Page 79 of One of Us Is Guilty

Closer and closer, her aim converging on the front door.

Bloch pulled both triggers. The magnum kicked, punching through the wall, and then sending a much thicker column of light into the house. She tossed the Colt, brought both hands on the magnum and focused on the second target, firing three times.

She got up, dropped the empty magnum and picked up the Colt, kicked open the front door and saw the two bodies on the front lawn. Both dead. One had his arm severed at the elbow – a stray shot from the magnum.

‘Clear,’ said Bloch.

‘Clear,’ said Lake.

‘Get out of here,’ said Winchester weakly.

She whipped round. Winchester lay on his back. Two bullet holes on his left side from the first barrage of fire through the house. Blood bubbled from one of the wounds. The round had penetrated at least one lung.

‘Call 911,’ said Bloch.

Lake came into the hallway, dropped to his knees and took out his phone.

Bloch put both hands on the wounds, leaned down, applying pressure. Blood spewed from Paul’s mouth and a coughing fit took him.

Lake began dialing.

‘S-stop!’ said Winchester. ‘Too late.’

‘Help me,’ said Bloch.

He was bleeding too fast. She couldn’t stop it. A large pool of blood was already getting bigger beneath him.

‘Don’t call anybody. I won’t make it,’ said Winchester. ‘And I don’t want either of you here when Landry arrives. Give me my gun and get the hell out of here. If you don’t, Landry will make sure you both go to jail for this. I know it.’

Bloch and Lake exchanged a look.

‘Take . . .’ He tried to speak again, but another bloody coughing fit cut him off. His breath gurgled, but with great effort he managed a whisper.

‘Take my phone. It has all the files on the Jane Doe and the . . . the security feed from tonight. Get him. Get Vanderpool. Take it, take it and get the . . .’

His eyeballs turned upwards, and his head lolled to one side as the last breath left his body.

Lake looked around, then ran upstairs and came down again quickly with Winchester’s cell phone in his hand.

‘We’ve got to go,’ he said.

Bloch rocked back onto her heels and stood.

‘Are you hit?’ she asked.

‘No, I’m good. You?’

‘I’m not hit. But I’m not good,’ she said, and looked at the blood on her hands. It was almost black in the moonlight.

‘He’s right. Let’s go. If they want to cover this up, they won’t want to advertise that two possible perps escaped. Right now, it looks like Winchester took out his attackers.’

‘My slugs don’t match his gun.’

‘Landry will know we were here. If he comes after us, we’ll deal with him. But right now let’s not get caught at a multiple homicide scene in his jurisdiction.’

‘Check the bodies,’ said Bloch.

Lake went into the kitchen, Bloch turned over the man in the hallway: no wallet, no ID. No cash. She pulled down his black sweater from the neck, checked his shoulders.