Page 83 of The Twins

Jamie took the first shot at his head.

I followed up with another one just to be sure.

He slumped forward, the life gone from him by the time he hit the deck.

The girl screamed, her hands trembling beside her blood-splattered face.

“Hey, hey.” Jamie rushed to her, his weapon at his side. “It’s okay, it’s okay. We won’t hurt you.”

She spoke to the other girls. A language I didn’t recognize. She was shaking violently and sobbing.

“Where are you from?” Jamie asked, putting his hand on her shoulder. “Do you speak English?”

“Romania.” Her quivering voice was heavily accented. “And I do, but not them, they don’t speak a word.”

“Okay, well, can you tell them to get up, you’re coming with us, we’ll get you to safety,” Jamie said.

She spoke rapidly and went to them, held out her hands.

One of them replied, eyeing us suspiciously. Her cheeks were wet with tears.

“She says how can we trust you?”

I dropped my mask. Did my best to smile. “We just saved you from this asshole, didn’t we?”

She didn’t answer.

“What’s your name?” Jamie asked.

“Sorenna.”

“Sorenna, we’re the good guys, I promise.” Jamie managed a much better smile than mine, all expensive teeth and A-list charm.

“You promise?” she said.

“Promise, we’ve got a van outside, a doctor, too. We’ll get you checked out. Take you to a safe house, in the city. Then you can make plans to get home.”

This seemed to persuade her, and she relayed the information to the other girls.

“Come on.” I glanced at the door. “Let’s go.”

Jamie bent over the dead body on the floor. He patted his clothing and pulled out an iPhone. Quickly, he unlocked it using the dead man’s face then tapped the screen. “Just changing thepasscode,” he said with a quick glance at me. “This could be useful.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

Another shot rang out. “Come on.” I gestured to the girls. “And stay close behind me.”

I went back the way I’d come, retracing my steps through the low-ceilinged farmhouse. A cat shot out in front of me and raced up a set of narrow stairs.

“Phil and Dalton must be behind us, out back,” Jamie said.

“That’s good, means we have a clear run to the van.”

I looked across the square cobbled yard. Cillian appeared, running my way, gun held ready.

“Who is that?” Sorenna asked with a frown.

“My twin, another good guy.” There was no other movement, not from the stables or shed-like stores.