between her and whatever is out there. I need backup now.”
“Done,” said Blue Man, and he clicked off.
Robie put down the phone and looked around. He was debating whether to go back and stay with DiCarlo—to form an inner hardened circle around her—and wait for help to arrive. That seemed like a sound plan, only they were in the middle of nowhere and help would take some time in coming.
If he retreated to DiCarlo he would give a clear tactical advantage to the opponent. They could encircle them, close in, and with superior firepower it would quickly be over. A grenade tossed through the window would be enough.
So other things being equal, that meant Robie had to go on the offensive. That was okay. He was more comfortable attacking than defending.
Dead men out front meant the shooter had to be positioned there. But with the men dead that position could have changed.
Robie put himself in the mind of the shooter.
What would I do?
It was what Robie would call a plus-one situation. You think one tactical step ahead but you don’t try to be too cute about it.
Dead out front. Use the rear. They do the plus-one analysis and conclude that Robie would think that far ahead and opt to go out the front.
So Robie did the plus-two and headed out the rear.
Of course, if there were two snipers, front and back, his chess playing was useless and he was dead.
No shots came as he exited the house. He moved away from the door and behind a tree where he could gain a bit of surveillance time while being somewhat shielded. It was dark, so he wouldn’t be able to see much except for perhaps movement. Yet even if he did see the shooters it would be nearly impossible to hit them with a pistol shot if they were any real distance away.
After seeing nothing out there he slipped out from behind the tree and made his way to the right side of the house. In his mind he fixed the dead men’s positions. From there he reverse engineered the trajectory lines necessary to kill them.
The only spot was the knoll about a quarter mile away. He had seen it when he’d driven up. There was a break in the trees there.
High ground was good ground for long-distance murdering. Any competent sniper could have made those kill shots.
He peered up toward the knoll, looking for any sign of the shooter.
Could it be Jessica Reel on the other end of that sniper rifle?
He got down on his belly and slid forward until he was behind his car. From there he could see the two bodies. He was able to grab the leg of the closest dead man and pulled the body behind the car. Robie saw that the round had gone right through the man’s neck, severing the spine on the way out.
Instant kill.
He only glanced over at the other body, but he knew the man had probably suffered the same sort of mortal wound.
Hitting a torso at this distance was not hard if you knew what you were doing. Nailing the spine on an in-and-out was a little more problematic, especially at night. Whoever was out there knew his way around a long barrel and scope. Which meant he could nail Robie just as easily.
He opened the car door and slipped inside.
A plan had hit him in the last few seconds.
He intended to execute it in the next few seconds.
Keeping low, he slid over to the driver’s seat, started the engine, and put the car in gear.
Then what he thought might happen did.
A round slammed through the driver’s-side window, sending shards of glass over him.
They were waiting for him in front. Which meant they had stopped at the plus-one analysis. That lifted his spirits a bit. Now if he could only survive the next few minutes.
He revved the engine and popped it into reverse.
A round hit the front tire, exploding it.
The car backed up, bumping along with the ruined tire, which quickly shed rubber until he was basically running on the rim.
But he didn’t have to go fast. He just needed to go.
Using his side mirror as a guide, he made the turn and sped along the side of the house. At the same time he was dialing the number in DiCarlo’s house, which he had memorized from the hard-line phone’s screen.
“Yes?” DiCarlo’s voice was shaky and Robie could hardly blame her.
He told her the situation and what he was attempting