"It's Christy that will pay," Carver said, but Vito was hardly paying attention. Not a single sound reached his attuned ears, including everything that was going on behind his enemy. Anything could tell him where Christy was, and he found what he needed before she ever spoke up.
To anyone else, it would have just sounded like a horn, the sort of horn any driver might honk when he was cut off on a highway or simply didn't like the man in front of him. But Vito had spent years patrolling the streets. He could tell a simple car horn apart from the louder, longer blare of a construction vehicle- even more specifically, a crane. A crane that would only be operating in one part of the city...
The sounds of police sirens and shouting voices broke into the room as Carver hung up. As inconveniencing as it was, Vito was going to have to explain the three prone men and the mess he'd made of the room. The only part he'd leave out was Carver's call. That was his business alone.
"What happened this time? Were they jaywalking?" Captain Ramsey said when he saw the carnage.
"They were planting a bomb," Vito said casually. Outside the open door, a nurse wheeled out a patient in a bed as the building was evacuated.
"All right, boys. Get them out of here with the others," Ramsey said, and more policemen came in to clean up the mess Vito had left. Vito followed them out of the room, assisting with the evacuation and watching for any more signs of trouble. When everyone was safely outside, they waited as the bomb squad pored over the building.
"What's the verdict?" Ramsey asked as the first of the uniformed men exited the building.
"It's clean," he said.
"What?" Ramsey asked.
"It's clean," the man repeated. "There's nothing there."
"Nothing there?" Ramsey turned to look at Vito. "What happened to the bomb?"
"It's in there. Carver-" Vito started, then stopped.
"But he hasn't been in contact with you, right? Because you would have reported that immediately, right?" Ramsey asked.
"Of course. Maybe they just didn't look hard enough," Vito said.
"You want to go look yourself? Maybe I didn't do my job well enough," the bomb squad leader said.
"Don't give him any ideas," Ramsey said. "Look, Vito. You've had a long day. After all the excitement earlier, it's not surprising you're on edge. I have a lot of paperwork to deal with, since you jut assaulted three men I dearly hope were actually criminals. Why don't you go home and cool off? Spend some time with your family. They're probably much more shaken up than you are."
"Sir, at least keep a few men on surveillance. We might have beaten him to the punch," Vito said.
"If we did, he certainly isn't going to strike now. He knows the jig is up," Ramsey said. He saw Vito's expression and relented. "All right. I'll leave two men to keep an eye on the place. And there are cameras everywhere. Nothing will happen."
There were a million and one things Vito wanted to say and do. He wanted to tear back into the hospital and rip it apart until he found the bomb Carver promised was there. Whether it was too cleverly hidden or simply a ruse devised to discredit Vito, he wanted to know. The last thing he was going to do was go home to a wife who didn't even know what had happened yet and a daughter that wasn't there. But he was on thin ice already with his captain.
"All right. Call me if you need me," he said. Captain Ramsey waved him off dismissively and turned to address the crowds of policemen and reporters all wanting a piece of him.
But Vito didn't go home. His mind was on the horn he'd heard and the place he knew it had come from. A crane of that size was only used for one thing: demolishing buildings. The absence of other noises in the area indicated it was somewhere isolated. It could only be the outskirts of the industrial district, where the very oldest buildings were demolished to make way for new developments. In that labyrinth of decrepit concrete shells, Carver was hiding, waiting to make his next move. He didn't know it, but his master plan was about to fall to pieces.
