Near Miss

The man staggered backward as a dark spot grew on his chest. He looked at his shirt, confused, then collapsed two feet away from Stone, unmoving.

Stone heard feet running toward him and swung the gun toward the sound.

“It’s me,” Carly said.

Stone lowered his weapon.

“Did we get them all?” she asked.

“No,” he said, nodding at the nearby door, “one of them went through there. Let’s get out of here before he comes back.”

As Stone pushed himself to his feet, the door at the far end of the ballroom banged open.

Dial, aka Teddy Fay, had been assigned guard duty on the hotel service entrance, with three other men. Two were stationed outside, while he and the remaining guard were to keep watch inside. As soon as they’d taken their positions and his partner looked the other way, Teddy shot him in the head, then stepped into the doorway and did the same to the other two.

He whirled around and hurried in the direction the Sarge and the other men had gone, soon spotting two more of the Sarge’s men guarding a stairwell door. He dropped them with head shots before they knew he was there.

As he stepped into the stairwell, muffled gunshots echoed down from above.

Teddy raced up the stairs.

Korolev had watched the Sarge and his people enter the hotel from atop a building on the other side of the alley, and then witnessed one of the Sarge’s men come back out and shoot the two who were guarding the door.

What the hell?

He made his way down to the alley and sneaked up to the hotel service entrance. It only took one glance to confirm both lookouts were dead.

Through the partially opened doorway, he heard several distant gunshots, and immediately retreated down the alley and called the Bean Counter.

“I don’t know what the Sarge’s plan is,” he told his boss, “but I don’t think a gunfight inside the hotel is a part of it.”

“Come get me,” the Bean Counter said. “It’s time to clean up this mess.”

Chapter 71

With no time to hide anywhere else, Stone grabbed Carly by the arm and pulled her to the doorway the man who’d been carrying him had disappeared through.

“Stay low,” he said and pushed the door open.

He expected to find a corridor or another ballroom on the other side, instead they rushed onto an outdoor deck that served as a restaurant dining area. Though it, too, was affected by the blackout, there was enough residual city light for Stone to make out the darkened forms of tables and chairs and a bar. There were also people, too; at least two dozen. Some had phone flashlights on, and all were murmuring excitedly about the loss of power.

“Who’s there?” a voice called from several feet away. Stone instantly recognized it as that of the man who’d been carrying him.

Stone took Carly’s hand and quietly led her away from the door, in the opposite direction from where the voice had come. They found a row of wide urns filled with plants and slipped behind them.

“Adams, is that you?” the man called.

“I’m sorry,” one of the nearby diners said. “Are you talking to me?”

Ignoring him, Sarge’s man said, “Whoever you are, I know you’re here.”

“Hey, this blackout is scary enough without you talking like that,” the diner said.

“Shut up or I’ll show you how scary I can be.”

The diner shot up out of his chair, and he and his companion moved farther into the dining area.

A flashlight flicked on in approximately the same place the mercenary’s voice was coming from. The beam swung to the door then across the floor toward the urns, tracking the path Stone and Carly had taken.

Stone stuck his gun between two urns, aimed at the light, and pulled his trigger.

Two things happened simultaneously. The flashlight beam twisted wildly, before whipping around and pointing back Stone and Carly’s way. And though Stone’s gun had a silencer, the sound of the shot was still loud enough to cause several people in the restaurant to scream. This, in turn, motivated the rest of the diners and the staff to rush toward the main exit, knocking over tables and chairs as they went.

“Nice try, asshole,” the mercenary said over the cacophony, clearly uninjured.

His gun fired, and an urn just to Stone and Carly’s left exploded into a million pieces.

As Stone raised his pistol to try again, Carly whispered, “You’re a terrible shot. Let me.”

Before he could reply, she fired, her unsilenced weapon booming across the deck.

The man grunted, and the flashlight beam arced upward and then went out as both it and the man crashed to the ground.

“Not bad,” Stone said.

“It’s really not that hard.”

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Stone had expected to hear more screaming, but it appeared everyone had made their escape. Which was exactly what he and Carly needed to do.

“Come on,” Stone said.

He grabbed Carly’s hand again, and they moved into the dining area, weaving through the tables toward the exit.

A moment after the ballroom door was pulled open, Sarge and his men heard another door across the room open and close, and after that silence.

“Team three!” Sarge called into the room.

Nothing.