Page 100 of The Medici Return

Headlights burst from the open gate and turned left, heading for him. He grabbed the rifle and assumed a position where he could take a shot once the car cleared a curve about a quarter of a kilometer away. The weapon still had its high-powered sound suppressor attached to the end of the long barrel. He lay down prone on the pavement, balanced the rifle on its built-in bipod, and sighted through the nightscope. The headlights would be a problem, amplified by the night-vision capabilities, and potentially blinding. So he told himself to focus away from them. Down. On the tires.

He had eight rounds in the clip.

Should be plenty.

COTTON WORKED THE ACCELERATOR AND STEERED THEM OUT OF THEmonastery, beyond the walls, and back on the highway.

They’d escaped with the pledge.

“Is the document okay?” he asked Richter.

“I think so. The plastic sleeve is thick, and I’ve tried to hold it carefully.”

Good to hear.

“You did not seem surprised by what Camilla Baines did.”

“I knew she’d make a move, and this seemed like the right time and place.”

“So Cardinal Stamm provided you with some protection.”

“Always pays to be prepared.”

He took another curve in the road and kept speeding ahead, headlights probing the darkness.

Would they follow?

Damn right they would.

THOMAS WAITED AS THE CAR DREW CLOSER, STILL NOT IN SIGHT, BUTas it rounded the curve and found the straightaway that led to him, he prepared to fire. The headlights burst into the scope as momentary twin flashes that he avoided, focusing the crosshairs instead on the front driver’s-side tire.

He pulled the trigger.

Missed.

Another shot.

The tire exploded.

He quickly shifted his aim to the passenger side and planted a third round into the second tire.

Good shooting.

All that practice paid off.

The car was now skidding out of control.

COTTON WAS MINDFUL THAT THE ROAD THEY WERE ON WAS ELEVATEDwith trees and steep slopes on either side. He was an experienced driver in pressure situations, so he relaxed his foot on the accelerator and kept a light touch on the wheel. He also managed to buckle his shoulder harness, as did Richter. The serpentine road sloped downward toward the valley, no lights anywhere. Darkness all around.

Up ahead something appeared in the road.

A person lying flat?

He heard a bang.

The front end veered left.

He could feel resistance and knew that a tire had blown. Then another lurch from the opposite side. A second tire gone? The steering wheel slipped from his hands and their momentum kept sending them forward in an uncontrolled slide that crossed the center line into the opposite lane. The driver’s-side tires, or what was left of the front one, wobbled on the road’s edge. He hit the brakes to slow their acceleration and tried to cut the wheel to the right.

---