[Quinn 01] - The Cleaner

you're finished! Do you understand?'

Borko's anger was starting to bleed into his voice, 'Put down your gun and come out where I can see you!'

Keeping the van between them and the sedans, Quinn and Orlando began running toward the woods.

'You would think I'd have lost my patience by now!' Borko continued. 'You have done a great deal of damage! But it is only business! I understand this! Just as I am sure you'll understand I cannot let you get away!'

The trees were only ten yards away now. 'Borko, over here!' another voice called out from Quinn's right. 'They're almost to the woods!' Quinn glanced over his shoulder. He saw one of Borko's goons circling around the van. 'Run,' he said as he pushed Orlando in front of him.

They sprinted for the trees, Orlando a step ahead of Quinn. The forest was less than fifteen feet away when a sharp, burning pain ripped across Quinn's left thigh, knocking him into Orlando and dropping both of them onto the ground.

'Go!' he yelled at Orlando. It felt like his leg was on fire.

She pulled herself up again and began to run. As she reached the woods, she turned, a look of panic on her face. Immediately he realized what was wrong. She was no longer holding her gun. He could see it on the ground about a body's length in front of him. Too far for him to reach, and too far for her to come back. Yet that looked exactly like what she was about to do.

'No!' Quinn yelled. 'Run!'

A bullet slammed into a tree next to Orlando's head.

'Run!' Quinn yelled again.

This time she listened to him and quickly disappeared into the forest.

Quinn took a deep breath, then reached down to check his wound. He expected to find his leg shredded, but the bullet had only grooved a line across the back of his thigh, never fully entering the muscle.

He could hear the sound of running feet. He was never going to make it to the woods. He had to set off the explosives. Only when he went to push the button, the trigger was no longer in his hand.

'Turn over.' The voice came from only a few feet away. 'Slowly.'

Quinn did as he was told, trying as hard as possible to keep the pain that was screaming at him from showing on his face. As he finally rolled onto his back, he thought he felt something hard under his right arm. His triggering pad. But it was too far up, near his elbow. He couldn't reach it without being noticed.

Borko's man stood just to the side. In his hand was a pistol aimed at Quinn's head. 'I got him!'

Less than a minute later, the BMW rolled to a stop several feet away. Quinn looked over. First the front passenger-side door opened, and the driver from the Volvo got out. Then the back door followed suit, and out stepped Borko.

'The girl?' the Serb asked as he walked over. 'She ran into the woods,' the man who'd shot Quinn replied.

The Serb nodded, then said to the man and his partner who had also approached the van on foot, 'Get her.'

The two immediately headed toward the woods in pursuit of Orlando.

Borko smiled, then turned back to the car. 'The girl is missing,' he called. 'But we'll find her.'

Quinn looked over at the open back door, noticing for the first time that there was someone else in the back seat. So Piper had come along, too, Quinn thought.

The passenger leaned toward the opening. As he did, the morning sunlight fell across the right side of his face. Something wasn't right. The man didn't look like Piper at all.

Quinn all but stopped breathing. It was the shock of the injury causing him to see things. That had to be it.

Slowly, the man swung his legs out of the car, then stood up and walked over to Quinn and Borko. Once he reached them, he stopped and looked down.

'Apparently I taught you well,' the man said, his voice a hoarse croak.

'No,' Quinn said. 'You're dead. I saw you die.'

Durrie, Quinn's mentor, looked down at him and laughed. 'Really? I don't feel particularly dead.' Durrie looked over at the van, his eyes stopping for a moment on the damaged wheel. 'Goddamn it. Thanks for fucking up our transport.'

'We can move the boxes into the cars,' Borko said.

Quinn tried to refocus himself. It took every ounce of concentration to do so. Even then, there was a part of his mind screaming, It's not him! It's not him!

He tried to remember what Borko had just said. Something about the boxes. About moving the boxes. Shit. If they went into the back of the van, they'd find the explosives. He needed the triggering switch, but it was under his arm. Even if he made a quick move to grab it, Borko would shoot him.

'Put as many of the boxes as you can in the trunk of my car,' Durrie said to the Volvo driver. 'Then you guys can take the rest in your car once the girl's been dealt with.'

'Okay,' the man said. Quinn watched as the man walked over to the van and opened the back doors.

Borko crouched down next to Quinn. 'You've fucked up our timetable,' he said. 'Some people will have to work very quickly now. That's not going to make them happy.'

The Volvo driver leaned into the van, then stood back up holding two boxes. He carried them over to the BMW. The trunk of the sedan popped open just before he got there.