"Which way?" Kim asked Roman. The school seemed like a maze of halls and classrooms. After entering the building, Roman had exchanged a few words with Abe. He had gone to the cafeteria, while she and Roman had gone the other direction - toward the classes. Now they were walking past one crowded room after another, each full of young children.
It could be any minute, Kim thought, thinking of what might happen if the poison was loosed on the unsuspecting classrooms. She looked at Roman, who looked more worried than she had ever seen him. His hand was gripping his pistol so tightly that she almost thought it might crack under the force of his grip.
"What about setting of the alarm?" Kim asked. "They would do a fire drill and take the kids outside."
Roman shook his head. "If we do that, we'll have kids all over the hallways. That'll make it harder for us to spot Marais. And even if we did, we'd have a bunch of kids in the way - possibly even give him hostages.
That all made sense, but it did not help relieve the tightness in her chest as she thought about her son being in one of those rooms. She guessed Roman was probably having the same thoughts about Eric and Sami.
"Where the hell is he?" Roman growled. They had run the entire length of the first floor of the classroom and seen no sign of Ivan Marais. Roman stopped and pulled out a walkie talkie. "Abe," he said. "Nothing on this side. I looked through the window of every classroom too; he's not in any one of them."
There was a small squawk and Abe spoke through the machine. "I've seen nothing over here. You don't think it's a false alarm, do you?"
Roman gave Kim a quick glance, but she glared at him. "No, partner, this is real. . . ." He looked around and said, "Let's check the second floor. You sure he's not on the roof, right?"
Over the radio, Abe answered. "We'd have seen him from outside. Our units had a good view."
"Okay," Roman said. "Let's check upstairs."
There were staircases on each end of the school, so Kim followed Roman through a set of maroon-painted double-doors to a wide staircase. They quickly ran up the stairs to the second floor. Roman checked his gun again and nodded before he pushed open the doors and dropped into a crouch.
The corridor was empty.
"Dammit," Roman snapped. "Where the hell is he?"
An instant later, the walkie talkie squawked and Abe reported, "No sign of him here."
Roman slammed a hand against a wall. Then, just in case Marais was in one of the upstairs classrooms, Roman sprinted from one classroom to the next, looking through the pane of glass at each door to see if anything appeared amiss. Kim followed her brother until they reached the far end of the corridor.
"He's not here," Roman said. "I'm sure Steve thinks he heard Lawrence say it was the school, but maybe that was just part of Lawrence's game. Maybe it was just a ruse."
Kim had to concede that was possible, but it just didn't fit the complete facts. Kayla and Carly were convinced the toxin at the Spectator was not the one Carly had studied. That meant Lawrence had another target for the real toxin. And Kim felt confident that, if Lawrence told Steve about Salem Elementary, he meant it. Lawrence would have only bragged about another target if he had been confident that Steve could not tell anyone.
So that meant Ivan Marais was in the school. So where was he? Where would someone go if he didn't want to be seen? Where would you go in an elementary school if you didn't want to be seen?
The answer came suddenly.
Where did you go when you needed to cry to yourself about Uncle Eric?
"He's in a bathroom," Kim said, absolutely certain that she was right. "There must be vents in the bathrooms."
Roman jumped into action. "Come on," he said, starting to run toward the bathrooms they had passed. Into his radio, he ordered additional units to converge on the school. "Abe, the bathrooms. . . ."
Stopping stopped short in front of a door. Roman waved at Kim to keep her distance. His gun ready, he stepped back and then kicked forward. The door sprung open and Roman raced inside. Kim watched him charge through the bathroom as he checked all the stalls. "It's not this one," he finally said as he came running back through the door.
The same was true of the girl's bathroom at the next doorway. After Roman raced back out, breathing heavily, he glanced at his watch.
"There can't be much time left."
Kim wanted to panic at the very thought, but she forced herself to stay calm. "Downstairs," is all she said. Roman nodded and they both went running back toward the staircase. Kim struggled to keep up as they ran down the stairs, through the doors, and down the corridor. Roman reached the first bathroom door, kicked it open, and charged through. He never slowed.
"Don't move!" Roman shouted at someone inside, just as Kim reached the doorway.
Roman was standing around the edge of a tiled wall, his gun pointed up at a corner of the room. Kim inched past him so she could get a view and saw a row of dark-wooden stalls, their doors open.
The only closed door was in the center stall, where, his torso, shoulders, and head visible over the top of the stall stood the man they were hunting - Ivan Marais.
For him to be visible, he must have been standing on the toilet. His right arm was raised, the hand around clear plastic tubing that was snaked into a ventilation duct above the stall. From where she was standing, Kim could not see beneath the stall door, but she had no doubt the hose was connected to a tank containing the toxin.
"Now. . . . Lower your hand," Roman ordered. Marais let go of the hose, which remained in place, and dropped his hand. He turned his head slightly so he could see Roman and Kim. Roman took a few steps toward the stall. Kim followed. Roman stopped in front of the stall, Kim beside him. "Okay, Marais, step down and open the door."
Marais' upped body started to lower, but he just smiled as his head disappeared from view.
"Roman!" Kim shouted.
Roman charged the door, but it held firm. "It's locked," he growled. "Open the door, Marais," he called out. "Open up or I'll shoot."
Kim watched her brother and knew there was no time to hesitate. Marais could be opening the cannister. She looked up and saw the hose running from the vent to whatever Marais had in his hand. Kim looked from the hose to the open stall immediately in front of her. It was just to the left of the one where Marais was hidden.
At any moment, the toxin could start flowing through that hose. Maybe it already was.
It's up to me, she thought. Racing forward, Kim scrambled onto the toilet in the stall. She heard Roman kick at the door of the stall beside her and the wood beside her shook. She reached up for the hose and grabbed it with her outstretched hand.
As she started to pull, she looked down into the stall to her left. She saw Marais pulling a gas mask over his face.
"Shoot, Roman!" Kim shouted.
Hearing her, Marais jerked his head up. She could not see his eyes through the mask, but she saw him reach for something tucked inside his jacket.
He has a gun, Kim realized.
Below her, the room exploded with noise. Roman fired at something, but Marais only flinched. He did not appear to be hurt.
What's Roman shooting? Kim wondered. But her eyes focused on Marais, who raised a gun in her direction. Wide-eyed, Kim felt the entire world slow as Marais' finger tightened on the trigger.
Kim jerked back just as Marais fired. She felt the heat of the bullet as it flew past her, then her foot slipped off the toilet seat, and she fell backward. As she tumbled through the air, Kim heard a shout, followed quickly by a tremendous bang, a loud crashing noise, and two more explosions. The bathroom echoed from the gunshots.
Then there was silence.
Staring up at the florescent lights overhead, Kim heard nothing until Roman called her name.
"Kimmie. . . are you okay?"
It took a moment for Kim to think of the answer. She hurt from the fall, but she did not think anything was broken. "I think so," she groaned. She raised her head and turned it toward the middle stall.
On the ground was Ivan Marais' crumpled body. He had landed in a twisted heap, his head facing hers, but his face still obscured by the gas mask. A small stream of blood ran down his side from his chest and was spreading out from the body across the white tile floor.
A foot appeared beside her head and Kim looked up to see Roman staring down at her with worried eyes. He crouched down and began to check her.
"I'm okay," Kim said, her eyes going back to Marais.
"You don't need to look at that," Roman said. He put an arm under Kim's shoulder and helped her to her feet. He looked her over and then said, "Here, let me have that."
Have what? Kim looked down in the direction where Roman was looking and realized that he was reaching toward her hand and the plastic tubing that she was clutching. Kim looked up at the vent and saw no hose there. Instead, the tube in her hand ran over the side of the stall. Kim had not realized she was still holding the plastic tubing. She had not even realized that she had pulled the hose free of the vent.
She did not move, but Roman took the plastic from her hand and grinned. "That was pretty good thinking, Sis. You distracted him and then took out the toxin. Since when did you become Wonder Woman?"
Kim just stared at him, still in shock. "Is it over?" she asked. Is it finally over?
An instant later, Abe and some uniformed Salem P.D. members charged through the door. "Roman!" Abe yelled, but it took him only a moment to figure out what had happened and realize that the situation was under control. He relaxed, put his gun in his holster, and ordered the other officers to start an evacuation.
Meanwhile, Roman grew somber and put an arm around Kim. He and Abe exchanged a look and then, holding Kim close, steered her out of the bathroom. "It's over," Roman said. "Let's go find Shane."
They had just started down the hall toward the main entry when several men in dark suits raced through the doors. In the front of the group was Tarrington. He jerked his head around until he saw them.
"Roman." Tarrington raced forward.
Roman nodded back. "Chief," he said. "You'll find Abe Carver in the bathroom with the body and the toxin. Perhaps you can work with the Principal to get the children out of the school. That toxin is still in there. It was never released, but I think it would be better if we cleared the place out until it's gone."
Tarrington nodded brusquely. "Very well. I will need the two of you to come with me."
Kim felt a hot rage roar through her. How dare he give me an order. "We're not going anywhere with you," Kim snapped. She glanced quickly at Roman. "At least, I'm not."
"You'll have to excuse us for now, Chief," Roman said. "I'm sure Kim will be happy to give you a statement, but after we go to the refinery." He started to steer her away from Tarrington and toward the door.
Two of the dark-suited men stepped in front of them, blocking their path. Roman stiffened and then looked behind at Tarrington. The ISA Chief spoke first.
"I'm sorry, Roman, but that was not a request." Tarrington looked at Kim. "Your sister and you will come with us, immediately."