Page 63 of The Summer Guests

“How much?”

“Enough for another run. What’re you watching?”

“I dunno. It’s lame.”

The TV shut off, and in the sudden quiet, she could hear the blood rushing through her ears. She was trapped in an apartment with two men, and at least one of them was most likely armed. So was she, but a gun battle was not the way she wanted this to go down. Someone would get hurt, and there’d be consequences that would go beyond mere bloodshed.

And she would have blown the mission and failed Luther.

She thought of all the times in her career when she’d stood on the edge of catastrophe, but she never imagined that this was how she would finally fail, in a battle with two losers in a run-down apartment.

“You ready to head out?” said the other man.

“Let me change my shirt,” said Bass. “It’s like a fucking oven outside, and I’m drenched.”

And here it would end. Her muscles tensed. The one advantage she had against these two young men was the element of surprise.Leap out of the closet, dart for the door.If she was quick enough, she could be out of the apartment before they reacted. Before anyone managed to fire a shot. But would she be able to stay ahead of them down two flights of stairs?

Bass’s footsteps paced into the bedroom, moved toward the closet. She heard the doorknob turn. She raised her weapon.

Somewhere, a fire alarm screeched.

“Now what the fuck?” Bass said.

A fist pounded on the apartment door, loud and insistent. She heard a shout: “There’s a fire on this floor! Everyone get out now!”Declan.

“Hey, man,” Bass’s friend yelled. “We better get outta here!”

Bass’s footsteps retreated from the bedroom. The apartment door slammed shut.

She waited ten seconds for the men to clear the hallway; then she was out of the closet and crossing the living room. Her DoorDash delivery bag was still on the floor where she’d left it, apparently unnoticed by the brilliant duo who’d just exited. She grabbed it and slipped out of the apartment.

In the hallway, she joined the other tenants migrating toward the stairs and down to the exit. By the time she stepped outside, there was enough of a crowd to camouflage her retreat. Not that anyone would notice her; she was just the granny in the blue ball cap. Bass and hisbuddy didn’t even glance her way as she walked past them and climbed into the car, where Declan was waiting.

“That was fun,” she said.

“You scared the bejesus out of me.”

“Thank you for the diversion. I wouldn’t have gotten out of there without a firefight.”

“I can’t handle this kind of stress anymore. Next time, I’m the one who goes in, andyourun backup.”

“Is there a next time?”

“If we live long enough.”

She gave him a triumphant grin. “We’ve got him, Declan.”

He looked at her. “Do we?”

“They’ll have him on class A possession and sale. The evidence was under his bed. I’ve got the photos.” She looked out the car window at Jesse Bass and saw the distinct bulge of a firearm tucked in his belt. “Toss in a firearms charge, and he won’t be bothering Luther for a long time.” She pulled out her phone to call Ingrid. By that evening, an anonymous tip, accompanied by incriminating photos, would find its way to the Lewiston PD and the Maine State Police. It was time to get the ball rolling.

But before Maggie could dial, Ingrid called her first.

“It just came over the police radio,” Ingrid said.

“What did? What’s happening?”

“They found Zoe Conover.”

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