Sixteen

OUTMATCHED

I FELT BLACK waver for a few seconds. 

I couldn’t decide if he was considering shooting Solonik, regardless of what the man standing over us said, or if he was trying to decide if he should shoot the other man first, before he went back to doing what he came here to do.

Either way, he must have decided neither course would be wise.

Exhaling sharply, he leaned back from his crouch even as he relaxed his hold on the gun, wincing from his shoulder as he pulled his fingers away from the trigger. He rested the stock on the hardwood floor, then held his hands up slowly, his eyes fixed warily on the man behind us.

It was Anders, of course.

For that reason alone, I wasn’t surprised at Black’s choice. I knew he couldn’t afford to start a war with Lucky over this, no matter how badly he wanted Solonik dead.

Then again, it might not have been Anders at all who made up his mind.

It might have been the presence of the other six people standing there, wearing Kevlar and aiming handguns at us in a line behind where Anders stood. I didn’t recognize any of their faces, but a few were tall enough and had strange-enough eye colors that I strongly suspected Black’s psychic tricks wouldn’t be much help.

Anders once more cleared his throat, causing both of us to look at him.

“Relax, Black.” He smiled, giving me another indulgent look. “Mr. Lucky has no intention of reneging on your deal. But killing Solonik wasn’t part of that.”

“What do you intend to do with him?” Black said.

“That’s none of your concern.”

“The hell it isn’t––” Black began angrily, but Anders cut him off.

“––He is being subdued as we speak,” the other man said coolly. “He will not come after you again. Not in regards to this matter. Your human friend, Kevin Lawless, is perfectly safe. So is his grandson, Pete. You have Mr. Lucky’s word on that, too.”

Black glanced back out the window, a frown on his sculpted lips. He still held his hands off his body and in plain sight––not quite up, in the usual surrender position, but definitely conveying the same idea. I saw him glance at the gun on the floor, but he made no move to touch that either.

“The gun stays here,” Anders said. “We’ll have it sent to you, Mr. Black. To your office in San Francisco. Certainly you can have no objection?”

Looking up at him, Black scowled.

“He’s a walking time bomb,” he said. He jerked his chin towards me. “He’s completely fixated on her. You know that makes him dangerous as hell.”

“That’s our problem now, Mr. Black. Not yours.”

“What about the killer?” Black growled. “Is he your problem too? According to your pet psychopath, it’s me he’s after.”

“We are monitoring that situation as well,” Anders assured him, without missing a beat. “Mr. Lucky believes the current spree has ended...whatever his true motives may have been. In any case, we have it on good authority that he’s no longer in Bangkok, so your business concerning this matter is now entirely closed...at least so far as this City of Angels is concerned.”

I pressed my lips together, glancing at Black.

He returned my look with a frown. I could tell from his expression that he was thinking the same thing I was.

Namely, that we had no choice.

“Where is he now?” Black said, looking up. “Can you tell me that much, at least?”

“Paris, I am told,” Anders said, folding his hands easily at the base of his back. “We received intelligence that he left on a plane for Paris just this morning...after ensuring that Solonik followed his instructions regarding the burning of those last two unfortunate victims.”

Ander’s voice couldn’t have held less interest if he’d tried.

I was surprised he didn’t yawn at the end, or maybe glance at his watch.

Again, Black looked at me.

Again, I had nothing for him.

Really, it didn’t seem like there was much more to be said. Not here, anyway. Clearly they weren’t going to tell us anything. Moreover, I didn’t see how we could trust anything they told us, even if they did.

Black seemed to feel the same way. Reaching towards me with his good arm, he took my hand firmly in his, ignoring Anders and the others as he met my gaze.

“Let’s go home, Miri,” he said softly.

Feeling a tightness in my chest as I studied his eyes, I only nodded.

I followed the pull of his fingers as he rose gracefully to his feet, bringing me with him. My other hand wrapped around his where he held me, as soon as I was standing. I fought back the pain in my foot, biting my tongue as I adjusted my weight. Even so, I found myself scanning the faces of the armed men who stood there, their guns still aimed unambiguously at the two of us––but mostly at Black.

It hit me again that we were completely outmatched.

It wasn’t the men standing there really, or even the fact that they held guns.

It was something else. Some feeling I got looking at them––like there was a lot more of them somewhere. A hell of a lot more than what worked out of Black’s offices in San Francisco.

Black gripped my hand tighter, right before he began to walk.

We walked right through that line without hesitating, but I noticed Black didn’t really look at any of the people standing there either.

He left the rifle on the floor where he’d dropped it.