the Jeep’s rear windscreen. Expended brass shell cases from the AK-74SU glinted. The wail of sirens intensified and Victor was aware of Leeson tensing next to him, but after Victor’s brief he managed to resist the compulsion to look back. Then tyres screeched and the sirens grew no louder.
Victor took the first turning that presented itself – a side street that cut through the block. Closed boutiques lined both sides of the twisting throughway. A young couple were making out in an alcove, oblivious of the shootout that had occurred less than one hundred metres away, or unconcerned by it. Maybe it helped the mood.
Walking quickly by with Leeson had no effect on the lustful moans and gasps. They reached the end of the cobbled street and turned left.
‘Act normally,’ Victor said as he slowed the pace.
They reached the intersection and waited for a moment to cross the flow of traffic. A police cruiser sped towards them. Leeson tensed.
‘Relax,’ Victor assured him, ‘it’s not slowing.’
The cop car shot past and Leeson exhaled.
‘Containing the scene is the first priority. The emergency call won’t have provided enough intel to act upon. They don’t know who they’re looking for yet.’
Leeson gulped and nodded.
‘Unless we do something to draw their attention,’ Victor added.
‘Okay,’ Leeson said. ‘Okay. I understand.’
‘Understanding and doing are two separate concepts.’
Anger was in Leeson’s gaze. ‘I’m not in the business of fucking up, Mr Kooi.’
‘That’s the spirit.’
A gap in the traffic appeared and they hurried across. The signage for the multi-storey parking garage glowed up ahead.
‘Do you have a plan?’ Leeson asked as they neared.
‘I always have a plan.’
‘We’re going to the limousine?’
‘Yes.’
‘Won’t they be waiting for us there?’
Victor nodded. ‘Of course.’
‘Then all they have to do is wait on the top level until we’re out in the open and then we’re dead.’
‘Is that what you expect?’
‘Of course.’
‘Is that what you would do?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then why would they do it?’
‘Because it will work.’
‘There’s two ways onto the roof – the ramp and the door to the elevator and stairwell.’
‘There’s two of them. One can cover each.’
‘What happens if one of us appears at the door?’
‘The one covering it will shoot.’
‘What about the other one: will he join the gunfight or stay covering the ramp in case we’ve split up?’
‘That depends if we split up.’
‘But they don’t know what we’ll do. If one is engaged in a gunfight and the other can’t assist then it’s riskier for them than it is for us, because maybe we’re both shooting back. Then it’s two on one in our favour. If the other does assist and we have split up then their flank is exposed and they get shot in the back.’
‘My weapon is empty.’
‘They don’t know that.’
‘I don’t know how to do this kind of thing. I’m not trained in combat. I don’t know how to—’
‘They don’t know that either.’
‘What does it matter? It doesn’t change the fact that they have more guns than us because you made me leave the shotgun.’
‘They don’t know that,’ Victor said again, ‘so they’ll act as if we’re both armed. They won’t be on the roof, for the reasons I just explained.’
‘Then where will they be?’
‘On a level below with the Jeep parked on the roof so we don’t see it. They’ll ambush us as we make our way up, knowing we’ll expect them to be on the roof.’
‘Unless they can think like you can.’
‘In which case why are four of them already dead, yet we’re still alive?’
Leeson didn’t answer.
THIRTY-EIGHT
They waited. All they had to do was wait. It was simply a matter of time. And patience. The target – the man named Leeson – would return to his car. He would never leave it behind. Of this they had been assured by those who had sent them to kill him.
They were enforcers in an expansive organisation who had been paid up front with a sports bag crammed with bundles of euros and dollars. That money was to be split between six, based on seniority and experience. Now there were only two of them to divide it. There was no consideration of taking the money and running. The brotherhood would find them, wherever they went, and all the money in the world was not enough to buy the protection they would need to live long enough to enjoy it. They knew trying to finish the job that so far had killed four of their six was dangerous, but if they did not see it through they would need to return