[Quinn 04] - The Silenced

The footsteps halted.

Quinn glanced over and wasn’t surprised to see it was the Russian. He also wasn’t surprised to see the other woman’s gun in her hand, pointed at him.

“Are you here to take his body away, too?” she asked.

Wills coughed. Blood was coming out of his mouth, but his gaze was still on Quinn. He tried to say something. Quinn couldn’t make it out, so he leaned closer.

“Care … ful,” Wills said.

“David, do you know who’s responsible for this?” Wills coughed again.

“It’s okay. Don’t force it.”

Wills coughed again, then looked at Quinn as if he was begging for help.

Another wet breath.

Then … nothing.

David Wills was dead. And if he knew the woman who’d killed him or who she worked for, he’d taken that information with him.

Quinn stood up, his gun still pointed at the Russian. Behind her he could see the other woman, the attacker, sprawled out on the grass, her dead eyes staring up at the sky.

“Who are you?” he demanded.

“Who are you?” she countered.

In the distance, he could hear sirens heading in their direction.

The Russian lowered her gun and motioned behind her. “You were with her, weren’t you? She is probably one of Palavin’s dogs, and you work for Palavin, too.”

Palavin? That was the name Orlando had mentioned. He hesitated before he spoke. “I don’t work for anyone by that name. But if he’s responsible for David’s death, then maybe you’re the one who works for him.”

The look on her face was utter shock. “What? Of course not. I’m trying to find him. But you know him, don’t you? You must know where he is. Tell me! You have to tell me!”

He could hear the sirens getting louder. As much as he would have liked to place his gun against this woman’s head and find out what she knew, there was no time to pursue it now. He tucked Wills’s gun under his jacket and turned to leave.

“Wait. If you know where he is, please tell me,” the woman pleaded. “I need to know.”

He kept walking, but the woman didn’t give up.

“Leave me alone,” he said.

“Your name’s Quinn, right?” she asked. She glanced back over her shoulder to where Wills’s body lay. “I heard him call you that. I need your help, Quinn. I need to find Palavin.”

“I can’t help you.”

She started to point her gun at him. But he reached out and yanked it from her hand before she even knew what was happening, then shoved her to the ground.

“Get the hell away from me,” he told her.

“I can’t,” she said, pushing herself up and rushing to catch him. “You’re the only lead I have left.” They reached the section of bushes and trees that separated the park from the street. “I’m not leaving until you help me.”

Quinn stopped and turned to her. “I’m not your lead. I’m not anyone’s lead. I can’t help you. You need to get away from me right now, or I’ll—”

“Or you’ll kill me?” she asked, cutting him off. “Then go ahead and kill me.”

Who the hell is this woman?

He stared at her for a moment, then walked down the path toward the street.

The sirens were very near now, and all instincts told Quinn to run the other way. But he knew that the easiest escape route was often toward the police, not away. At least initially. If he could get past them before they’d set up a perimeter, then he’d be in the clear. Most of their focus would be in the direction Quinn had come from, not behind them.

But his biggest problem wasn’t the police. It was the Russian woman. She was still shadowing him, matching him step for step. Then, as he stepped out of the park and onto the street outside Embankment Station, he momentarily forgot about the police and the woman.

What had been a typical busy morning had turned into a madhouse. Instead of several dozen people, there were now several hundred. They were gathered in groups, some small and some large. The biggest of which was near the entrance to the station. At the other end of the street, two police cars and an ambulance were trying to make their way through the crowd, but traveling slowly to avoid hitting anyone. Policemen tried to direct a pathway for an ambulance to drive, pushing people out of its way.

Quinn headed toward the group at the station, tried to blend in. Without even looking, he knew the Russian had pulled in tight behind him.

The crowd had formed a large circle with an open area in the center. A couple of police officers on foot were running toward the gathering.

“Get back!” one of officers shouted, trying to clear a path.