Book and Blade: Book One of the Hand of Perdition Read Online Free PDF Page A

something obvious that for some reason Christopher had been unable to see. But now what was he going to do about it?
    He looked out the window. The roof of the adjacent building was about one story below him. Really ? Was he actually thinking about jumping out of a window? His eyes caught the phone on the table by the bed. He could call the police, but then who could he trust? If there was something going on with the guy outside his door—and he could not shake that cold certainty that there was—then he couldn't trust any cop. Maybe Hamlin? There was no bad vibe from him, but he wasn't here and Christopher wasn't sure how to get ahold of him without calling the police. Besides the only evidence he had was the voice in his head, and he did not think that would go over very well with the police.
    He went to his closet and found his pants and shirt. His shirt still had the hole from the gunshot in it. He slipped on his pants and shoes on as quickly as he could, which was tricky with one arm in a sling. There was no way he could get his shirt on, so he settled for wearing his sweatshirt stretched over his sling, but it worked when he zipped it up. He pulled the hood up out of habit. Now all he had to do was jump out of the window.
    He pushed open the window and leaned out for a look. It was a standard rooftop. He saw what looked like a rooftop access shack a hundred feet away. He could only guess an access door was on the other side. But of course there was no reason for it to be open. This wasn't a movie. How the hell was he going to get off the roof? He was beginning to think this was a bad idea when the door opened again behind him.
    Cooper was standing there. He looked surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered and reached for his gun. Christopher jumped.
    He landed hard and stumbled to the ground twisting so he fell on his good shoulder. He bounced up as quickly as he could, but his bad shoulder screamed in protest. He sprinted to the shack not taking the time to look up at this room. Cooper would be at the window in seconds. He felt exposed and expected at any moment to feel a bullet in his back. Just a few feet away from the wall he heard the report of the pistol. A piece of roof nicked his leg as a bullet hit inches from his foot. Christopher threw himself around the corner putting the rooftop shack between him and Cooper, but not before he looked back. Cooper was climbing out of the window.
    He didn't wait to see if Cooper made it to the ground. There was a door on this side. It looked like it hadn't closed all the way, like the last person to use it hadn't been paying attention. It opened easily and Christopher ran through it, making sure it shut and locked behind him.
    He was shivering with fear as he made his way down the stairs. Halfway down the second flight he heard Cooper banging at the door, trying to open it. He took the last few steps jumping three at a time.
    He lurched out the door at the bottom of the stairs and into the hallway, surprising an orderly. Behind him he heard a muffled bang and knew that Cooper had found a way through the door. Might have even shot it open. Christopher didn't miss a beat as he ran down the hall looking for a way out. His shoulder ached, but he didn't have time to think about that now. He shoved passed a family gathered around a boy in a wheelchair to get to the elevator, mumbling "Sorry," as he dove into the elevator car and pushed the ground floor button repeatedly. As the doors to the elevator closed Cooper came through the door. Christopher saw him looking around. Christopher crouched lower behind the family, ignoring their odd stares, until then the doors closed and the elevator started going down.
    Christopher knew he had only bought himself moments. Cooper would figure out where he had gone and take the stairs. As soon the elevator's doors opened he shoved past the family and out into the lobby. He had banged his shoulder a couple of times and it was on fire. It felt