Page 133 of The Devil's Advocate

Possibly an AR-15.

It looked to Berlin and Bloch like the Pastor was cleaning house. Professor Gruber had been reported missing by his mother. He had not been seen for two days.

Berlin led the way up the gravel path to the front door. He stood to the left side of the door, Anderson on the right and Bloch standing back. Berlin knocked.

Brian Denvir must’ve watched them walk up to the house, because he called out immediately.

‘You are trespassing on private property. I am armed, and I will use deadly force to defend myself and my property. Leave now !’

‘He doesn’t sound too friendly,’ said Berlin, then shouted back, ‘Mr. Denvir, this is Homeland Security. Please lay down any firearms and step out of the house.’

Silence.

‘You’re trespassers ! Get off my property. I’ll give you to the count of three, and then I’m gonna start shooting.’

‘Mr. Denvir, it is preferable that you and I have a conversation. I would like that very much. You are not under arrest.’

‘One !’ cried Denvir.

‘Answer my question and we will leave you alone. We don’t care about Hogg and any others you’ve killed. Tell us what we want to know and you’re a free man.’

Either Denvir couldn’t remember what came after one, or he was through talking, as a burst of automatic fire began shredding the front door. All three of them lay flat on the ground.

Berlin nodded to Anderson.

Anderson said nothing. He crawled to a side window to the right of the front door, quickly glanced inside, then ducked back down, shook his head.

Crawling to the window to the left of the front door, Bloch raised her head quickly, then dropped back down. She realized Anderson’s problem immediately. The layout of the house made a frontal assault perilous. A wide hallway, with open-plan living room on the right and dining area on the left meant that Denvir could stand at the foot of the staircase and cover the entire front of the property with a field of fire.

He wore Kevlar body armor on his chest, arms, legs too. And a full combat helmet.

They heard a dog barking. A big dog.

There was a BEWARE OF THE DOG sign on the front gate, and the side of the house was secured with a seven-foot-high fence. Getting around back would be difficult. And the dog would serve as an early warning for Denvir, which would eliminate the element of surprise for that flank, thereby eliminating it from their options.

Anderson popped up at his side window, fired four rounds, fast. All four in under a second and a half, then dropped back down.

A burst of automatic fire in Anderson’s direction answered the question. Bloch checked the window at her side.

The quiet man, Anderson, didn’t strike Bloch as the type of guy to miss. She could tell by the way he held the Glock that he knew what he was doing. A bullet from that gun would find its target.

Anderson fired back. Bloch watched from her window and saw one round ping from Denvir’s helmet. The rest would’ve found their mark, but in vain. Denvir was too well armored.

Bloch took out her cell phone, selected the camera option and placed it at the corner of the window, the base resting on the sill, angling it so that she could see Denvir on screen. She only needed a few seconds, and only a few inches of the phone were showing. Bloch got up on one knee, drew her weapon.

She looked at the phone, glanced through the window. Got her bearings as to where she was aiming in relation to where Denvir was standing.

Maggie felt heavy in her hands. She hadn’t hit the range in a week now, and she was feeling it. Having chosen this gun specifically because she would only need to fire it once at a target, Bloch estimated she would need three shots.

One to calibrate.

One to adjust.

One to hit the target.

She squeezed the trigger and a plume of flame the size of a basketball flared out the barrel of the Magnum. Both Anderson and Berlin turned to look at her in surprise. The noise was deafening. Bloch was only aware of Berlin and Anderson in her peripheral vision. She was looking at her phone screen, and the cloud of dust, wood and carpet fibers filling the air three feet behind Denvir. There was a hole in the wooden siding of the house, and a hole in the stairs a foot to the right of Denvir’s left leg.

Calibration.