Three Alpha Romeo

Catch him, catch him — you’ve got to CATCH him!

Silently I chastised myself. I was getting distracted again. My mind, wandering aimlessly, when it ought to be—

Almost on cue I lost my footing. I tried to catch myself, failed miserable, and went tumbling down the second half of the stone steps head over heels.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck!

I hit the ground in the tuck position, rolled forward, and sprang back into a full-blown sprint again. My knees felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to them. Both my elbows were torn and bleeding…

Don’t lose him!

Up ahead, my target was finally running out of steam. I could see him slowing down considerably. Maybe he’d twisted something. Shit, maybe his heart exploded. Or maybe—

Maybe he was turning around, and aiming a Desert Eagle at my head.

I froze, and for a split-second I had no idea what to do. I was unarmed. Winded. The guy had a gun leveled straight at my face…

CRACK!

The shot was so loud it shattered the morning silence, echoing through the tiny town square. The noise sent up a flock of feeding birds. The small crowd that had been going about their business began running, screaming…

Then the guy in front of me dropped like a sack of bricks.

My hands were still exploring my own body, checking myself for wounds I could only pray weren’t there. Then I turned my head… and saw Marcus walking up, his pistol still drawn.

“You alright?”

I nodded vaguely as he bent to check the body. With smooth, practiced motions he grabbed the Desert Eagle and tucked it into his belt.

“’Bout time we had one of these.”

I was frantic. He was calm. I knew right then, he didn’t know.

“Randall, what the hell is going—”

“They have her!”

He squinted back at me for a moment, then his eyes went wide. “They do?”

I grabbed him to pull him out of the street, away from the guy he’d just dropped. At the same time, Holden came running up.

“Did… did you—”

“If they have her,” Marcus said, “there’s only one place she’ll be.”

He turned and looked west, then upward, back toward the hills.

“They’re taking her to him.”

Forty-Seven

ANDREA

“Get up…”

The voice reached my ears through a wall of pain, somewhere in the back of my skull. I sat up, groggily. Everything was still blurry, fuzzy around the edges. It was definitely an improvement though. The first time I’d tried opening my eyes, I was still seeing double.

“I said GET UP!”