo didn’t dare leave his place of cover.