shot,” she shouted, then tumbled backward when the boat rocked violently.
On shore, Remo pushed Barns aside. “Lord’s mine, you little bastard. Remember it.” Taking out his gun, he focused and waited.
It looked like a game, Whitney thought as she shook her head to clear it. Two overgrown boys wrestling in a boat. Any moment one might cry uncle, then they’d brush themselves off and go on to other amusements.
She tried to stand again, but nearly tipped over the side. She could see the gun still in Doug’s hand, but the other man outweighed him by at least fifty pounds. Balancing herself on her knees, she gripped the pole again. “Dammit, Doug, how can I smash him if you’re laying on top of him? Move!”
“Sure.” Panting, Doug managed to pry Weis’s hand from around his throat. “Just give me a minute.” Then his head jerked back as Weis caught him on the jaw. Doug tasted blood.
“You broke my fucking nose,” Weis said as he dragged Doug to his feet.
“Was that you?”
They stood, legs braced as Weis began slowly to turn Doug’s gun hand so that the barrel pointed at his face.
“Yeah. And I’m going to blow yours off.”
“Look, don’t take it so personally.” Planting his feet, Doug was certain he felt something rip inside his left shoulder. It was something to think about later when the barrel of a gun wasn’t staring him in the face.
Sweat ran from him as he fought to keep Weis’s finger from slipping over the trigger. He saw the smile and cursed that it was the last thing he’d ever see. Abruptly, Weis’s eyes widened and air whooshed out of his mouth as Whitney shoved the pole smartly into his stomach.
Gripping Doug for balance, Weis shifted. In the next instant his body jerked. He’d become Doug’s shield at the instant Remo had fired from shore. With a look of surprise, he fell like a stone against the side of the canoe. The next thing Whitney knew, she was swallowing water.
On the first panic, she surfaced, choking and thrashing.
“Grab the packs,” Doug shouted, shoving them at her as he treaded beside the overturned canoe. Two bullets struck the water inches from his head. “Holy shit.” He saw the jaws of the first crock open and close over Weis’s torso. And he heard the sickening sound of ripping flesh and breaking bone. Making one frantic grab, he locked his fingers over the strap of one pack. The other floated just out of range. “Go!” he shouted again. “Just go. Get to shore.”
She too saw what remained of Weis and struck out blindly. A dull red mist floated over the brown river water. What she didn’t see until it was nearly on top of them was the second crock.
“Doug!”
He turned in time to see jaws open. He fired five shots point blank before they closed again and sunk in a pool of red.
There were more. Doug fumbled for the box of bullets, knowing he’d never get them all. In a desperate move, he propelled himself between Whitney and an oncoming crock, lifting the gun butt first. He waited for the impact, the pain. He was braced, lips pulled back in a snarl. The top of the crock’s head exploded when he was less than an arm’s length away. Before Doug could react, three more crocks went under, tails swishing. Blood swirled around him.
The shots hadn’t come from Remo. Even as Doug turned toward shore he knew it. They’d come from farther south. Either they had a fairy godmother or someone else was on their trail. He caught a movement and a glimpse of a white panama. When he saw Whitney just behind him, he didn’t stop to think about it.
“Go, dammit.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward the bank. Whitney didn’t look back but simply forced her legs to kick her through the water to shore.
Doug half dragged her over the wet reeds on the edge of the canal and into the bush. Panting, aching, he propped himself on the trunk of a tree.
“I’ve still got the papers, you sonofabitch!” he shouted across the canal. “I’ve still got them. Why don’t you take a little swim across the canal and try to take them from me?” For a moment, he closed his eyes and just worked on getting his breath back. He could hear Whitney heaving up canal water beside him. “You tell Dimitri I’ve got them and you tell him I owe him one.” He wiped