Harry sprints after him, gun tucked in his shorts. He's not planning on just apprehending him, either.

Mike heads for the hotel (not the tower, the regular hotel) and keeping to his promise, he cuts a clear path of wounded tourists to get there.

Not using this homicidal means of retreat, Harry is getting hung up on the hoardes of freaked-out tourists running for their lives.

As the bullets continue to fly, Jess' phone rings...it's Koskov.

"Hello again. I was just confirming a few things with my intelligence sources. What I can tell you is that Samantha is working for the wrong side. My people have been investigating her for the past few years. The plans they stole from the train were just a decoy...something to see if they were as capable as we believed they were. You were there, so I don't have to tell you the answer. I had a few agents trail her to Las Vegas. Their investigation was going well until I found out both operatives were found dead in their hotel rooms last night. Right now, you're the best chance we have of stopping her and her organization. I have reason to believe Samantha is going to leave the country today."

"Thank you for the information, General. I'll see to it that this information reaches the right ears. If you'll excuse me now, one of our targets appears to be too stupid to lie down and die, so we're off on a little educational mission."

"Very well. Call me when you have a chance. We may be of some help to eachother."

Brian tunes to the open channel frequency on the SWAT radio.

"Middle aged male suspect, armed with pistol proceeding toward main hotel. Officers please assist in apprehending. Repeat. Middle aged male suspect, armed with pistol proceeding toward main hotel. Officers please assist in apprehending."

Moments later, another voice comes over the chatter.

Roger that. Charlie Squad investigate possible shooter heading for the hotel. Over?

Copy that, command. Charlie Squad moving in from tower. Will be there in one-five seconds.

Harry frantically tries to find where the hell Mike went. The onrush of people in all directions doesn't help the matter. As he catches what he thinks is the crewcut mug of Mike, someone runs right into Harry. The impact of two people colliding head-on knocks Harry to the ground. When his head stops spinning and the double vision subsides, he realizes what just happened.

Ugh...did someone get the license plate of the bus that just hit me??? FUCK! Where did Mike go?!

Harry gets on his team radio.

Just outside the hotel

Brian, Jess, and Artis wait impatiently for some sort of situation report from anyone. Harry's voice comes over their ear radios.

"Guys. I've lost him...dammit. I've lost him. I think he may have gone inside the hotel. I dunno. I'm still kinda seeing two of everything right now. Over?"

"Understood. I think it's time to cut our losses, retreat, and stock some silver bullets for next time."

"Nighthawk, keep looking for him. I'll look for any cars out here. Get the pigs on the hotel exits."

With that said, I take off at a run towards Harry's position, keeping an eye out for any rapidly retreating vehicles.

Brian spreads the word to the authorities as the rest of the team fans out in their hunt for Mike.

What seems like an eternity goes by with no viable contacts from eithe the team or the LVPD. About 10 minutes after the initial "lockdown" command was given, Brian hears some chatter over one of the police bans.

Command. This is Charlie-One-Niner. I have a woman here in the underground parking garage who claims that her car, a white Oldsmobile, was just stolen. The description she gave matches Decker. She also says the "the bastard stole my Keno money too", over?

Roger that, Charlie-One-Niner. Bring her out front for further questioning. Command out.

(Edited by Dieter at 3:54 pm on Mar. 4, 2003)

Artis takes the initiative, walking up to the police line and speaking to local Fox affiliate reporter saying,

"I'm Sgt. Hawking, LVPD. Our chopper went down and we need you and your compatriots in the sky's help tracking our suspect."

The reporter, like a shark smelling fresh blood in the water, immediately grabs Artis by the arm.

I have Sgt. Hawking of the LVPD. He has just asked to commandeer our NewsChopper 9 helicopter in attempt to apprehend the cold blooded killer, Mike Decker. My producer is telling me to head for the far parking lot where NewsChopper 9 will be ready to help bring this criminal to justice! This is Debbie Armstrong reporting live from The Stratosphere..

Brian and Jess take off in NewsChopper 9 as Harry and Artis hop in the Hummer.

This is Debbie Armstrong now reporting live above Las Vegas from NewsChopper 9 with continuing coverage of what could be described as the greatest duel in the desert since Wyatt Earp and Tombstone. Sitting next to me are two of our town's "marshals". What are your names for our audience and how long have you been with the LVPD?

On the ground it's a lighter affair with absolutely no glitz to speak of. Artis knew Decker was probably going to take the most expeditious route out of town. He'd been down that road before, but this time he was the predator, not the prey.

"I'm Julia Luther, civilian attache to Interpol's "Operation Decker". I'm a profiler who knows the mindset of the demented pair like nobody else, and was thus at the hotel when they attempted an arrest. Due to a misunderstanding over the comms, the entry - which was supposed to be a covert operation as to not disturb anyone - went awry, and the rest of the SWAT team was called in to arrest the Deckers, no matter the cost. Sergeant Nicholson (pointing at Brian), was with the original strike team as local liason and took some flak - which is pretty much the real reason why he's hurt. I was at the comms outside together with a few of my associates from Interpol who had waited outside in case the SWAT team screwed up. One of them, Daniel (aka Harry) attempted to pursue Mike when he saw him. That didn't work out, that's when we radioed the SWAT team, and they gave us the final hint. That brings us up to our current situation."

NewsChopper 9 follows the Hummer in its pursuit of Mike. Just before Artis and Harry get to the You are now leaving Las Vegas sign, Harry spots the Oldsmobile in question. Standing next to it looks like a very pissed off female, probably in her late-twenties.

Artis pulls up to the right of the Olds, putting the lady between the Hummer and the Olds then rolls down the window.

"What kind of car was stolen and which way did he go?

The lady looks a bit pissed at the whole situation, but composes herself enough for an answer.

"Er..um. He took my Acura. Aw geez, I just had it washed. Wait a second, who the hell are you people and why is that helicopter flying over us?!"

Artis then puts a fine point on the situation, mostly in the form of his USP in her face.

"Oh Jeesus! You're with him, aren't you?! Look, he already has my car and is probably miles from here. Isn't that enough?"

She begins to cry. It looks honest enough.

"We're trying to kill him, because he's a bad man. Now, if you could be a real sweetie, maybe you could tell us what color was your car, and which way did he go?"

The gal wipes tears from her eyes and gives a description of her car.

"It's a '95 Acura NSX. Cherry Red with white interior. It's a Nevada license plate with the phrase HTSTUFF on it. I love that car. I think it had about half a tank, I'm not sure. He peeled out of here heading towards Henderson. If you do find the guy, kick him in the crotch for me. And if you could get me the car back in one piece, my insurance would really appreciate it."

She seems very sincere in her deposition, then again looks a bit pissed.

"Well??? What the fuck are you people looking at me for...find the asshole who stole my car and put a bullet in him. But watch the paint...k??"

(Edited by Dieter at 10:18 pm on Mar. 5, 2003)

"Not fucking likely," I reply, leaving her in a rapidly-expanding dust cloud as I peel out for Henderson (relaying the info to the chopper).

Jess listens to Art's information, then turns to the chopper crew.

"It appears that Decker has changed his car. Everyone keep their eyes open for a red sportscar, a 1995 Acura NSX."

She then takes the opportunity for a bit of psychobabble.

"I must say, this is a quite typical behavioral structure of Decker. He has a certain fascination for fast cars, and he's been spending a lot of his time escaping from arrest, so changing cars during a chase is like an automated habit of his. Personally, I'm currently trying to link this kind of reckless behaviour to his traumatic combat experiences. As far as I can ascertain, he had a relapse into his youth and developed a split personality, like a freak case of shizophrenia. He's torn between two archetypes, the Child and the Soldier. His real personality has probably suffered irreperable damage that no amount of therapy could hope to overcome. Of course, it's complicated to really make a diagnosis from afar. If you'll forgive me my morbid fascination, I'd really like to get my hands on him and find out what makes him tick. As I said, I have a few good theories, that's why we were able to follow his track..."

Ten or so minutes go by with nothing more than more to show than a psycho-babbling redhead and a very ticked off wheelman in Humvee.

Passing the road sign Henderson 15 miles, Harry spots the Acura in question parked outside Cowboy Tom's Steer-N-Beer.

Artis gets the number for the bar and calls.

"Hello this is the LVPD is there a person (matching Mike's description) in the bar?"

A gruff voice replies.

"Sorry, we're not serving pig...I mean bacon on the menu tonight."

*click*

(Edited by Dieter at 1:38 pm on Mar. 6, 2003)