What Have You Done(59)

“Hey, what are you doing?” The old man was trying to sit up, pointing at Liam, who stood frozen for a moment. “Those are my clothes!”

“As soon as I’m done with them, I’ll give them back. Promise.”

The old man pressed the red call button on the side of his bed. “Nurse!”

Liam scurried out of the room and back into the hall. He passed the nurse who was walking toward the room he’d just left. It wouldn’t be long before she’d sound an alarm and alert the police. He had to get out onto the street where he could blend in better.

The elevator doors opened as he approached. He pulled the cap a little lower and stepped on, only then noticing two young officers who were already inside. The doors closed before he could react one way or the other. He kept his head down and waited.

The ride to the first floor took forever. He watched the light come on for each floor as it crawled along. The officers were talking behind him.

“All units, be aware suspect is still in the building and has changed clothes.”

Liam bit the inside of his lip to keep from screaming as he listened to the report coming over the officer’s radio. They were passing the second floor now. He was almost there.

“Suspect is now wearing a black shirt, tan pants, and a brown leather jacket.”

The elevator stopped at the first floor. Liam could feel his knees buckling, struggling to hold his weight. The officers behind him stopped talking. He dared not turn around.

“Suspect last seen on the fifth floor. Also wearing a red Phillies hat.”

Liam was off the elevator before the doors had a chance to open completely. In a matter of seconds he was swallowed by the crowd in the main lobby.

“Excuse me, sir!”

He could hear one of the officers calling after him, but he continued on. The exit was fifty yards away, clogged by police personnel.

“Sir! Stop! You in the brown jacket!”

Walking faster. Turning down the first hall he came upon. A sign reading Garage pointed him straight ahead and to the left. When he was free from the crowd and somewhat out of sight, Liam ran as fast as he could.

“Liam Dwyer! Stop! Police!”

The officers began their chase. He looked back and saw them both in pursuit, running hard as they shouted into their radios. He threw himself through the double doors leading to the garage and picked up speed. His legs were heavy as he pressed ahead, hoping he wouldn’t trip or fall down. Arch Street was on the other side of a first-level concrete wall. If he could get onto Arch, he could get to the subway. In the background, he could hear the army of police sirens coming for him. They were getting closer, trying to block off any exits and pin him in the garage.

“Hold it right there!”

Liam slid under an orange mesh fence that was a corner perimeter of a construction area and was suddenly on Arch Street. A few people who were walking by backed away and watched him as he climbed to his feet and ran to the end of the block, where sawhorses had been erected to block the rest of the roadway. Heavy machinery was parked behind the barrier. He knew people were watching, so he hopped over the horses and ran around a dump trunk, then in between a front-end loader and a backhoe. The voices behind him were gaining.

“He went in there!”

Liam doubled back and slipped into the oversized bucket of the front-end loader. It was piled with crumpled drywall and chunks of broken concrete, so he did his best to burrow under the debris to hide, but there was no way he could get deep enough. If one of the pursuing officers happened to look inside the loader, he’d be caught, but he was counting on the men running at full speed, with their focus up in front of them. If the eyewitnesses on the street told them he’d run through the site, all the better.

It wasn’t long before the galloping footsteps of what seemed like a dozen officers came up to the front-end loader. Liam held his breath and buried his face farther into the debris. The officers ran by without slowing. He waited until he no longer heard anything and then poked his head out just a bit to ensure he was alone.

The gaping mouth of the subway entrance waited on the opposite side of the street. Liam climbed out of the bucket and ran as fast as he could into the subway.

The police would be retracing their steps at any second and setting up a net around the adjacent blocks. His lungs burned as he jumped down the steps, hurdled the toll slots, and threw himself onto a train that was pulling away toward West Philadelphia. He looked through the windows to see if anyone was following, but it was clear. He would have to get off at the next station and get himself back aboveground where he could hide. It was the only way.





45

The control room was bustling with activity. Three men were set up to handle all computer traffic while two others were on special dispatch to the patrols on the street. Liam’s blown-up photograph from his department ID hung on one half of a whiteboard with his statistics written all around it. A few pictures of Kerri at the Tiger Hotel and Guzio in his tub had been taped next to Liam’s picture. Everyone was talking or moving about. Sean stood at the edge of the chaos, watching.

Don walked over to Sean. “They froze his credit and debit cards, and we have units at the bridges, airport, and train stations. It shouldn’t be long before they bring him in.”

Sean rubbed his eyes. “I just wanted this to go away, you know?” He pointed to the crime scene photo from the Tiger. “I wanted to find out if Liam really did do that to Kerri, and if he did, I wanted to get him help behind the scenes without anyone else knowing about it. Why did he have to go and kill the hotel owner? It doesn’t make sense.”