"Avenger - 4303 - Calling Justice, INC" - читать интересную книгу автора (Avenger)

The acrid smoke spread in the corridor and some of it seeped in through the transom. Nellie's
eyes began to smart. She stepped down from the dresser, pulled a blanket off the bed and climbed up
again. She began to stuff it into the opening. She heard sounds of commotion in the corridor as
guests came out of their rooms and Haggard's suave voice as he reassured them: "It's all right,
folks, we're Federal agents. We have a dangerous criminal trapped in there. Get back in your rooms
and lock your door and you'll be safe--"

Nellie yanked the blanket away from the transom and put her face close to the jagged hole in the
glass. She kept it there in spite of the stinging gas and raised her voice as loud as possible: "He
lies! They're not Federal agents. That's the Haggard gang! Call the police!"

But even as she shouted that warning she knew it was useless. Haggard's men controlled the
switchboard. They'd not allow anyone to leave, or to phone till they had accomplished their purpose.

She drew her head in and just at that moment a third tear-gas bomb came lobbing up through the
transom. It shattered the rest of the glass in the frame, struck the edge of the dresser on the way
down, and exploded. Immediately, Nellie was engulfed in a cloud of pungent, choking gas. Her eyes
began to burn and smart and fill with tears.

She closed them, held her breath, and jumped down off the dresser. Blindly she pawed her way to
the bathroom, and pulled the door shut behind her, locking it. But the gas was already in there, and
she got only a little relief.

She felt her way to the window and thrust her head out, but her eyes were so inflamed that the
relief was negIigible. Behind her she heard a shattering crash as someone hurled himself against the
door. They had broken in! Blindly, she fired at the sound, but she knew she had missed when she saw
a huge, weird shape loom up in front of her. It was Haggard, and his face was covered by a gas mask.
She thrust the pistol at him, her finger on the trigger, but her hand was struck down viciously, and
the gun exploded into the floor. Then something struck her on the side of the head and she fell
forward, semi-conscious. Her hands were twisted behind her back, and a pair of handcuffs was snapped
on. In her ear was the voice of Haggard, muffled by his gas mask: "Where is that stuff?"

Nellie laughed, almost hysterically. "Kill me, Royce Haggard! Why don't you kill me?"

"Not yet. you'll talk first."

"Never! I'll never talk!"

"Never is a long time. Maybe too long for you!"

She felt herself lifted helplessly across his shoulder, like a sack of flour, and carried
through the smoke. She must have lost consciousness for a few moments, because the next thing she
knew, a gust of cold, clean air revived her, and she was being carried across the street to the
green convertible. Half a dozen men with machine guns were posted around to guard against the
arrival of the police. Haggard was leaving nothing to chance. The stakes were high and these men
were desperate and resourceful criminals.

Nellie opened her mouth to shout, but a brutal hand thrust a wadded handkerchief between her
teeth, effectively gagging her. She was roughly dumped on to the floor of the convertible and it was
moving smoothly away, with Royce and another man sitting in the seat above her.