I slip the man back into the shadows just as the two other men appear around the corner.
In my ear, Atticus says, “The cigarette.”
Shit.
It’s maybe fifty feet away, the cherry still glowing. Maybe by the time the guards get close enough the cherry will be extinguished, but maybe not. I could easily take the guards out with one of my pistols—I have two SIG Sauer P320 TACOPS strapped to my belt, both of them equipped with sound suppressors—but I want to wait as long as possible before I alert the rest of the guards. Because based on what Atticus has seen from the quadcopters, there are fourteen in all, counting the guard I just killed. Ten monitoring the outside perimeter, four others inside the house, all heavily armed.
One of the approaching guards whispers, “Hector, we know you have a fresh pack of cigarettes. Don’t hold out on us.”
The two guards move into my line of sight. Both of them are carrying identical AKMs.
I could easily take them out right now, but again, I don’t want to bring attention to myself. The pistols are silenced, but that doesn’t mean the shots would be entirely silent. This isn’t a movie. The shots would still make noise, enough that it might catch the attention of the other guards walking the perimeter. I’m going to have to start shooting at some point—there’s no way I’ll be able to do this without lead—but I want to wait as long as possible.
My left hand touches the stick on my belt. It’s a foot long, black, and looks like a baton. But it’s not a baton.
The same guard who whispered before whispers again.
“Hector, mi amigo, where are you?”
That’s when the other guard spots the fading cherry. He pauses, taps his counterpart on the arm, and points.
Time to work.
I unsheathe the blade again and throw the knife at the closest guard forty feet away. The blade slams into the guard’s back. He grunts, drops the AKM, reaches for the knife stuck between his shoulder blades as he starts to fall to his knees. By that point I’m sprinting forward, the other guard turning toward me and raising his rifle. I throw the baton at him. It strikes him in his throat, stunning him just long enough for me to reach them both.
Swiping the baton off the ground, I use it to smash it against the side of the guard’s face, then twist the baton and pull it apart to reveal its other purpose. I step behind the guard and wrap the garrote wire around his throat. The man struggles, attempting to reach back at me, but the wire is sharp and tears into his skin. Blood squirts out, and in seconds the man stops struggling as the life fades from his body.
The other guard, meanwhile, has stopped trying to extract the knife from his back. For the moment he ignores the AKM lying feet away, and even ignores the gun holstered to his belt. Instead, he reaches for something else clipped to his belt.
His radio.
In an instant, I calculate the distance between us. About twenty feet, but still more than enough space for him to access his radio before I make it over to him. And then what? Pull the knife from his back, slice him across the throat? Won’t matter how I kill him, because by then he’ll have already used the radio. Maybe he won’t be able to alert the other guards to exactly what’s happened, but any slight warning is more than I can allow.
I have no choice, I realize, and pull one of the pistols from my belt.
I place a bullet in the back of his head.
Despite the silencer, the single round shatters the night’s stillness.
For a moment I don’t move, just stand there staring at the dead guard.
Atticus says, “They’re coming for you.”
“How many?”
“All of them.”
For updates, free copies, contests, and more, sign up for Robert’s newsletter. It’s a private list and your email address will never be shared with anyone else. You’ll also immediately receive a free ebook exclusive to newsletter subscribers.
To receive your exclusive copy of The Debt You Pay, follow the link:
www.robertswartwood.com/free-books
Look for these other titles in the Holly Lin series, available everywhere!
BULLET RAIN
FIRST KILL
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
HOLLOW POINT
About the Author
Robert Swartwood is the USA Today bestselling author of The Serial Killer’s Wife, No Shelter, Man of Wax, and several other novels. He created the term “hint fiction” and is the editor of Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer. He lives with his wife in Pennsylvania. Visit him online at www.robertswartwood.com.
Follow Robert on social media
Publisher’s Note
We hope you enjoyed No Shelter. If so, please consider leaving a review where you purchased the book. Reader reviews like yours is the lifeblood of a writer’s career. Thank you so much for your support.
Also by Robert Swartwood
NOVELS
Holly Lin Series
No Shelter
Bullet Rain
First Kill
The Devil You Know
Hollow Point
Man of Wax Series
Legion
Man of Wax
The Inner Circle
Stand-alones
The Calling
Land of the Dead
The Serial Killer’s Wife
New Avalon
Abducted
Temple
Walk the Sky (with David B. Silva)
COLLECTIONS
Real Illusions: Stories
Phantom Energy: [Very Short] Stories
NOVELLAS & SHORT STORIES
Muse
Giotto’s Circle
The Man on the Bench
Spooky Nook
In Solemn Shades of Endless Night
In the Land of the Blind: A Zombie Story
Wayward Pines: Nomad
At the Meade Bed & Breakfast (with David B. Silva)
AS EDITOR
Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer
Copyright © 2011 Robert Swartwood
Cover design copyright © 2016 Damonza
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from Robert Swartwood.
www.robertswartwood.com
[Holly Lin 01.0] No Shelter Page 26
