Stalker's Luck (Solitude Saga Book 1)

by Chris Strange

  Nothing fired. Eddie peeked out. They were in a short corridor. Looked like something for the staff. No one in sight. He gestured to Knox and moved forward. There was a door at the end. It had to be the one leading out into the high rollers’ main tiled hall. He couldn’t hear anything on the other side. He tested the lock. Open. With a quick breath, he pushed open the door, leading with his gun.

  Four red-uniformed guards waited in the hallway. But there were holes in all of them. They were dead.

  What the hell? Eddie stared at the bodies for a second, watching their blood stain the white floor. He spotted a few cracked tiles on the wall where bullets had hit. The guards had been facing towards Eddie, but from the position of their wounds it looked like they’d been hit from the side. Someone had come at them from the main elevator.

  No time to think about it. He gestured to Knox to follow him as he hurried towards the restaurant, one hand holding his gun ahead of him while he gripped his aching ribs with the other.

  The place was deserted. They’d probably evacuated the high rollers. A couple more guards’ bodies lay against upturned tables, bullet holes punched through their surfaces. Who had done this?

  “Where are you going?” Knox hissed as he hurried behind him.

  Eddie ignored him as he passed the restaurant, heading for the door beside the stage. It was being held open by a slumped guard gurgling blood. Eddie stepped over him and made his way down the corridor.

  Cassandra. I’m coming.

  He spotted her door. It was open. His heart jumped into his throat as he hurried towards it.

  He gestured to Knox. “Stay back.”

  The augment scurried out of sight. Eddie edged his way forward. Then he paused.

  Footsteps coming around the bend ahead of him. Someone running. Eddie raised his gun.

  A shot rang out. A female guard stumbled around the corner, dropping a gun from her blood-soaked fingers to better clutch at the hole in her stomach. She looked up at him, eyes glassy. Then she slumped to the ground.

  Another figure appeared around the corner. Large, muscular. Stubble on his chin. A gun in each hand. He glanced up. Their eyes met. Eddie recognised those steely eyes. The man raised his arms.

  Eddie snapped his gun up. “Roy Williams. Drop the guns.”

  Williams’ gun boomed. Eddie threw himself through an open door to his left, snapping off a shot as he went. Two more of Williams’ shots slammed into the door jamb alongside Eddie’s head. Then there was quiet.

  Eddie tucked his gun close to his chest. He was in a little storage room, no place to manoeuver. Around the corner he could hear Williams’ heavy breathing.

  “Mr Gould,” Williams called out. “That was you, wasn’t it?”

  “That’s me,” Eddie yelled back. “Want to exchange business cards?”

  No response. What the hell was Williams doing here? Eddie risked a peek around the door. The fugitive had ducked back around the corner—Eddie could see the man’s shadow there. He didn’t have a shot. He glanced past him at the open door to Cassandra’s room. He could see a wardrobe and a small mirror inside. The mirror gave him a glimpse of Williams. Their eyes met in the reflection.

  “She’s gone,” Williams said. “I already checked.”

  “Yeah? And who would that be you’re talking about?”

  “Don’t pretend you don’t know, stalker. You’ve been asking questions about Lilian.”

  Lilian. Eddie’s eyes went to the open door. Lilian Mayweather. Cassandra. Word had got back to Williams that he’d been asking about her. That was how he’d found out they were tracking him. Christ, Dom really was going to kill him. At least he’d make a beautiful corpse.

  “If she’s not here, where is she?” Eddie said.

  “They evacuated everyone.”

  “Where to?”

  He ignored the question. “I thought I’d have more time.” He sounded like he was talking to himself. His eyes met Eddie’s in the mirror and his face hardened. “At least she’s out of your reach, stalker. At least you can’t use her.”

  Use her? Eddie couldn’t work out what the hell was going on. His mind was too addled by beatings and adrenaline to puzzle this out.

  “What now, then, stalker?” Williams called. “Do we come out shooting?”

  “I’d rather not, seeing as I need you alive.”

  “That won’t stop me. You’re standing between me and my way to Lilian. That doesn’t bode well for you.”

  Eddie’s tab chirped. Without taking his eyes off the hallway, he put it to his ear.

  “It’s me.” Knox was whispering. “I’m back in the restaurant. More guards coming in. Need help now, Skinny.”

  “On it. Hold tight.” He put the tab back and listened. Footsteps, several sets. Some from the restaurant, but others from further down the hallway, past Williams. The fugitive must’ve heard them too.

  “Leone’s men are closing in,” Eddie said.

  “That they are,” Williams replied.

  “Come with me and I’ll get you out of here.”

  Williams was quiet a second. Eddie watched him throw glances down the hallway towards the approaching footsteps.

  “And then what?” Williams said.

  “And then I take you in.”

  “You can try.”

  Eddie eased himself out of the cover of the doorway, gun pointed towards the corner. A moment later, Williams moved into the open as well. They watched each other down their gun sights. Eddie smiled.

  “You can’t find her if you’re dead, Jack.”

  Williams glared. From behind him, someone shouted. Williams snapped around and fired two shots down the hallway. Someone cried out. He brought his guns back to Eddie.

  “Don’t think this will save you, stalker.”

  “I’m not looking to be saved.”

  Williams slowly lowered his gun. Eddie did the same. They glared at each other down the hallway.

  “All right, stalker,” Williams said. “Let’s go. Behind you.”

  Eddie spun as a thug appeared from the direction of the restaurant. He squeezed off a shot. The man fell with a hole between his eyes. His friends cried out.

  “Nice shot,” Williams said.

  “Thanks,” Eddie said over his shoulder, moving towards the restaurant. “But if we’re done jerking each other off….”

  A small silver sphere flew through the restaurant door, bounced off the wall, and rolled along the ground.

  Grenade.

  Eddie took three steps and kicked the sphere back in the direction it’d come. Someone yelled, “Shit!”

  Eddie pressed himself against the wall and shielded his eyes as the grenade blew. A flash of blinding light pierced his eyelids. Static sang in his ears. Stun grenade. He blinked away the purple afterburn and limped out into the restaurant. Williams’ heavy footsteps pounded behind him.

  Two more of Leone’s thugs staggered through the restaurant, hands over their eyes, retching. The furthermost one blinked and squinted at Eddie through open eyes. He began to raise his shotgun.

  Eddie put him down with two shots through the chest. Williams’ gun cracked behind him. The other thug slumped over a table, his groan fading into a hiss of escaping air.

  “You look upset, stalker,” Williams said. “Does this killing disturb you?”

  “Unlike you, I didn’t come here looking to start a fight.”

  “A stalker with a conscience. Surprising.”

  “And a murderer without one. Utterly, utterly dull. Where the hell is that can opener?”

  “Back here,” Knox said.

  Eddie turned and found the augment emerging from behind the red stage curtain. Knox froze when his eyes fell on Williams.

  “Why is he still carrying a gun?”

  “We’re all pals now,” Eddie said. “At least for the next ten minutes. Come on, get down here before more of these goons show up.” His eyes roamed over the dead thugs. Christ, what a mess. “How many does Leone have, anyway?�
�

  “Less than he could have, but more than you could imagine,” Williams said as he moved towards the kitchen. “This way?”

  “Through the back. Service elevator.”

  Eddie followed, keeping one eye on the fugitive’s back while he scanned the kitchen. Something had turned black in an oven. Soup still bubbled in a huge metal pot on the stovetop. The scents mingled with the stench of his own blood and sweat, turning his stomach.

  Knox stuck close behind him. “Is this a good idea?” the augment whispered.

  Eddie gestured him to silence. Better to keep their target in sight than to have him running around this casino getting himself clipped by a lucky shot. Eddie wasn’t going to let his paycheque drain away in a pool of his own blood.

  And if the man had a link to Cassandra, Eddie wanted to know what it was. If he knew where she’d gone, well, he’d just have to follow him.

  Eddie stuck close behind Williams as they made their way through the kitchen to a large service elevator with wire-mesh doors.

  “That’s it,” Knox said. “That should get us to the loading bay.”

  Eddie glanced at the floor and saw footsteps outlined in blood. Williams noticed them too and met Eddie’s eyes.

  “They went this way,” the fugitive said.

  “Then we follow.”

  Roy jabbed the call button and a winch started grinding. From deep below, the elevator creaked upwards.

  “Not exactly speedy, is it?” Eddie said.

  Roy grunted. Then his eyes slid past him. Eddie threw a glance over his shoulder. A shadow moved behind the circular window in the kitchen door. The softest creak of leather against the floor.

  Eddie grabbed Knox by the scruff of his neck and shoved him to the floor behind a long kitchen bench. The kitchen doors flew open and gunfire roared. As scattered bursts of lead filled the air, he threw himself down. Williams dropped into cover beside him.

  Metal pinged and cutlery dropped from overhead. Two leaks sprang from the soup pot, spilling thick orange liquid down the side. The soup turned black and smoky when it touched the stove flame.

  “How many?” Eddie yelled over the cacophony of gunfire.

  Williams held up five fingers.

  “Shit,” Eddie said.

  He glanced over at Knox. The augment cowered with his hands over his ears and his eyes screwed up tight as bullets punched through the bench around him. A small gap in the benches separated Eddie from Knox. A cart of dirty dishes was parked in the gap, the ceramic smashing one plate at a time.

  “Cover me,” Eddie said to Williams.

  Williams nodded. Stretched his neck back and forth. Then raised both his guns above the cover of the bench and fired blindly at the door.

  The return fire slackened briefly. Thugs moving into cover. Eddie seized his chance. He peered around the edge of the bench, aimed between the racks of dishes on the cart, and started firing.

  One thug went down immediately. Another saw his friend fall and darted back as Eddie’s shot went flying past him, scraping along his forearm as he ducked around the cover of the door.

  Williams’ fire ceased. “Reloading,” he said as he ejected his magazines.

  Eddie fired at the thugs in cover until he ran dry as well. Gun barrels appeared again. He ducked back behind the bench and scurried out of the way as the dishes cart as a hail of lead smashed through it, demolishing what was left of the crockery.

  “I’m out,” Eddie said.

  Roy glanced at him, forehead creasing slightly. Then he slid one of his guns along the kitchen floor.

  “That’s my last magazine. Make it last.”

  “Sure thing, Jack.”

  Eddie peeked out for a moment. Two of the thugs were laying down suppressing fire. And the other two…there, Eddie glimpsed one of them flanking around to the right. The other one would be on the left. He gestured to Williams to take the right. The fugitive nodded and slid across to the edge of the bench.

  Eddie brought himself up onto all fours and scurried past the cart of dishes. A flurry of shots followed him. As he crawled past Knox, he shoved the augment down further.

  “Lie down and stay down.”

  Knox only grunted in response.

  There was a clang from the left, a shoe striking a fallen saucepan. Eddie pressed himself as flat against the bench as he could. A gun barrel appeared overhead, swinging down towards him.

  Eddie pressed his own pistol against the thug’s kneecap and fired. The thug toppled with a scream that trembled through Eddie’s chest.

  Before the thug could hit the ground, Eddie grabbed the man’s gun arm by the wrist, buried his pistol into the man’s gut, and fired twice more. The scream became a gurgle.

  Breathing heavy, Eddie picked up the fallen man’s gun and glanced across at Williams. The fugitive had dispatched the other flanking goon with a single shot to the head. Eddie could no longer hear anything except the ringing in his ears. He shuffled away from the still-moving thug beside him.

  The elevator. He looked over as the mesh grate folded open.

  “Williams!” he yelled. His own voice sounded thick, like he was underwater.

  The fugitive glanced back and Eddie gestured at the elevator. He held up three fingers and began to count down.

  Two.

  One.

  Eddie stood and blazed away at the kitchen doorway with both guns. Bullets ricocheted around him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Williams firing as well. The remaining thugs ducked back into cover.

  Now was their chance. Eddie kicked Knox’s shoe and gestured to the elevator. Shakily, the augment scrambled into the waiting metal box. As he moved, Eddie raised his guns and fired at the lights. One by one the room drifted into thin semi-darkness, concealing their escape.

  Firing half-blind into the smoke as he went, Eddie hurried to the elevator. Williams reached it at the same time. They ducked inside as Knox pressed the button on the control panel. The gate creaked closed and the elevator began to rumble slowly downwards. Eddie continued to fire through the gate, keeping the goons suppressed.

  One of Eddie’s guns ran empty, then the other. Roy’s was already dry. The return fire started again, but it was too late. The bullets pinged harmlessly above them as the elevator descended and the kitchen disappeared from sight.

  19

  Eddie breathed heavily as the service elevator descended. Next to him, Roy tossed his now useless gun on the floor of the elevator. Eddie tucked one of his empty guns into his pocket, but kept the other in his hand. He stretched his jaw to try to pop his ears and worked his little finger back and forth in his ear canal.

  “I can’t hear a damn thing.”

  Williams said nothing, just watched the concrete of the shaft grind past. Knox was jacking himself into the elevator control panel.

  “What are you doing?” Eddie asked.

  “Making sure they can’t stop the elevator.”

  “Can you stop them calling the elevator back up when we hit the bottom?”

  “Sure. For a while.”

  “Do it.”

  “None of this was part of the deal, you know,” Knox said. “I wasn’t supposed to get shot at.”

  “Bring it up with the union.”

  The elevator drew to a halt and the gate slid open onto a wide concrete box of a room. To the left were two rows of near-empty shelves. Beyond the shelves was a door. On the right side of the room, the wall opened up and tunnels disappeared in both directions. That’d be where the delivery train came through. Overhead, strip lights cast everything into a cold pale blue. There was no one in sight.

  Eddie stepped out of the elevator, shoes squeaking on the slick lining of the floor. He could no longer see the bloody shoeprints of the evacuating staff.

  “Where to from here?” he said.

  Williams moved past him, heading towards the tunnel. “The train. The guard I interrogated said they commandeered a supply train. Leone has a standing agreement with the train company for su
ch an event.”

  “Yeah? He does this often?”

  “More than you would expect.” Roy stood at the edge of the platform and peered up and down the tunnel. A low rumbling came from far away, but there was no telling if it was a train or the water pipes or a hundred other pieces of old-tech machinery struggling to keep the station alive.

  “How long until the next train?” Eddie said to Knox. “Can you find out where they got off?”

  The augment brought up his tab. “I can find out when the train runs, but they go all over the city. It could’ve stopped a hundred places between here and wherever they got off. It’s all automated.”

  “Hm. So where’d they get off, Jack?” he said to Williams.

  “Somewhere they think is safe.”

  “Is that so?” Eddie muttered to himself. He stretched his fingers and strolled towards the platform where Williams stood.

  “Here we go,” Knox said. “We’re in luck. Next train in forty-eight seconds.”

  “Perfect,” Eddie said as he slipped his hand into his inside jacket pocket and fished out his plastic zip-cuffs. “Williams, give me a hand with something.”

  The fugitive turned and Eddie slammed the butt of his empty gun into the larger man’s face. His nose shattered with a spray of blood.

  Williams stumbled back, growling. His eyes were unfocused. Ignoring his aches, Eddie closed in quick, raising the gun to deliver another blow. He had to do this fast.

  He swung. But at the same moment, Williams charged forward. Eddie’s blow went wide, striking the fugitive’s shoulder. The blow jarred Eddie’s arm. And then Williams was on him, wrapping his arms around him and slamming all of his weight into him.

  The air went out of Eddie’s lungs and he hit the floor, Williams on top of him. His gun and cuffs went flying. How was the fugitive this fast? He’d never seen a man his size move like that. He stared up into Williams’ bared teeth as the man cocked back a fist.

  With a flick of his wrist, Eddie dropped a short-bladed knife from his jacket sleeve into his hand and plunged it into Williams’ thigh. The fugitive didn’t even seem to notice it. Williams’ fist descended, filling Eddie’s vision.