Stalker's Luck (Solitude Saga Book 1) (16 page)

“Is that him?” Eddie said.

“That’s him.” Knox scrolled through the data. “Roy Williams. It’s…huh.”

“What?”

“Maybe this console wasn’t as well-preserved as I thought.”

Eddie’s head throbbed. “What are you saying?”

“Some of the data’s corrupted. I might be able to patch it up, but—”

“Do you have to do that here?”

“I can transfer it and work on it from another computer.”

“Then do it,” Eddie said. “I want to get the hell out of here before trouble shows up.”

“You know, I think we’ve found the one thing we can agree on. We’re becoming fast friends.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Eddie said.

17

Dom breathed easy, putting Feleti Leone’s head in the crosshairs of her rifle’s scope. She knelt at the edge of the roof of the Forbidden Casino, her rifle resting on its bipod on the low wall surrounding the edge of the roof. The air stank of exhaust fumes from the busted atmosphere regulator off to her right. It was making a shitty situation even more unbearable.

“All right, the can opener says we’re done here,” Eddie’s voice hissed through her earpiece. “Heading out now.”

“Make it snappy,” Dom said. “This bastard’s getting agitated.”

Leone threw glares out the window in her general direction. She’d kill him if she had to. But she’d really rather not. As much as she expected Leone’s wrath to come back on them, it’d be a hundred times worse if she gave his lackeys cause for revenge. Especially when Eddie and Knox were still inside the Crimson Curtain.

Damn it, Eddie. Why the hell did you have to go and get yourself captured?
Williams’ tip-off was only part of it. Eddie had deviated from the plan. And now she had to bail him out. He’d put the entire contract at risk.

Her shoulder was starting to ache where the rifle butt had slammed against her. The heavy rifle was a hell of a thing to lug around, even for her, and she hadn’t had time to pick an optimal location to shoot from. Her legs were cramping up. Her eyes were also feeling the strain.

She brought her face away from the scope for a moment and rubbed her eyes with her left hand. As she lowered her arm, she caught a tiny flash of light coming from the eighteenth floor of the Crimson Curtain.

Shit
.

She threw herself to the roof as a bullet slammed into the low wall in front of her. The surface crumbled and flung jagged chunks through the air as the round tore through. White dust puffed up. A moment later, another bullet whined above her head, followed by the boom of a rifle shot.

She grabbed the rifle, held it against her, and rolled away, using the low wall for cover as two more shots hit. A fragment of concrete bounced off her duster coat.

“Taking fire,” she yelled into her microphone. “They’ve got a sniper on me.” She stuck her head up, bringing her rifle with her. She looked through the scope. Leone and his goons were gone from the room. “Shit, Leone’s run for it. Get the hell out of there.”

She ducked again as the sniper took another shot. She couldn’t get her head up long enough to line up a shot on him.

Knox’s swearing trickled through her earpiece, but it was just background noise. As the boom of the last sniper shot faded, she heard the clang of bootsteps on the service stairs behind her.

“I’m bugging out,” Dom said. “You’re on your own. Meet at the rendezvous. Out.”

She stared at her rifle for a split second, growled, and tossed it. It was her best rifle. And her most expensive. Fucking Eddie. She was going to kill him for making her save his sorry arse.

She snatched up her Marauder submachine gun and popped her head up for a second. Another shot rang out as she ducked.
Now
. She stood and sprinted for the service stairs, weaving as she ran. A bullet slammed into the ground at her feet. Chunks of concrete exploded outwards, slicing open a cut on her calf. She ignored the burn and ran.

Without slowing, she lowered her shoulder and slammed into the door to the service stairs. The lock splintered and she flew inside, colliding with the wall on the other side. She stared down the dimly lit, narrow stairs at the surprised faces of four red-suited goons clasping pistols and shotguns.

She squeezed the trigger of her Marauder, spraying from the hip. The front three thugs fell in spurts of blood and red mist. The fourth, saved from the worst of the hail of lead by the bodies of his friends, only took one in the shoulder before he raised his pistol and returned fire.

Burning pain cut through her jaw. She stumbled back as another bullet slammed into the wall behind her. She snarled through the pain and opened fire. The staccato flash of the muzzle strobed in the dark staircase. Through it she watched the fourth man fall with his mouth open, red wounds opening in his chest. The magazine ran dry and darkness returned. Her ears rang with the echoing sound of gunfire. The familiar scents of blood and gunsmoke mingled in her nostrils.

Wetness dripped from her jaw. She touched the side of her face and jerked her hand away as electric pain lanced through her. The cut was deep, going to the bone. She wasn’t going to be attending any balls for a while. What a shame. She pushed aside the sickening pain, slammed another magazine into her gun, and stumbled down the stairs around the bodies of Leone’s goons.

18

Eddie swore and stepped into the elevator, dragging Knox in with him.

“What’d she say?” the augment asked.

“Trouble.” He jabbed the elevator button. The doors slid closed and the elevator began to descend. “Where’s the rendezvous?”

“Get me out of here alive and I’ll tell you.”

Eddie bared his teeth and opened his mouth. Then the elevator jerked to a halt. An alarm blared overhead.
Shit
.

“They’re locking the place down,” he said. He pressed the button a couple more times, then slammed the butt of his gun against it. Nothing. “Can you do something about this?”

“Give me a second.” Knox ripped a panel off the wall and jacked himself in.

Boots stomped outside the elevator. They stopped. He heard voices muffled by the thick doors and almost drowned out by the alarm. The doors slid open a crack. Fingers wrapped around the edges and pulled. Someone was prying the doors apart.

Through the gap, Eddie spotted two pairs of legs and the black sheen of a couple of guns. The elevator was suspended between two floors. Not enough space to wriggle out the bottom as Leone’s people slowly pulled the doors apart.

Eddie jammed his gun into the widening gap and squeezed the trigger. The crack of the gunshot was followed by a yelp of pain. The fingers disappeared. A shotgun boomed and pellets slammed into the elevator wall behind him. Gritting his teeth against the ringing in his ears and the ache in his ribs, Eddie angled his gun and fired a couple more shots. Shotgun blasts answered.

The elevator whirred to life again. Eddie tugged his hands inside the elevator as it began to descend. He leaned back against the wall, breathing heavily. Knox was licking his lips, eyes wide.

“You all right?” Eddie said.

The augment didn’t answer.

“Hey.” Eddie grabbed Knox’s shoulders. “Look at me. Are you hit?”

Knox blinked a few times, his remaining eye focussing on Eddie’s face. He shook his head quickly. “No. No, I don’t think so.” He put his finger in his ear and opened his jaw wide, like he was trying to make his ears pop. “Can’t they make these guns quieter?”

“Don’t ask me, I just shoot them.” Eddie glanced up at the floor indicator. “How far down does this thing go?”

“Uh…back to the high rollers room.”

Eddie nodded. There was a chance, if he was fast. A chance to get Cassandra out.

“I have to do something when we get there. There may be shooting. Follow me and stay in cover. Is there another way out of that room? Besides the main guest elevator?”

The augment consulted his tab. “Through the kitchen there’s a service elevator that goes to the storage room and the loading bay. I should be able to work it now I have access to their security.”

“Perfect.” The floor numbers counted down. “You ready?”

“No.”

“Me neither. Away from the door.”

Knox pressed himself up against the left wall while Eddie took the right. The elevator slowed. A quiet
bing
rang out. The doors slid open.

Nothing fired. Eddie peeked out. They were in a short corridor. Looked like something for the staff. No one in sight. He gestured to Knox and moved forward. There was a door at the end. It had to be the one leading out into the high rollers’ main tiled hall. He couldn’t hear anything on the other side. He tested the lock. Open. With a quick breath, he pushed open the door, leading with his gun.

Four red-uniformed guards waited in the hallway. But there were holes in all of them. They were dead.

What the hell?
Eddie stared at the bodies for a second, watching their blood stain the white floor. He spotted a few cracked tiles on the wall where bullets had hit. The guards had been facing towards Eddie, but from the position of their wounds it looked like they’d been hit from the side. Someone had come at them from the main elevator.

No time to think about it. He gestured to Knox to follow him as he hurried towards the restaurant, one hand holding his gun ahead of him while he gripped his aching ribs with the other.

The place was deserted. They’d probably evacuated the high rollers. A couple more guards’ bodies lay against upturned tables, bullet holes punched through their surfaces. Who had done this?

“Where are you going?” Knox hissed as he hurried behind him.

Eddie ignored him as he passed the restaurant, heading for the door beside the stage. It was being held open by a slumped guard gurgling blood. Eddie stepped over him and made his way down the corridor.

Cassandra. I’m coming.

He spotted her door. It was open. His heart jumped into his throat as he hurried towards it.

He gestured to Knox. “Stay back.”

The augment scurried out of sight. Eddie edged his way forward. Then he paused.

Footsteps coming around the bend ahead of him. Someone running. Eddie raised his gun.

A shot rang out. A female guard stumbled around the corner, dropping a gun from her blood-soaked fingers to better clutch at the hole in her stomach. She looked up at him, eyes glassy. Then she slumped to the ground.

Another figure appeared around the corner. Large, muscular. Stubble on his chin. A gun in each hand. He glanced up. Their eyes met. Eddie recognised those steely eyes. The man raised his arms.

Eddie snapped his gun up. “Roy Williams. Drop the guns.”

Williams’ gun boomed. Eddie threw himself through an open door to his left, snapping off a shot as he went. Two more of Williams’ shots slammed into the door jamb alongside Eddie’s head. Then there was quiet.

Eddie tucked his gun close to his chest. He was in a little storage room, no place to manoeuver. Around the corner he could hear Williams’ heavy breathing.

“Mr Gould,” Williams called out. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

“That’s me,” Eddie yelled back. “Want to exchange business cards?”

No response. What the hell was Williams doing here? Eddie risked a peek around the door. The fugitive had ducked back around the corner—Eddie could see the man’s shadow there. He didn’t have a shot. He glanced past him at the open door to Cassandra’s room. He could see a wardrobe and a small mirror inside. The mirror gave him a glimpse of Williams. Their eyes met in the reflection.

“She’s gone,” Williams said. “I already checked.”

“Yeah? And who would that be you’re talking about?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know, stalker. You’ve been asking questions about Lilian.”

Lilian. Eddie’s eyes went to the open door. Lilian Mayweather. Cassandra. Word had got back to Williams that he’d been asking about her. That was how he’d found out they were tracking him. Christ, Dom really was going to kill him. At least he’d make a beautiful corpse.

“If she’s not here, where is she?” Eddie said.

“They evacuated everyone.”

“Where to?”

He ignored the question. “I thought I’d have more time.” He sounded like he was talking to himself. His eyes met Eddie’s in the mirror and his face hardened. “At least she’s out of your reach, stalker. At least you can’t use her.”

Use her?
Eddie couldn’t work out what the hell was going on. His mind was too addled by beatings and adrenaline to puzzle this out.

“What now, then, stalker?” Williams called. “Do we come out shooting?”

“I’d rather not, seeing as I need you alive.”

“That won’t stop me. You’re standing between me and my way to Lilian. That doesn’t bode well for you.”

Eddie’s tab chirped. Without taking his eyes off the hallway, he put it to his ear.

“It’s me.” Knox was whispering. “I’m back in the restaurant. More guards coming in. Need help now, Skinny.”

“On it. Hold tight.” He put the tab back and listened. Footsteps, several sets. Some from the restaurant, but others from further down the hallway, past Williams. The fugitive must’ve heard them too.

“Leone’s men are closing in,” Eddie said.

“That they are,” Williams replied.

“Come with me and I’ll get you out of here.”

Williams was quiet a second. Eddie watched him throw glances down the hallway towards the approaching footsteps.

“And then what?” Williams said.

“And then I take you in.”

“You can try.”

Eddie eased himself out of the cover of the doorway, gun pointed towards the corner. A moment later, Williams moved into the open as well. They watched each other down their gun sights. Eddie smiled.

“You can’t find her if you’re dead, Jack.”

Williams glared. From behind him, someone shouted. Williams snapped around and fired two shots down the hallway. Someone cried out. He brought his guns back to Eddie.

“Don’t think this will save you, stalker.”

“I’m not looking to be saved.”

Williams slowly lowered his gun. Eddie did the same. They glared at each other down the hallway.