Page 106 - Labelle Gramercy, On the Case

Overtime

WarpMaster class seven with two hundred hours of WarpTime! Get
it off her before she goes psychotic!”
We both reached for the helmet, but Labelle’s arms came up
suddenly and blocked us. She deftly punched a couple of buttons and
the unit stopped cold. She took it off and instantly her fingers were
on her computer.
“Okay, he’s getting off the elevator on the ground floor. There.
He’s invoked the Y2K test procedure that locks down the building
systems. That’s all I needed.” She leaped up and over the table, not a
bit disoriented, and dashed down the hallway. Maud Lynn fainted. I
caught her and let her down slowly on the sofa. Events were
happening in a jumble; I can barely remember their order.
It was suddenly quite dim in the building, I realized. The lights and
air conditioning had stopped. Voices from offices and cubicles cried
out in dismay and frustration as power to computers was abruptly
severed. I followed the trail of emergency lights to the elevators. I
pushed both the up and down buttons. Nothing. Then it struck me.
This was the spot Kates had died. I recoiled and staggered toward the
emergency stairway. A large picture window with a potted palm
arrested my progress. I looked down on the plaza below. Beau was
running at top speed toward his convertible, parked in the executive
spaces just outside the building.
Then I saw Labelle, rocketing out of the building at an oblique
angle. They were like balls at a miniature golf course, popping out of
different chutes onto the green depending on where they had started
on the trick fairway above. Despite her clothing and shoes, she
gained on Beau, finally vaulting over a Mercedes and bringing him
down with some sort of kick to the back of his legs. A moment later
he was handcuffed to his own rearview mirror.
And that was the beginning of the end of the deal between P&L
and TimeWarper. Perry Farragut, who had used Beau as a front man
for this sort of shady deal at their previous employer, and who had,
indeed, obtained his job with us based on P&L’s recommendation,
turned state’s evidence and nailed Beau in court. I occasionally
wonder what would have happened if Perry had showed up first for
that meeting—but I do not doubt that Labelle would have found a
way to snare him. Looking back I realize that either of them could
have set Kates up in that death trap. As vice presidents, they had all

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