Page 65 of Two Kinds of Stranger (Eddie Flynn #9)

Bloch

As she spun round, Bloch levelled her weapon at the door.

She hadn’t heard a shot. Whoever fired must’ve been using a suppressor.

She caught a glimpse of a man in the doorway, wearing black. A gun in his hand.

A scar on his chin.

Bloch fired.

Lake fired.

The doorframe exploded in clouds of dust and wood splinters as the man ducked back into the hallway. Bloch moved to the right, keeping low, narrowing the angle. Lake dived onto the ground, lay flat, gun trained on the doorway.

‘It’s him,’ said Bloch.

A voice came from the hallway.

‘I don’t have much time. Send out the witness and I’ll let you both live.’

‘Come and get him,’ said Lake.

Keeping her gun trained on the doorway with one hand, Bloch reached into her jacket, took out her phone and brought the screen to life. It still had the feed from the camera in the hallway.

They saw the man, back to the wall, inching forward toward the door. She put the phone on the ground.

She took Maggie two-handed, looked at the phone.

Looked at the wall just to the right of the doorway.

Adjusted her aim.

Squeezed the trigger.

Maggie bucked in her hands.

She looked at the phone, saw a blow-out of plaster on the other side of the wall, right at the man’s left shoulder. For a second, he disappeared in a cloud, but she saw him duck down, clutching his left arm.

Bloch adjusted her aim.

The man set off running for the stairs, just as Bloch let off another round. She followed his trajectory, firing through the wall as he vaulted the railing, dropping down a flight of stairs.

‘Go,’ said Bloch, but Lake was already moving.

Before she followed him out of the apartment, she put in her AirPods and hit dial on Eddie’s cell phone. She glanced at Bruno.

He was already dead.

Eddie picked up as Bloch started running.

‘What’s happening?’ said Eddie.

‘Bruno is down. The stranger appeared. I tagged him in the arm but he’s on the run. We’re in pursuit. Get down here right now.’