Read New York Nights [Virex 01] for Free Online

the strength from somewhere to reach for the next rung and haul himself up. It seemed to take an age of agonising grabs before his legs made contact with the first rung. He gripped the side-rail and ran, two steps at a time. As he took each turn he looked down, along the length of the alley. He was near the top of the building when he saw the Latino come to a halt at the end of the alley. They guy pulled something from his belt and turned down the alley, proceeding with caution.
     
    Halliday stepped from the fire escape. He was on a flat concrete roof, silvered by moonlight, empty but for satellite dishes and microwave boosters. It sprawled away from him like a football field and offered little in the way of cover. He could run, but he couldn’t hide, nor jump from this building to the next. He judged the distances between neighbouring roofs to be in the region of five metres. He scanned the perimeter of the roof for any sign of another fire escape, but saw nothing.
     
    Below, he heard the sound of footsteps on the fire escape. He took off, running to the nearest satellite dish. It was set at an angle of forty-five degrees, and facing the direction of the fire escape. He decided that to use the first dish as cover might be too obvious. He sprinted across the roof to where half a dozen dishes regarded the heavens. He grabbed one and tipped it back to give his boots more purchase on the lower rim, then took hold of the antenna and hauled himself aboard like some desperate wind-surfer.
     
    A rivet was missing from the seam of the dish, and if Halliday lowered his head and squinted through the hole he could make out the expanse of the roof and the distant shape of the fire escape.
     
    He wondered if the Latino would be stupid enough not to realise that the dishes were the only possible hiding places. If he checked them, or took no chances and either cut them or pumped them full of bullets one by one . . ,
     
    Only then did Halliday wonder why the guy wanted him dead, and what if anything linked the Latino to the disappearance of Sissi Nigeria.
     
    His ankles ached and his hands, where they gripped the freezing metal of the antenna, felt as if they were being cut open with razor blades. He held on with one hand, warming the other under his armpit. He peered through the rivet hole in the dish and sighted the fire escape.
     
    The Latino appeared. The top of his head showed slowly, cautiously, followed by his raised right hand bearing a weapon. When he saw that the immediate vicinity was clear, he stepped from the fire escape and crouched, taking in the length and breadth of the rooftop, assessing the possibilities. Halliday felt his mouth run dry. If he survived this, when he survived this, he’d have a hell of a tale to tell Barney and Kim. He was aware of the laboured thudding of his heart, and his breath sounded loud enough to give away his position.
     
    As Halliday watched, he felt his stomach turn and he was almost physically sick. The Latino walked towards the first satellite dish, the one facing the fire escape, and seemed to consider its potential as a place of concealment. He evidently decided that they offered perfect cover, slipped the revolver he was holding into his belt, removed the cutter and aimed at the dish. A vector of silver laser light illuminated the darkness. It sliced through the metal, and the upper half of the dish slipped to the roof with a crash. Christ, but if he did that to every one . . .
     
    The Latino moved to the next dish, cutting a slash through the metal. He approached the stand of dishes where Halliday was concealed. He sliced the first dish from a range of two metres, approached the next. Halliday tried to think fast, work out what to do now. If he showed himself, he was dead meat. And if he stayed where he was . . .
     
    The Latino cut another dish, and Halliday saw how he might survive the encounter. The dish protecting him was one of three in a line, each one arranged behind the