Part 18 (2/2)

The heli found Ivanovich and its spotlight picked him out, his gun raised, defiant. He fired.

Paulo felt something hit him, hard like a punch. His ears rang and something warm spread over his arm.

Alex saw Paulo falter, an arm outstretched. He grabbed it and pulled his friend the rest of the way to cover. The spotlight slid over them as Alex dragged Paulo into the cave mouth. He had something wet and dark all over him and his face was rigid with pain, his arm dark and wet.

Down below them, Ivanovich lifted his pistol but the trigger produced only a click. He was out of bullets. Two policemen grabbed him from behind and shook the gun out of his hand.

The fighter planes were coming back. They zigzagged across the sky as if in a salute and took off into the wide blue yonder.

Li and Alex yelled at the top of their lungs: 'Man down!'

28.

PRISONER.

Cras.h.!.+ Hex looked up with bleary eyes. The window had just been broken. Hex looked up with bleary eyes. The window had just been broken.

He jumped to his feet. The rubber soles of his shoes made sticky noises in the chemical lake on the floor. The leaking drums slid away as he tried to climb on them, but he wasn't going to give up. He dragged the ketamine box over, climbed on it and gulped in the fresh air like a drowning man.

The cold made his inflamed nose and eyes stream even more, but it was bliss.

'Hex!'

He blinked away tears and saw a small blonde figure in the yard looking up at him, a flash of glitter in her hair.

It was the last person he had expected. Tiff.

'Hex, are you all right?'

Hex nodded.

'Did they shoot you?'

Hex shook his head. He was too busy breathing to talk.

'I saw them.' Her voice was high and upset. 'I saw them throw you in here and shoot you.'

Hex tried to tell her to be quiet, but his voice wouldn't work. What if the men were still around? Or the laird? They couldn't fail to hear her yelling in the middle of the yard. She was putting herself in danger.

On the second attempt he managed a loud croak. 'Tiff, shhh.'

She didn't hear him. 'I thought they'd killed you-'

Hex managed a shout. 'Tiff, shut up!'

She looked up, offended. The light caught on the glitter in her hair. It was a hair slide.

'Sorry,' said Hex. He'd better grovel: she was his only chance. 'Tiff, I'm really pleased to see you. Can you help me get out? Give me that hair clip.'

A look of suspicion flitted over her face. Had he blown it?

'Tiff, please. I need to pick the lock.'

Still looking at him suspiciously, her hands went up to her hair.

Then Hex noticed two figures behind her in the semi-darkness. 'Run, Tiff!' he yelled. 'Run!'

She started to look annoyed. The bouncer grabbed her from behind and lifted her off the ground. She kicked and screamed, but her kicks and blows. .h.i.t empty air. He clamped a hand over her mouth and cut off her screams.

Hex watched, horrified. The bald man came out. In the yard the indicators of a Range Rover came alive and he opened the back door. Hex recognized it. It was the Range Rover they'd rented.

The big man bundled Tiff into the vehicle. His hand slipped down from her mouth and she let out a full-throated yell 'Hex! Help! Help me!'

The bald man came to the storeroom door, a revolver in his hand. Hex leaped down from the window, plunging into the acrid sea of fumes. He doubled over, unable to control the coughing, helpless as the door was unlocked.

Hex saw the man reel back when the smell hit him. Go! Go! he thought. He lunged forwards while the guy was off balance, knocked him over and the gun spun away. He tried to hold him down as he reached for it, but the man squirmed and bucked. he thought. He lunged forwards while the guy was off balance, knocked him over and the gun spun away. He tried to hold him down as he reached for it, but the man squirmed and bucked.

A scream brought everyone to a standstill.

'Hex!' Tiff.

The big man had Tiff pinned down on the back seat of the Range Rover, her right arm twisted up behind her back.

'Are you going to come quietly,' he said, 'or does your girlfriend have to die?'

Tiff let out a sob.

Hex had no choice. He couldn't save Tiff and and himself. She shouldn't even be mixed up in this. He relaxed his hold. himself. She shouldn't even be mixed up in this. He relaxed his hold.

The bald man retrieved his gun. He got to his feet and nudged Hex in the back, pus.h.i.+ng him towards the Range Rover. 'Move.'

Reluctantly, Hex climbed into the vehicle. The man got in beside him.

The big man set the child locks. There goes any chance of opening the doors while we're moving, thought Hex.

The engine started, the accelerator gunned and the Range Rover swung out into the road.

The sky was a pinkish colour; the sun was starting to go down. Hex could see the clock in the dashboard: ten to ten. The others should have captured the gamekeepers by now. Had they? Did these guys know? If they did, there would be h.e.l.l to pay.

If the others had failed... That wasn't worth even thinking about.

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