by David Wood
“I’m not lugging his great carcass around. I’ll get help and bring it here.”
Rose shook her head, eyes narrow. “You’re going after him, aren’t you?”
Cameron grinned, threw over the keys to their car which Crowley caught one handed and dropped into his jacket pocket.
“Sit tight,” Crowley repeated, and ran back up the passage, gun in hand.
Chapter 59
Lindisfarne, Holy Island.
Crowley emerged from the small round hole into the lime kilns behind Lindisfarne Castle, immediately met by the cold, wet breeze. It felt good. Landvik had a head start, but the man had to get up to the secret door in the fireplace of the Ship Room, then down through the castle. And hopefully he would be slowed by whatever flesh wound Crowley had scored on him. There was a chance Crowley could catch up.
He made a dash for the small parking area where they had left their car, hoping to get there before Landvik, but the Norwegian was just ahead of him. There was a deep scarlet stain across the man’s hip. It looked like Crowley had winged him in the love handle on the right side of his body. Lots of blood, but nothing life-threatening. Though Landvik had one hand pressed hard against the wound, and the other hugged tight to his body, no doubt cradling Mjolnir inside his jacket. Crowley raised the pistol, blinked the rain from his eyes, and fired just as Landvik dived for his car. The bullet pinged off the black vehicle’s roof, the handful of tourists braving the weather screaming and scattering in horrified shock.
Landvik pointed his weapon back and squeezed off more shots without looking, making Crowley dive for cover, then the Norwegian was in the driver’s seat and the engine gunned into life.
Landvik’s car sent up a spray of mud and gravel as it carved a sharp turn and sped out onto the narrow road back across the island. Crowley ran for the Land Rover and gave chase. Flickering blue lights were heading their way and he realized the mayhem back at the priory was catching up. Three police cars were hammering along, heading directly for Landvik’s car.
Crowley smiled, thinking the man was caught now, but the smile withered as Landvik’s arm emerged from the driver’s side window and his gun kicked and flashed. The police cars braked and swerved, one windshield shattering into a crazed web of safety glass. Landvik skidded onto the grass and drove hard around them all, fishtailing as he went. Cursing, Crowley followed. As he powered past the police cars frantically trying to turn back, he reached out of his own window and fired off two quick shots, managing to shoot out Landvik’s rear screen, but the man drove on.
They sped back among the buildings of the small village, faces of shocked tourists zipping past all around as they leapt aside from the speeding vehicles. Crowley gritted his teeth and dropped the pistol into his lap. Too much chance of hitting an innocent bystander to fire from a moving car now, so he put both hands on the wheel and concentrated on sticking close to Landvik’s tail. The flickering blue lights of the three police cars, one with its shattered screen now kicked clear, filled his rearview mirror as they joined the chase. The faces of the two officers of the car without glass were pictures of pure fury, concentrated in their pursuit.
They shot through town and along the beginning of the causeway, the grassy hill to their right as they approached where the low-lying roadway crossed the mud flats. But it wasn’t mud flats any more. Crowley grinned, finally letting himself relax at the sight of the ocean on both sides, already washing hard across the road. Small white wavelets kicked up and foamed, the level of the causeway itself lost under the churning dark water.
“Dead end, you bastard!” he cried.
But his pleasure was short-lived. Landvik either didn’t see or didn’t care, and drove the black car hard along the causeway, water spraying up from the wheels to either side in two wide fans. Crowley shook his head, stunned the man would take such a risk, and followed him. Crowley’s car was large and designed for off-road use, at least, but Landvik’s wasn’t. The water rose up faster, Landvik’s car sending up walls of spray to either side, but he kept going. The water curved up over the hood as well now, drenching the car, almost obscuring it completely. Crowley felt the drag of the ocean against his own wheels and decided not to risk his life any further. He stopped, hit reverse, and backed up as quickly as he could. The vehicle shifted and bucked uncertainly, then his tires rose back onto dry road. He watched in amazement as water slowly engulfed Landvik’s vehicle. The blue lights of the police cars filled the road behind and Crowley climbed from his seat into the pouring rain, arms held high to show he was not a threat. He left his stolen pistol on the passenger seat.
Landvik’s car slowed to a stop and the door popped open as the vehicle was lifted and turned by the tide. The man clambered out, still clutching the hammer, his face a mask of concentration and determination. He tried to swim for it against the rapid current. The last thing Crowley saw was the man’s blond head sinking out of sight beneath the churning waters.
Chapter 60
Royal Infirmary, Edinburgh
In a private hospital room in the Royal Infirmary Edinburgh, a little over an hour from Lindisfarne, Cameron sat smiling in bed, post-surgery. A police guard outside his door was a formality, but they remained until all the details of the bizarre recent events could be ironed out. It was going to take a while for everything to be recorded and cross-checked.
Crowley sat one side of the bed, Rose on the other.
“So you’re going to walk okay?” Crowley asked.
“Yep. I’ve got some muscle damage, and apparently the bullet chipped my thigh bone, but nothing that won’t come good again with time to heal and some rehab exercises.”
“Seeing as you live your life behind a desk now, it shouldn’t matter anyway right?”
Cameron laughed. “Well, I did tell you I didn’t want to get shot. Maybe I should go back to my desk.”
“You only got shot in the leg. Halfway right.”
Cameron twisted a wry smile. “How come I got it? You got away scot free.”
“Not true! I was shot twice.”
“Two grazes, buttercup. Hardly worth even mentioning.”
“Are you two really comparing bullet wounds?” Rose asked, though her voice was amused. “Honestly, you boys are such clichés.”
Crowley pouted. “Cliché? Oof!”
“I will have to go back to my desk, though,” Cameron said. “If I want to keep my job. But I enjoyed our excursion all the same.”
“Me too.”
“You going back to the classroom?”
Crowley let out a soft laugh, shook his head. “It’ll be hard after this, but I need to keep my job too. At least for now. I have mortgage payments to make.” He looked over the bed at Rose. “And you in the museum?”
“Same. I’m glad all this is over. I’ll actually be glad to get back to work. It was exciting, in hindsight, but I’ve had enough excitement for a lifetime, I think.”
Crowley shrugged. “We’ll see. Excitement like this does tend to be a little bit addictive.”
“Is it over?” Cameron asked.
Crowley paused, thoughtful. “Well, Landvik’s body wasn’t found, or the hammer. Just his empty car. At least, that’s the official word from the police. Apparently it’s possible for currents to carry things, even cars, a long way. So it’s entirely possible his body and the hammer may never be found.”
“Or he may have escaped,” Cameron said. “With the hammer.”
“It’s possible. But either way, he doesn’t need Rose any more and presumably has no need to track us down again.”
“Unless it’s purely for revenge.”
“True, but Landvik’s not an idiot. A smart man would take his win and move on. But we don’t even know if he lived or...”
“Either way,” Rose interrupted, “for my own sanity, I’m declaring this whole thing over and done with. All of it. Finished.”
Crowley made a sad face, deliberately overacting. “All of it?”
Rose laughed. “We
ll, I could possibly be persuaded to see you again. If the situation were just right.”
Crowley grinned. “I’ll have to think of something.”
Cameron waved a hand in each of their faces. “Take it back to London, you two! Some of us are trying to recover from actual gunshot wounds here.”
They laughed and Crowley caught Rose’s eye over Cameron’s protesting form. She gave him a quick wink. He smiled. Maybe it wasn’t all over just yet.
END
If you enjoyed Blood Codex, try Dark Rite by David Wood and Alan Baxter!
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David Wood
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Books by David Wood
The Dane Maddock Adventures
Dourado
Cibola
Quest
Icefall
Buccaneer
Atlantis
Ark
Dane and Bones Origins
Freedom
Hell Ship
Splashdown
Dead Ice
Liberty
Electra
Amber
Justice
Treasure of the Dead
Jade Ihara Adventures
Oracle
Changeling
Bones Bonebrake Adventures
Primitive
The Book of Bones
Jake Crowley Adventures
Blood Codex
Stand-Alone Novels
Into the Woods
Arena of Souls
The Zombie-Driven Life
You SuckCallsign: Queen
Destiny
Dark Rite
Primordial (forthcoming
Writing as David Debord
The Absent Gods Trilogy
The Silver Serpent
Keeper of the Mists
The Gates of Iron
The Impostor Prince
Books by Alan Baxter
The Alex Caine Trilogy
Bound
Obsidian
Abduction
The Balance
RealmShift
MageSign
Stand-Alone Novels
Ghost of the Black
Dark Rite
Primordial (forthcoming)
About the Authors
David Wood is the author of the popular action-adventure series, The Dane Maddock Adventures, and many other works. Under his David Debord pen name he is the author of the Absent Gods fantasy series. When not writing, he co-hosts the Authorcast podcast. David and his family live in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Visit him online at www.davidwoodweb.com.
Alan Baxter is a British-Australian author who writes dark fantasy, horror and sci-fi, rides a motorcycle and loves his dog. He also teaches Kung Fu. He lives among dairy paddocks on the beautiful south coast of NSW, Australia, with his wife, son, dog and cat. He is the author of the dark urban fantasy Alex Caine trilogy and many other titles. He won the 2014 Australian Shadows Award for Best Short Story and the 2015 Australian Shadows Paul Haines Award for Long Fiction. Visit him online at www.warriorscribe.com.