a convertible Jaguar parked outside with the top down.
“Out,” he ordered. “And bring the chest with you. I’m afraid this is the end of the line. You and Andersen are gonna kill each other for the money. Maybe Steele too, if he’s here. I’ll leave a few hundred grand laying around, just to make it look good.” He winked at me and smiled. His eyes were cold and focused, flat and distant.
I leaned over into the backseat and nearly vomited. My arms trembled with fear and my body was wired with adrenaline. I searched the yard for a way out, something to make a run for, but there was nothing — just mortised wall. The exit to the street was too far away; just like the elevators, I’d never make it. I told myself there was still time. Still time, still time, still time, breathe, breathe, breathe, watch and listen, watch and listen.
Gary walked behind me with his gun held out and pointed at my back. I pushed at the heavy door and it swung open to reveal a lavish tile foyer.
“Go,” he ordered from behind. “Into the living room.”
I continued on, into a massive room with twenty-foot ceilings and bay windows stretching the length of the house. There was a wide deck overlooking the cliff and the ocean. Beyond that there was nothing but blue sea and a blazing orange sunset. The entire room glowed with the waning fire of the day.
I heard footsteps coming down some stairs behind me and I turned to see Andersen coming around a spiral staircase, dressed in a light gray sweat suit, his arms at his side and his bottom half shielded by the solid stucco banister. Then Steele came down behind him. Our eyes met and Steele grinned, giving me an almost embarrassed look, like he’d committed a breach of etiquette.
Gary turned too. He held his gun at his side, as if he was trying to avoid drawing attention to it.
“What’s all this, Gary?” Andersen asked, smiling, surprised and almost effusive, as if walking in on a party. Gary started to speak when Andersen raised a gun that was concealed by the banister and fired two shots. Gary fired once as he fell. Andersen’s body jerked back against the white wall, a red spray exploding behind him. Gary fell to the floor. Steele stood by, a horrified expression on his face.
I was stunned by the swift movement, flashes of light and overwhelming noise. I hesitated for a second, then my body sprang in a single fluid movement, dropping the chest and diving behind a brown leather couch. I crouched there, looking for an escape.
I could hear Gary struggling on the floor, thrashing like a wounded animal. Then he let out a yowling, inhuman wail as he got to his feet and clamored over to the hope chest.
Then Steele screamed, “You killed him, you son of a bitch!” And then shots rang out in the room. I could hear bullets tearing into the couch, but nothing hit me. I couldn’t see what was happening. But a second later I saw Steele limping out of the house, back the way I came in, with a bullet in his stomach and another in his thigh. He drug the chest behind him.
I wanted to look, but I couldn’t. There was still movement in the room. I heard the jag start outside and then saw Gary hobbling out after Steele, the gun in his one good arm and the mangled remains of his other shoulder slouching against the wall. He staggered from the house, leaving a wide, bloody brush mark on the wall, slowly bleeding to death and bent on revenge.
I heard the Jaguar speed away. Then the Taurus started and did the same. Squealing tires and racing engines faded into the distance. I listened to the overwhelming silence in the room. There was nothing to hear. The house was empty.
When I stood, I saw the misty red splatter running down the wall where Andersen had taken a bullet through the chest. There was another spot drying on the carpet where Gary fell. I waited for something bad to happen. But the silence remained.
Unsure what to do, I went over to the sliding doors, opened them, and stepped out onto the deck. I could see Sunset Boulevard below, lying like a concrete serpent in the bottom of the canyon. I looked closer and saw the two cars sliding through the corners and racing toward the ocean. Where