Lieberman's Choice Read Online Free PDF Page A

a uniformed officer stood with a rifle.
    Lieberman and Hanrahan had guns in their hands, but both men knew that if Bernie Shepard decided to open the door and use the same weapon he had used on his wife and Beeton, there would be very little left of them to identify.
    â€œWhat now?” asked Hanrahan.
    â€œWe wait for Kearney,” said Lieberman.
    That was when they had heard the first shot.
    â€œShit,” sighed Hanrahan. “Shit, shit …”
    Then the second shot and the third.
    The radio on the hip of the officer with the rifle sputtered, and a less-than-calm voice crackled, “Sniper fire. I think it’s from the roof. Shooting out streetlights.”
    â€œSergeant,” the officer at the foot of the stairs called.
    â€œWe heard,” said Lieberman, touching Hanrahan’s arm and indicating that they should go back down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, Lieberman told the officer to stay low and start shooting if the door above him began to open.
    The officer nodded and got on his stomach, propping the rifle on the stairs. He knew what he was doing, and that made Lieberman feel a little, just a little, better.
    The radio on the officer’s hip crackled again and a voice both Lieberman and Hanrahan recognized came on.
    â€œLieberman,” said Shepard.
    Lieberman leaned over, unclipped the radio from the policeman’s belt, and stood up, pressing the SEND button.
    â€œI’m here, Bernie.”
    â€œI’ve planted enough explosives up here to take out this building and maybe half the block or more. You read?”
    â€œI read.”
    â€œYou believe?”
    â€œI’m a believer,” said Lieberman.
    â€œGood,” said Shepard calmly. “Make believers out of the rest of them or we’re going to have a second Fourth of July. I want ‘Channel Four News’ up here, the blonde, Janice Giles. Up here with a camera for an exclusive interview.”
    â€œHe’s crazy,” said Hanrahan, looking up at the door.
    â€œDo it,” said Shepard.
    â€œI’ll pass the request on to Captain Kearney,” said Lieberman.
    â€œIt’s not a request,” said Shepard. “I want Kearney up here one o’clock tomorrow morning. No sooner. No later.”
    â€œOr …?”
    â€œI’ve got food, water, supplies, weapons, and a lot of explosives,” he said.
    â€œYou’re ready to die?” asked Lieberman.
    â€œI’m ready.”
    â€œYou want to talk? I’m up. I’ve had a coffee and a danish. The day is young.”
    â€œCome up alone,” Shepard said. “No weapons.”
    Something—it may have been a laugh—crackled on the phone and then Shepard clicked off.
    Lieberman handed his partner his jacket and gun and started back up the stairs.
    â€œAbe, there’s no point in going up there. He could blow your head off and throw you down for bait,” said Hanrahan.
    â€œI appreciate your support and confidence,” Lieberman said over his shoulder.
    He was at the top of the narrow stairwell now, and he knocked at the metal door. A scraping of metal on the other side, the flop and clang of metal against the roof, and the door opened slightly, the barrel of a shotgun inching out through the crack.
    â€œClean and alone,” said Shepard.
    â€œClean and alone,” said Lieberman, stepping onto the roof.
    His first impression was that it was a different world, cool, isolated. The sky was black with bright lights and a huge moon.
    Shepard kicked the door shut and put his back against it, his shotgun leveled at Lieberman’s stomach.
    â€œLift the pants legs, one at a time, as high as they’ll go.”
    â€œI don’t carry a drop, Bernie,” Lieberman said, pulling up his pants legs one at a time.
    â€œYou’re a man of your word, Lieberman, but words don’t mean much tonight. Shirt up.”
    Lieberman lifted his shirt and turned around to