Page 116 of One of Us Is Guilty

She didn’t like any of the three options.

She decided to make a fourth.

Bloch angled the shotgun toward the sky, pulled the trigger twice.

Double tap.

Blowing through the second slug in the chamber and the buckshot.

She immediately dropped to the gravel. Belly on the ground, stock at her shoulder.

The short man would’ve heard the shots.

He knew the last thing Bloch wanted to do was give away her position.

He would think that she was shooting at the only other possible target.

The giant.

Which meant she would be at the front of the house, probably behind the Jeep. Facing the giant at the van. The short man would know distraction was the biggest weapon he had in his arsenal. If he was a pro, he would come tearing round that corner, running at full speed, trying to get to the van and shooting while he moved.

He wouldn’t anticipate Bloch had stayed put. That she would be low, and waiting, and that she had fired into the air to lure him out. Because he knew she was smart enough not to take that chance.

The short man burst from the side of the building, firing at the Jeep.

The stock kicked into Bloch’s shoulder as she fired the remaining slugs.

The short man’s feet left the gravel, and he would never stand up on them again.

She lowered the empty shotgun, put one hand on the wall to steady herself as she rose to her feet. Adrenaline always made her feel a little light-headed.

Footsteps on the gravel.

Big, heavy ones.

Moving fast.

Bloch turned, saw the elbow slam into her face, heard the dull echo of her skull bouncing off the wall and her vision blurred. The shotgun fell from her grip. Massive hands took hold of her jacket and slammed her body against the wall. This time, she tucked her chin into her chest so only her shoulders hit the bricks but it was still enough to knock all the air out of her.

She stared up at the face of the giant. His lips drawn back, teethbared, his jaw already swollen on the left side from when Bloch put the stock of the shotgun through it.

The pain from the blow to the face and her skull being smashed against the wall was beginning to bite, hard. She welcomed it. The pain blew away the drowsiness and Bloch started to think.

If the giant stayed on his feet there was only one way this was going to go, and that wouldn’t work out well for Bloch. Her magnum was on her hip, but he was too close and there was no way to draw and fire without him grabbing it from her. He was way too strong for that kind of move.

Instead, Bloch leaned in close, tucked her feet behind her and used the weight of her body falling as momentum. She grabbed the giant’s left thigh, wrapping her left arm around it, and sank the heel of her right palm into the side of his left knee.

Pulling his thigh with her left.

Pushing on the side of his knee with her right.

His stance widened and he tried to get his left foot off the ground to straighten it and alleviate the pressure, but Bloch already had all of her weight on that leg.

A clubbing blow landed on the side of her head.

She pulled.

She pushed.