Vertical Run

"If ever a novel bristled with sheer intrigue and suspense, it's Garber's Vertical Run .xa0xa0Fast-paced thrillers don't get any better than this!"-Clive Cussler From the Paperback edition. From the Inside Flap U had a killer workday. . . Get ready for the FASTEST thriller of the summer!Each morning in his 45th floor executive office, David Elliot savors the quiet moments until the workday begins.Until today, when his boss walks in and aims a gun at him.For the rest of the day, he will be trapped in his midtown office building, and everyone David Elliot meets will try to kill him.He has 24 hours to find out why. . .In Vertical Run , you can escape into a world on fast forward, a drama that plays out with electrifying intensity.xa0xa0No one who reads this book will ever see the office the same way again. Vertical Run is available now -- run for it! A Book-of-the-Month Club featured selection Soon to be a major motion picture from Warner Brothers and Peters Entertainment Company Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. On the morning of the day he disappeared, David Elliot awoke, as he did every weekday, at precisely 5:45 A.M.Dave slid his legs out from beneath Pratesi sheets.xa0xa0He glanced neutrally at where his wife, Helen, lay curled into a small, tight ball, on the right-hand side of the bed.xa0xa0The Panasonic clock radio on her nightstand was set for 8:20. By the time she awoke to her more cultured business day, he'd be in his midtown office, hard at work.He stepped into the closet and swept his Nikes, sweatsuit, socks, and headband off a shelf.xa0xa0Then, padding over to the long, low, far-too-modern bureau--the most recent fruit of Helen's obsessive redecorating--he fumbled a fanny pack out of a drawer, dropping a rolled-up change of underwear and his wallet, keys, and gold Rolex President watch into it.After visiting the guest bathroom to relieve himself and brush his teeth, he went to the kitchen.xa0xa0The Toshiba coffee maker's brew light glowed green.xa0xa0The timer's digital display read 5:48.xa0xa0He decanted the pot into a large enameled mug decorated with a picture of the 47 Ronin, the souvenir of a visit to the Sengakuji Temple during a business trip to Tokyo.xa0xa0He emptied the grounds from the brewer basket, filled the machine's reservoir, and reset the timer for 8:15.xa0xa0Helen needed her morning coffee just as much as he did.xa0xa0Or maybe more so--Helen was far from sociable upon rising, and it was not until she opened the doors of her Lexington Avenue gallery that she put on her best behavior.Warm, thick coffee slid down Dave's throat.xa0xa0He shivered with pleasure. Something soft brushed his pajama leg.xa0xa0Dave reached down to tickle the cat's chin. "Bon matin, ma belle," he said, knowing that all cats speak French of preference.xa0xa0The cat, who was named Apache, arched her neck, stretched, and purred.Helen loathed Apache's name.xa0xa0She had insisted more than once that Dave change it.xa0xa0Second marriages produce more compromises than first marriages.xa0xa0Dave knew that, and knew that he should accede to his wife's request.xa0xa0But a cat's name is a cat's name; it has nothing to do with its owner's wishes.xa0xa0And so after five years of marriage Dave still called the animal "Apache," while Helen (who, being blonde, was used to having her way) icily referred to it as "that cat."On Saturdays and Sundays, Dave ran west, jogging across Fifty-seventh Street to Fifth Avenue, then north to Central Park.xa0xa0On those days, the running was purest pleasure.xa0xa0There were fewer menacing crazies on the street--or so it seemed--and the runner could concentrate on running.Less so the weekdays.xa0xa0No matter how you ran, no matter where you ran, watchfulness was called for.xa0xa0Certain blocks were to be avoided; alleys were a risk; none but the reckless jogged beneath bridges and overpasses; nor did the prudent begin their runs before dawn.xa0xa0On a morning run even a man like David Elliot, a man who did not have an enemy in the world, sometimes glanced warily over his shoulder.His workday route took him east on Fifty-seventh to Sutton Place, then north on York Avenue until he reached a pedestrian bridge across FDR Drive.xa0xa0He ran up the path by the East River until he reached the high Nineties.xa0xa0Once there, he turned south again, retracing his steps.xa0xa0After crossing the bridge a second time, he jogged west to Park Avenue, and then south to the corner of Fiftieth and Park.It usually was just after 7:00 A.M. when he entered his office.As an executive vice president of his company, David Elliot was entitled to, and enjoyed, the perquisites of rank.xa0xa0His forty-fifth floor suite consisted of eight hundred square feet of expensively understated space, a walk-in closet, a discreet wet bar, and a full bathroom with tub and shower.Dave liked his water hot.xa0xa0Steam filled the bathroom as he lathered himself from top to bottom twice over.xa0xa0Still in the shower, he took a Gillette safety razor and a can of shaving cream from the shelf above the spigots.xa0xa0He never used a mirror when shaving, and hadn't for so long he couldn't remember.xa0xa0It was another habit he had picked up in a war unwillingly remembered.7:20 A.M.David Elliot, with a towel around his waist, stepped out of the bathroom and into his office.xa0xa0On the mahogany credenza behind his matching mahogany desk, a Toshiba brewer, the twin of the model at home, beeped three times, signaling that his coffee was ready.xa0xa0Dave filled a chocolate-brown mug with it.xa0xa0The cup was decorated with a raised, angular, silver-enameled design: the Senterex corporate logo.Dave took a sip and sighed.xa0xa0Life without coffee is too awful to contemplate.He noticed, damnit, that the watercolor over his credenza was askew. Every week or two, some dust-rag-wielding vandal from the nightly cleaning crew knocked the thing sideways.xa0xa0It was a minor irritation, but one that was growing in its power to annoy.Almost invariably Dave was the first person in the office--or at least the first in the executive suite.xa0xa0 Bernie Levy, master of the corporate ship, didn't show up until 8:00 or so, his limousine leaving Short Hills, New Jersey, at 6:50 sharp.xa0xa0The rest of the executive cadre drifted in between 8:15 and 8:45, depending on what train they caught from Greenwich, Scarsdale, or Darien, and always much conditional upon that train running on time.xa0xa0The first of the secretaries arrived at 8:30 punctually.For this reason, Dave knew he could, as was his unvarying morning habit, lounge buck naked (but for a towel) at his desk, savoring the day's second cup of coffee, and studying the pages of The Wall Street Journal .Several peaceful minutes later, with a third cup of coffee in his hand, he ambled into his walk-in closet to select his suit for the day. Today he chose a lightweight tan, almost khaki, number.xa0xa0Although the brutal humidity of the past summer had broken, the late September weather was still warm.xa0xa0Dave's wool suits would remain on their hangers for a few weeks longer.With suit pants donned and belted, and feet comfortably placed in soft, glove leather Bally loafers, Dave unwrapped a fresh, starched white shirt.xa0xa0He put it on, and after some consideration selected from his tie rack a pale yellow tie with a blue motif.xa0xa0A full-length mirror backed Dave's closet door.xa0xa0He pulled the door three-quarters closed so that he could study himself. Never learned how to knot a tie without a mirror, did you? his guardian angel asked.He looked himself over carefully. Not bad.xa0xa0Not bad at all. His waistline hadn't changed since college.xa0xa0Forty-seven years old, but looking younger than that. Oh, you handsome dog, you're going to live forever. Dave nodded as if in agreement.xa0xa0The daily jogging, the two nights a week workout with weights, no smoking but for an occasional and much prized cigar, a diet about which even Helen couldn't complain, alcohol comsumption that was modest by any..."Davy?"The questioning voice came from the office behind him--Bernie Levy's voice, its gruff Brooklyn accent unmistakable.xa0xa0Dave glanced at his Rolex.xa0xa07:43.xa0xa0Traffic must have been light this morning.xa0xa0Senterex's chairman and CEO was in the office well ahead of schedule.xa0xa0Dave shrugged on his jacket, nudged his tie knot imperceptibly to the left, and gripping his coffee cup, pushed open the closet door."Yes, Bernie.xa0xa0What's up?"Bernie was facing away from the closet.xa0xa0Dave didn't see his gun until he turned around. From the Paperback edition. Read more