Numbers needed adding to the list.
10
Bradley Jorgenson was a man capable of beating the woman he supposedly loved, so I should have expected something like this from him. He didn't want me to burn down the house where his father's body lay. Fair enough. But my plan to lob a jerry-built fire bomb at the killer was only intended to keep him at bay in the kitchen while we escaped down the stairs. The house was equipped with a water sprinkler system that would handle a localised fire set off by the perfume bomb. In reality I didn't trust the makeshift device to do more than set off a sweet-smelling flash, but it would have been enough to make the killer duck for cover, giving us the opportunity to get out.
But Jorgenson whacked me over the head with the goddamn wine bottle, putting paid to those plans. He hit me hard enough that the bottle shattered, cutting a strip of flesh from my scalp, knocking me to the floor. I was disoriented for a few seconds, but not stunned to a point that I lost my senses. Marianne yelped in dismay, but didn't resist him as Jorgenson grabbed her wrists and dragged her past me into the hall. I made a grab at her but missed, not able to go after them because of my ignominious position on the floor.
Thankfully they turned to my right. If they'd headed for the stairs the killer would have shot them dead in an instant. In a crouch they ran along the hall. Bullets whacked the wall in their wake, but they managed to gain cover and were — for the moment — safe.
Leaning forwards, I hung my SIG over the balcony, shooting blindly at the man below. Then I swung back on to my knees, rolling backwards into the bedroom for fear of return fire. My gun was depleted of ammo, so I took the time to eject the magazine, tug a fresh one from my hip pocket and slam it in place.
I was just coming to my feet when I heard a dull whumph! from below. A nanosecond later I was racing across the room, head down, firing repeatedly at the window. The glass was double-glazed and resisted the bullets somewhat. Then I was driving forwards, arms folded tight over my head. For one frightening instant I thought I'd recoil from the window, but then I was through the shattered glass and sailing through space. Around me the air went searing hot and even though I shouted involuntarily all the oxygen was sucked out of my lungs.
The sound was deafening, like some angry god had stamped his feet. The concussion of the blast picked me out of the air and sent me somersaulting towards trees. If I'd struck the bole of one of the palms, I'd have split like rotten fruit. Luckily, I hit the hanging fronds first, my body was spun full-tilt and I caromed to the floor through rasping leaves that whipped me mercilessly. Then I slammed the ground with enough force that my internal organs must have gone as flat as pancakes.
For too long I lay there groaning. Glad to be alive, but in agony everywhere. It was probably no more than ten seconds, but to my stunned brain it felt like I was prone for a month. The rest and recuperation didn't help. When I finally clawed myself on to my knees, I had to hold that position while my brain tried to right itself in my skull. I needed to vomit, but all that came out was a thin stream of bile. I spat on the mulch to clear my mouth. My eyes were still rattling in my skull, but I saw my SIG lying a few feet away and trained response made me reach for it.
Struggling to my feet, I limped through the bushes, making my way round the building in hope of a sign that Marianne had got out of there alive. As I went I wiped the SIG clean on my sweater sleeve.
Jorgenson's house was devastated. The entire upper floor had collapsed; the roof was a burst open wreck pushing splintered joists skyward. Flames and smoke broiled against the sky. The condominium I'd leased next door wasn't in much better shape with the whole of the front of the building spilling out towards the parking area. The buggy I'd rented to get me here from the ferry landing was flattened beneath fallen masonry.
Two cash deposits I wouldn't be getting back.
There was rubble heaped everywhere. Thankfully there weren't any chunks of burnt flesh or bones poking from the mounds. Which didn't negate the possibility that Marianne was buried beneath the wreckage of the house.
Movement nearby caught my eye. A shadow moving away from me. Wearing a dark suit, neither Jorgenson nor Marianne. The killer, I thought, making his escape. I lifted the SIG, drawing a bead on him. But then I let the barrel droop. The figure had longish fair hair, whereas the killer's had been jet black. For all I knew this was an innocent passer-by caught up in the fury of the explosion.
Moving back to the side of the building, batting cinders from my hair, I sought the couple's exit route. The building was still standing here, even if the upper portion now boasted a view to the sky and crenellations that hadn't been there previously. At ground level I saw an open door, steps leading upwards. A service stairway down to the dumpsters stacked against the wall.
The sound of an engine caught my attention.
Spinning on my heels, I ran towards the boundary wall, hooked my elbows over the top and pulled myself up. As I cleared the top of the wall I looked down to where the promontory pushed out into Biscayne Bay.
No sign of Marianne, but Jorgenson was standing in the cabin of his boat. His face was smudged with dirt, but he looked like he'd escaped the explosion without serious injury. I could only hope that Marianne had fared equally well. I shouted to Jorgenson. My voice was lost amidst the crackling flames, the creaking of collapsing masonry, the thrum of the boat's engine. But Jorgenson looked my way.
Our eyes met.
Jorgenson snarled in my direction. Then the boat was swinging away from the dock, heading for open water. I felt more than a little inadequate. Especially when I caught a flash of pale blue sweater, and realised that I'd failed to get Marianne away from her abuser.
In my pocket my mobile phone vibrated.
Pulling it out, I looked down at the screen. Despite myself, I smiled.
YOU STILL ALIVE?
Pressing buttons, I returned the call.
'Hi, Rink. Where are you now?'
'Watching some kinda fireball from out on Biscayne Bay,' Rink said. 'Don't tell me that was your doing.'
'Not responsible,' I reassured him.
'But as usual you're smack bang in the middle of it.'
'Who, me?'
Rink laughed. 'Glad you're OK, Hunter. Did you get Marianne away?'
'Afraid not,' I said. 'Something else went down here, Rink. But at least the girl is safe. We can pick her up later.' Then I told him about the killer, and what he'd done.
'Sounds like one desperate son of a bitch,' Rink offered. 'Any idea who he was? Why he was there?'
'I overheard a little. Sounded like a real sadist: he wanted Jorgenson to pick which of them died first.'
'Ah, just your typical whacked-out freak with his own agenda, huh?'
'He came across like a psycho killer, Rink. But there was more to it. He was a professional. He wasn't there just to get his kicks. He'd been sent by someone who wants Jorgenson and Marianne dead.'
'But they got away?'
'Yeah. And when this asshole realises he missed them, he'll be back.'
And we'd be waiting.
11
The destruction of Jorgenson's home was all over the news before I even woke up. I was greeted by the early-morning paper slapped down on my chest by my big buddy, Rink. It had the desired effect of rousing me from troubled dreams where I was engulfed in flames while a demon tittered at me from behind a wax mask. Sitting bolt upright on my impromptu bed, I found it was the couch in the front office at Rington Investigations. Took a few seconds of head shaking to recall the mad flight from Baker Island, dodging police and Coast Guard boats so that I wasn't pulled in as the cause of the conflagration.
