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upper stairwell?
    “Is she directly above me?” he asked Warp.
    For once , the techie’s answer was direct and prompt . “She’s two floors up , and thirty feet to the south of you.”
    “So , let’s get moving,” Grant urged as he joined Zach.
    If the junior agent thought that he had startled him, Fifer was greatly mistaken . Zach had picked up on his entrance a good two stories ago . T hose lifts inside Grant’s shoes must have given him away.
    “Took you long enough,” Zach grumbled. “Let’s go.”
    “Aren’t you going to bitch me out that I’m not guarding the back?”
    Zach rolled his eyes as he continued up the staircase . “If I’d needed you back there, I would have told you to follow me . Now , move ! ”
    “But it doesn’t make any sense,” Grant whined . “Why is she going up?”
    “Don’t know,” Warp said , and then quickly follow ed up . “ B ut we’ve got a new problem.”
    No, Zach thought . There were no other problems . Tonight was a problem-free zone until he caught her.
    “Um, yeah, guys, Interpol has requested that we take custody of an arsonist that tried to torch a Picasso at the El Paso M useum of Art .”
    Was that all ? A modern art critic with a Bic lighter ? That didn’t even register on Zach’s problem radar . “Can do , after we wrap up things here.”
    “More like now .”
    Was that Warp being bossy ? “Excuse me?”
    “Sorry, Hunt, but Interpol is working on behalf of the Vatican.” Zach was about to ask what in the hell that had to do with anything even remotely involving him , when Warp rushed on, “And the deputy said to cut an agent and have him head over to the museum.”
    “Just one?” he asked.
    “Just one.”
    With a savage grin, Zach turned to Grant . He could kill two birds with one stone . Make the deputy happy and ditch his partner.
    “Screw you ! ” Grant shot back, but his partner must have seen in Zach’s eyes that he wasn’t in the mood to be screwed with . The younger agent turned to obey , but couldn’t keep fro m mouthing off . “You know, one day they’re going to figure out that you’re trying to catch her for yourself — and not because of the warrant, asshole.”
    Not worrying about which statement was true, Zach headed up the stairs alone.
     
    * * *
     
    Ronnie hit the roof door at a run . She didn’t need to look at her watch to know that they were on her ass . She continued her flight across the dark roof as the firework s display reached its crescendo . Each explosion was brighter and larger than the last . And each time, as they were designed to do, her infrared glasses adjusted and avoided that completely uncivilized whiting - out normally associated with light bursts . She might even consider a raise for Quirk if he kept developing bleeding - edge technology like this.
    “South by southwest, right?” she asked as she geared up for the jump.
    “The wind is coming in from the east , so it should be an easy — ”
    Putting all her concentration into her leap, Ronnie didn’t hear Quirk’s next words . She was only steps away from the edge . Throwing her weight forward , she planted her lead leg and —
    A series of fireworks exploded one after another in blinding succession . A haze of white light obscured her vision . Disoriented, Ronnie tried to abort her jump, but there was no way . S he had built up way too much momentum . She tried to correct in midair, but her legs were forward . Waving her arms, desperate to shift her center of gravity, she felt herself start to lose altitude.
    In another breath , her lower body slammed into the edge of the other roof . She tried to force her upper half over the ledge, but gravity was a bitch and she slid down the brick wall . Flailing, somehow one hand caught the ledge . Forcing herself to remain calm, Ronnie grabbed the ledge with her other hand. Under that much pressure, her gloves ’ beads began snap ping and popping.
    “What in the hell are you doing out