Page 127 of Two Kinds of Stranger

She heard rattling.

The security chain coming off the door to Lake’s apartment.

The door opened fast and the arc of light from inside the apartment swept across Bruno, but as soon as the door began to open, he sprang forward, into the apartment, the crowbar held out in front of him across his chest.

Bloch let a round go, but it just took a chunk out of the wall where Bruno’s head had been just milliseconds before.

Bloch swore and ran for the open door to Lake’s apartment.

It was only twenty-five, maybe thirty feet of hallway. No more.

Her boots pounded on the carpet.

She heard a shot from inside the apartment.

Just before she reached the open door, she slowed, stopped, jammed her back against the wall and performed a fast peek, ducking her head forward and back to get a look at what the hell was happening inside.

Bruno had his back to her. He was straddling Lake, the crowbar raised above his head.

Bloch spun through the door. There was no time to grab the bar.

A bloody hole in Bruno’s coat, at the shoulder, already told her the story of who had fired and where the bullet had gone. But Lake’s gun was on the floor, just out of reach. Bruno’s armscurled behind his head, ready to whip forward and cave in Lake’s skull.

Bloch fell into a crouch, fired once.

Bruno’s coat rippled.

The crowbar fell harmlessly over his back, and he fell forward.

Lake reached up, shouldered the falling Bruno out of the way, pushing him to the right to make sure he didn’t land on top of him. Then Lake scrambled backward, lifted his gun from the apartment floor and stood, aiming it at Bruno, who was now face down on the floor.

Bloch had to do a double-take. Lake’s face and shirt were covered in blood.

She looked along the path of her firing line, saw a dinner-plate-sized chunk taken out of the cement wall.

‘Round came through,’ said Lake. ‘If you’d fired from a standing position the round would have taken me out too, and maybe the neighbors on the floor below.’

‘Are you hit?’ asked Bloch.

He shook his head, trained his weapon on Bruno as he stepped forward. Bloch joined him, and carefully, guns trained on him, they turned his body over onto his back.

A pistol was tucked into his pants. Lake grabbed the butt of the gun, between finger and thumb, drew it and threw it into the corner of the room. The gun had sat below a large exit wound in Bruno’s abdomen.

He coughed, put his hands on his stomach to stop the bleeding. There was little chance of that happening.

Bloch stood over him, said, ‘Do you want a paramedic?’

He stared up at Bloch, eyes bulging, and nodded.

‘They’re not going to make it. I can call the coroner?’ she said.

Bruno coughed blood onto his face.

‘Tell me. How does it feel, bitch?’ said Bloch.

Bruno’s eyes shifted toward the door.

Bloch ducked and spun round just as the first bullet zinged past her head.