Page 51 of Already Lost

“If my grandmother is dead, I don’t needthe song,” he snarled at her, his upper lip curling. “And if she’s not dead,then I don’t needyou. I can find someone else. You’re disposable.”

Laura swallowed hard at the sound of theword. He advanced towards her fast, too fast, leaving her without enough timeto think and consider her next move. No time to say something else to distracthim. She threw herself to one side, rolling away from him –

And rolling to her feet, using themomentum to propel her without the use of her hands. She’d managed to get theropes loose while he had his back turned, finishing off the work she hadstarted before he knew she was awake. Oreyo crashed forward towards the groundwhere she had been laying and almost fell, catching his balance at the lastminute with the heavy sword still in his hand. Laura dodged backwards, furtheraway from him. They were in a big space. She needed to use that to heradvantage as much as she could. She needed to keep him at a distance as much aspossible. Out of the reach of that sword.

He swung it at her again and Laura gasped,dodging it only by the virtue of sucking in her stomach and leaning her body,far too close for comfort. She picked up the pace, stumbling backwards, knowingthat if she lost her balance or tripped it would be over.

She’d seen this movie a dozen times. Sheknew what was going to happen. Sooner or later in her mad stumble, she wouldcollide with something she hadn’t known was there and fly backwards – or she’dhit her back against the wall and be left with nowhere else to go. It wasinevitable.

She needed to change the dynamic before itreached that point.

He swung towards her again and missed, andLaura took advantage of the moment – of the weight of the sword forcing him toregroup before he could make another move – to turn.

She assessed the space in a heartbeat,adding to what she had already seen when she was on the floor. The door wasbehind her, behind Oreyo, and there was no way past him. But at the back of theroom there was a large stack of wooden pallets, no doubt left there from whenthe warehouse was in use. She ran towards it, full speed, knowing that he wasat a disadvantage while he still had to carry the heavy weapon.

She was running for her life and that factmade her feet fast. Laura made it to the space behind the pallets and didn’twaste a moment. Instead of waiting for him to round the corner after her, shesimply pushed – pushed as hard as she could against the whole stack of pallets,taller than she was, until they started to fall.

There was an almighty clatter as the stacktoppled. Not only did they fall, but they were so old that many of them wererotten, snapping and creaking as they went down. A cloud of dust rose up intothe air, choking her and filling her mouth as she took advantage of the momentto continue running instead of checking whether she had managed to hit him. Thedoor was on the other side of the room. If she made it, she could be free. Shecould run and hide somewhere else, outpace him, find someone to flag down forhelp.

She almost tripped, caught partway betweendodging to the side and stopping completely, when someone filled the doorway.

For a moment her heart stuttered adesperate fear that Oreyo had not been working alone, that she had calculatedwrong, that it was all going to end now.

But then she recognized that shape, thatsilhouette outlined against the doorway, and she knew she was safe.

“Freeze!” Nate yelled, pointing the gunbehind her as she made it the last few steps to his side, his firearm over hershoulder. “Stop right there or I’ll shoot!”

Laura turned and saw him, Artur Oreyo,stuttering to a halt behind her. He had been only steps away. His dark outfitwas now coated in dust, and one of his sleeves was torn where the pallets hadcome down on him. There was even dust in his hair, and he was breathing hard.The sword was still in his hand, though it pointed downward, dragging againstthe ground.

“You’re under arrest for attempted murderof an FBI agent,” Nate growled. “And three homicides. Drop the sword and putyour hands above your head.”

“No,” Oreyo said, and before Laura couldget over the shock of his refusal, he swung desperately and fast with thesword, hitting Nate’s gun.

It fell to the floor and skittered awayharmlessly, and Laura’s breath caught in her throat.

They were unarmed, and Oreyo was stilladvancing.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Nate stumbled backwards, clutching at hishand with the other, taking Laura with him by accident in the circle of hisarms. He let go as she turned, everything seeming to happen so slowly as theadrenaline surged through his veins.

“Go!” Laura breathed, and she was on herway already, her feet pushing off the ground to give her a head start, and Natesaw Oreyo lifting his sword for another swing and knew she was right. They hadto go.

Nate launched himself after Laura as fastas he could, only narrowly avoiding another swing of the sword. It was heavy,clunking hard against the frame of the door and sticking there for a moment asOreyo fought to draw it back. That was the only thing that saved them, Natewatching as he ran backwards to make sure they had enough headway before turningto run faster.

Laura was just ahead of him. He outpacedher easily, given his longer legs, but he didn’t outstrip her. He stayed levelat her side, knowing he had that extra tank he could call on if things gotdesperate, not willing to let her be the person bringing up the rear. Theperson right in the firing line for that sword if it came down again.

“Come on,” Nate said, urging her onwards.“This whole complex of warehouses is abandoned. We just need to get insomewhere ahead of him and hide.”

“I’m trying,” Laura gasped, alreadyheavily out of breath.

Nate glanced at her and then over hisshoulder again. Oreyo was following them, running slower with the sword at hisside but starting to gather steam. It was the look of determination on his facethat put a chill down Nate’s spine. He looked like he would rather drop deadhimself than allow them to get away. That kind of psychotic determination mightlast much longer than either he or Laura could run for, and this area of townwas so isolated…

And Laura was flagging already. She lookedsick. She’d been taken by the killer, and she wouldn’t have gone down without afight. Nate reasoned she must be hurt already. He needed to get her to safety.

Marsters had called him back with the celltrace, leading him right to the warehouse he’d found her in, when he wasalready close by. Marsters knew where they were. All he had to do was askMarsters to call in for backup…

They plunged together into the darkness ofanother warehouse, both of them staggering for a moment, brought up sharp bythe sheer blackness that embraced them. With no light from outside and thick,heavy walls surrounding them, they might as well have fallen down a well.

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