Page 161 of Hush

Hehadto live.

Breathing hard, Tom veered into the meadow, sprinting as hard as he could, as fast as he could propel his body.

Behind him, the sounds of Barnes’s pursuit faded. Was he pulling away?

A gunshot exploded.

Fire burned across his right shoulder, slammed into his shoulder blade, his armpit. He screamed and went down, thrown to the ground by the shot tearing into him. He got a face full of dirt as he rolled, arms and legs akimbo as he tore through the golden meadow grass.

Screaming again, he reached for his shoulder. Blood soaked his hand. He felt warm drops slide down his chest, his back. Soak his shirt. Sounds swam, and the meadow grass went triple, fading in and out of sight. He’d been shot in the back. Barnes had shot him. Barnes was going to kill him, right here, in the meadow.

He staggered to his feet and tried to run. A second gunshot cracked, and he dropped reflexively, trying to become one with the dirt. He shouted as he fell, his wounded shoulder slamming into the ground.

“Judge Brewer!” Breathless, Barnes jogged up behind him. “Damn it, Judge. Why’d you have to run?”

Tom rolled over. Barnes was moving in close, his gun at the low and ready. “What did you do, Lucas? You’re working with theRussians?”

Barnes sighed, long and low. “You shouldn’t know that, Judge. ItoldPasha he couldn’t talk to you.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry. You weren’t supposed to get hurt in all this. But when you identified Pasha…” Barnes shrugged. “It’s really just dumb luck that you got this trial. You’re the only one who could have identified Pasha Baryshnikov based off Kryukov’s description.”

He squeezed his eyes closed. Of course. All the people who’d told him to let this trial go, get rid of it. Were they all in on it? Had the whole world gone bad?

“What about Kryukov? Why did he even give that description? Isn’t he in on it, too?”

Barnes shook his head. He kept his gun trained on Tom, but fished out his cell phone from his pocket. A few swipes, and then he pressed the screen.

Tom’s own voice blared from his phone’s speaker. “No… Mike… please. Don’t do this. Don’t do this! No!” Muffled scuffling followed, and then a crash, and a scream. The audio ended.

“That’snotme. Ineversaid that. I never saidanythinglike that.”

“Voice hacking. It’s the new thing. We can clone any voice these days. As long as there’s enough audio of the target’s voice, a computer can analyze your pitch and inflection. Recreate your voice, and synthesize a perfect copy. We can make you say anything.” He waggled the phone again, and then shoved it back in his pocket. “There were enough videos of Kryukov giving his speeches against the Russian government to clone his voice. Then we hired Desheriyev.” He smiled. “Got rid of two problems at once. Kryukov and Desheriyev will go down for this. They’re the perfect cutout. They don’t know a damn thing about what’s really going on.”

“You won’t get away with this.” How many hopeless victims had spouted those words before? Were they the universal last words of the desperate who knew their demise was imminent? Who were staring at death, straight down the literal barrel of the gun?

But his words were all he had. As an attorney, as a judge, and now, bleeding in the dirt. Worthless words.

“You’ll disappear. This recording will end up on a voicemail. An investigation will show that Mike Lucciano attacked you and then fled. He’ll be a wanted man for the next sixty years. No one will know he’s already gone.”

Tom’s heart, already broken, shattered to dust. He gasped, closing his eyes, and let the tears fall.Mike… I wanted forever with you. I should have walked away from the trial. You’d still be alive. You’re more important than all of this.

“Iamsorry, Judge Brewer.” Barnes raised his weapon, aiming for Tom’s head. “I’ll make it quick.”

Tom flinched. He whimpered, waiting for the end. Would he feel it? Or would there just be sudden blackness, never-ending darkness?

A gunshot rang out. He held his breath.

Barnes cursed and dropped to his knee. Tom heard it, heard him fall, hit the ground. He opened his eyes. Barnes was kneeling, looking back over his shoulder.

This was his chance! He started to scoot away, crawl back on his elbows. His shot shoulder gave out, and he crumpled to the dirt. But still, he tried to scrabble away.

Barnes fixed his gun back on him. “Come out!” he shouted. “Or I’ll kill him right now!”

Tom followed Barnes’s line of sight back to the tree line. For a moment, he hoped. God, he hoped.Please, Mike, please. Please have survived!

Villegas picked his way out of the trees, his weapon up and ready to fire. He had Barnes in his sights as he moved into the meadow. “Barnes.”

“Inspector Villegas.” Barnes smiled. “Nice to see you.”

Villegas was silent. His eyes flicked to Tom and then back to Barnes. “What’s going on here?”