There was a chorus of shouts.
‘Get in the van, now!’ shouted a woman.
It wasn’t Grainger. The voice hadn’t come from the other side of the car park, where Grainger had been waiting, but from much closer by.
It was at that moment Logan realised what was happening.
He had only glimpsed the smartly dressed woman and the man she was with for a brief second. He had taken the whole picture in but not really thought about what it was telling him.
The woman, he had assumed, was on business. Logan guessed many of the hotel’s residents were. The man had been somewhat more casually dressed. The woman had been holding on to the man, her arm interlinked with his, so Logan had thought the two were a couple. He hadn’t thought it unusual that the man was walking with both hands behind his back. But the reason was clear now. Logan had never seen the man before, but he realised who it was.
Tom Grainger.
There was shouting over on the other side of the car park. More gunfire. Logan heard hurried footsteps coming from nearby. He spun on his heel, pulling the M4 around with him.
When he darted out from behind the minivan, it was Tom Grainger he caught sight of first. He had a grimace on his face. An arm around his neck. The woman was behind him, pushing him along. But she was too focused on her job – trying to get her man into the waiting vehicle. She hadn’t spotted Logan at all.
Logan lifted the M4. He saw Tom Grainger’s eyes open wide in panic. Logan pulled the trigger, releasing a single bullet – he’d changed the firing selection in order to save ammunition.
The bullet sailed from the muzzle. It whizzed past Tom Grainger’s right ear, striking the woman who had hold of him just above her eye. She fell down into a heap, taking her hostage with her.
Logan lowered his gun. He rushed over to the two bodies. The woman was dead. No doubt about it.
‘You okay?’ Logan said hurriedly.
‘Yeah. I think so,’ said Tom.
‘Just stay out of sight until this is over,’ Logan said, turning and heading off before he’d finished his sentence.
He looked over to the other side of the car park as he moved toward the exit ramp.
‘Is that you, Angela?’ shouted a man’s voice. It was Lindegaard. ‘And I’m guessing Carl Logan is here too.’
Silence. Logan kept on creeping.
‘Nice little trick you played there,’ Lindegaard shouted. ‘Ambushing us like that. Pity me for actually believing you wanted to do a deal. But you’ve just fucked any chance of you and your hubby getting out of this alive.’
There was another gunshot. Logan instinctively ducked, though he soon realised the shot hadn’t been aimed at him. He reached the end of the car park and cut back across, over to the side where Grainger was. He pulled up against a concrete pillar and peered around.
Out in the open, near the stairwell door, was a crumpled body. It looked like a man. But it wasn’t Lindegaard.
Five parking spaces in front of him, Logan saw Grainger. She was hunched behind a car bonnet, peeking out every few seconds. Other than the body in the middle of the car park, there was no sign of Lindegaard or anyone else.
Logan edged forward, crouching down, moving from one car to the next. He whispered to Grainger. She didn’t react at all. She mustn’t have heard him.
Logan was three cars away when Grainger took a step out around the front of the car that she had been hunkered behind.
‘No, Angela,’ Logan said in a hushed voice.
This time she did hear him. She turned and glanced at him. But never saw the threat coming from the side. Logan hadn’t seen it either, even though he’d guessed what Lindegaard had been doing. Seemingly from nowhere, Lindegaard rushed toward Grainger. He came into view too late for Logan to make a difference. Lindegaard had outflanked her, moving around to take her out from behind.
Logan hastily raised his gun. He let off two rounds. But Lindegaard had the element of surprise. Neither of the shots hit him. Lindegaard flung himself into Grainger, tackling her like a rugby player and sending her crashing to the ground. She lost her gun in the process. Logan rushed forward. He raised his gun, looking for a shot.
But in the end he didn’t take it. There was too much at stake.
Logan froze.
Lindegaard hauled Grainger up. There was a large red graze on her cheek where she had hit the deck. A line of blood trickled from her nose. As she looked up, her pleading eyes bored into Logan. Lindegaard stood behind her, twisting Grainger’s arm behind her body in a hammerlock. His other hand pushed the barrel of a gun into her back.
‘Now what?’ Logan said.
‘We had a deal,’ Lindegaard spat.
‘Sorry about that.’
‘Well, no more deals now.’
‘You hurt her and I’m not just going to kill you. I’ll make you suffer.’
Lindegaard laughed. ‘Look where you are,’ he said. ‘Police will be storming this place any minute. Remember who you are. You two are both wanted in several countries.’
‘I guess it’s just as well that Winter is so good at digging then,’ Logan said. ‘Pretty soon, you’ll find the tables have turned.’
Logan couldn’t see all of Lindegaard’s face as he hid behind Grainger, but even from the narrow glimpse that he had, Logan could tell his last words had washed some of Lindegaard’s arrogant confidence away.
‘You’re finished, Lindegaard,’ Logan said. ‘Whatever happens here, your life is over.’
‘I should have killed you years ago,’ Lindegaard said.
‘You’re right, you should have.’
‘All you’ve ever done is cause me problems.’
‘I’m sorry for doing my job so well. And for having some real loyalty.’
‘Loyalty? To what? To the JIA? To your country? To Mackie?’
The mentioning of Logan’s long-term mentor sent a shiver down his spine. This was going to end here. Lindegaard wasn’t getting out of the car park alive.
‘You’re not loyal, Logan. You’re dumb. You were a toy for Mackie. Nothing more, nothing less.’
‘Like Lena was to you? I know you’re a cool man, Lindegaard, but having your own niece killed?’
‘You’ve no idea what you’re talking about!’ Lindegaard shouted, clearly riled by Logan’s words.
However much Lindegaard wanted to be, he simply wasn’t in control of this situation, Logan realised.
Logan raised his gun. He knew he didn’t have a kill shot. But he had to do something. He just hoped Grainger would forgive him.
A split second later, a gunshot rang out.
But Logan hadn’t fired it.
Logan looked off to his right. It was Tom Grainger. He held a revolver in his hand, pointed at Lindegaard. He fired again. The sound made Logan jump.
Logan looked back at Lindegaard, who took a half-step sideways before his body slowly crumpled to the ground. Tom had hit him twice. Once in the side. Once in the neck. Lindegaard would be dead in seconds.
But as he fell, another gunshot blasted. Lindegaard’s last act of defiance. Grainger stumbled, her mouth open, a look of shock plastered on her face. Both Logan and Tom shouted out almost in unison. Grainger flopped to her knees, then keeled over onto her side.
Logan dropped his gun and rushed over to her. Tom did the same. Logan reached her first. He spotted the hole in the back of her jacket. The material around it was wet with blood. Tom came up beside Logan. Without thinking, Logan lunged forward and threw his fist toward Tom’s face.
‘You did this!’ Logan screamed, getting to his feet as Tom reeled backward.
Tom wiped at his lip with the back of his hand and looked at the bloody mark that it left. Then, without saying a word – averting his gaze from Logan – he stood up and went back over to Grainger. She was sprawled on the floor, gargling and gagging for breath.
Logan tried his hardest to fight against the rage building inside him. His head was on fire, his heart bursting in his chest. He thought he could feel his veins throbbing with fury. But he fought it off as best he could. Tom’s rash move had led to Grainger getting shot. But it had also felled Lindegaard. Logan himself had been seconds away from taking a similar gamble.
Fighting to keep his emotions in check, he crouched back down next to Grainger.
He took her hand. He looked into her bloodshot eyes.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Logan said.
Grainger stared deep into his eyes. Her breaths were fast and shallow. She didn’t say a word.
‘Angela, be strong,’ Tom sobbed. ‘Please, you’ll get through this.’
Grainger shut her eyes. Her face contorted in pain. When she opened them again, she was staring straight up at the ceiling. Her eyes glazed over. Logan wondered for a second whether she had gone.
But then she opened and closed her mouth and pained sounds came from her lips. As though she was trying to say something but couldn’t.
After a few moments, she finally found the strength.
‘I love you,’ she spluttered as bubbles of blood burst from her mouth.
Logan and Tom looked at each other. Logan knew what Tom was thinking. Neither was sure which man she had been speaking to. Perhaps it had been to both of them. Logan looked back at Grainger, completely still, ghostly.
And then she closed her eyes again.