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His instinct was to go on the offense, but he was not as fast or strong as he had been a couple of months ago and, if the intruder was carrying, he was going to have trouble avoiding repeated fire in an enclosed space.

As he ran through his options, the intruder seemed to realize he had lost the advantage of surprise, and suddenly retreated, turning and sprinting down the hallway. His rubber-soled footsteps pounded on the parquet floors.

Archie sprang from concealment, racing after him, poker in hand.

“FBI. Halt.”

Only once in his entire career had anyone actually halted when he yelled halt, so Archie was not surprised when the intruder vanished through the kitchen doorway. Archie reached the kitchen in time to nearly crash over a fallen chair that was sent skidding in his direction. He leaped over the chair, and hurled the poker at the back of the intruder as he reached the back door.

The poker hit the figure in black squarely across his shoulders. The man grunted, staggered, but made it out the door, jumping down the short flight of steps and fleeing across the wet grass toward the drive and the street beyond.

Archie followed, also springing over the steps, wincing as he landed, but giving chase through the gloom. He was swearing, his heart banging with anger and adrenaline.

He was not going to be able to sustain this pace for long; his muscles were already burning. He sped up and managed to gain a few feet as they burst out of the drive onto the sidewalk, the other still a few feet ahead.

Out of the corner of his eye, Archie glimpsed the black outline of a police vehicle approaching from the left. He put his fingers to his lips, sucked in enough breath to whistle. The SUV’s red and blue flashers came on.

The intruder, with Archie on his heels, launched himself across the street—straight into the path of a car approaching from the right.

Chapter Fifteen

The silver sedan seemed to materialize, without warning, out of the gloom.

Partly because the car’s headlights weren’t on.

Pads screeched and tires squealed as the driver slammed on the brakes, swerving left. Archie jumped backwards, gasping, “Shit…”

The intruder dove right, managing to land half on the hood with a loud bang, before springing away. The driver accelerated, grazing Archie’s hands, before speeding off down the street. Impact sent Archie stumbling; he tripped over the curb and tumbled back onto the strip of grass between the street and sidewalk.

Fuck.

Instinctively, he managed to curl his arms protectively around his head to cushion his skull, but he still saw stars. For a winded second or two he didn’t move, listening to the outraged pound of his heart in his ears. He took a quick, alarmed assessment and then rolled over, pushed dizzily upright on rubbery arms. He took a cautious, experimental breath, sat back down on the grass.

Not good but it could have been a lot worse.

“Crane? Archie?”

Archie looked around for the source of that shout and spotted the red and blue swirl of police “cherries and berries”.

“Crane!” Beau stared at Archie from over the top of the SUV. “Are. You. Injured? Are you okay?”

Archie did not have the breath to answer. He jabbed his finger in the direction the intruder had gone, and Beau ducked back in his vehicle, hit the siren, and took off in pursuit. Seven seconds later, his red taillights vanished around a corner.

Archie swore again, drew in a couple of experimental breaths, again gathered himself to stand, and again sank back into the prickly wet grass. Nope. Not going to happen.

His muscles were trembling in a kind of palsy; every nerve in his body throbbed and pulsed in affront.

He swore with quiet ferocity.

But the truth was both Beau and the intruder were already out of sight. He was not going to be of any use in the pursuit.

He took a couple more cautious breaths, gazing up at the stars twinkling high overhead.

“On the bright side…”

But yes, on the bright side, he had not been hit full-on by the asshole in the sedan.

He had not been ambushed in John’s study, he had not been killed in a hit and run. Things were definitely looking up.