Page 68 of The Perfect Appearance

"We can talk about it later," she said. "I'm not really in the mood for a big heart-to-heart. For now, I'd just as soon finish our chess match in silence. Remember, it's my move. Just give me a few minutes to gather myself, though, okay?"

There was a long silence that told her Rufus had gotten the message she was sending. He would surely remember that it was unquestionably his move, primarily because he’d been playing chess against himself for the last few hours. Hopefully, that would be enough.

“Fine,” he replied. “But don’t take too long or maybe I’ll make your move for you.”

His shadow disappeared from outside the door, and she heard him walking back down the hallway. Looking at Pierce, she mouthed the words “he’s leaving.”

Pierce waited several seconds until she heard Rufus’s footsteps on the stairs, then returned her attention to Hannah.

“We have unfinished business, missy,” she whispered venomously.

Hannah mustered all the bravado she still had and whispered back, “are you really so insecure that you have to come after a teenager to prove how tough you are? Don’t you see how pathetic that is?”

She knew that antagonizing Pierce wasn't the wisest move, but she was also praying that it might infuriate the woman enough to distract her. The assassin looked briefly surprised by Hannah's swagger. Then, her mouth turned into a twisted grin.

"This is going to be so much fun—."

She wasn’t finished when the door slammed open and Rufus flew into the room, coming from a surprising height. Even as he popped upright, gun in hand, Hannah tried to process how he’d gotten so close without being heard.

But that thought raced out of her mind as Pierce stepped forward, knocked the gun from his hand, and swung her hunting knife at his chest. He hadn’t been prepared for her first blow, but he was ready for the second, parrying her attack by smashing her forearm away with his hand.

Hannah stumbled back against the wall as she watched them fight. Pierce still had her knife and was making quick stabs at him, trying to get in under his long arms. But he moved deftly to avoid them, bobbing and weaving with surprising grace.

“She’s got a gun too!” Hannah yelled, though she suspected that he’d already picked up on that.

It occurred to her that Pierce couldn’t reach for the weapon with the right hand that held the knife. And trying to remove it from the holster with her left hand would be difficult, making her vulnerable. For the next few seconds—Hannah wasn’t sure if it was ten or thirty—the two former soldiers, both experts in hand-to-hand combat, blocked and evaded each other, neither able to get an advantage.

Then a voice in her head that she recognized as her own ordered to stop watching and help. She snapped out of her stunned state and knew what she had to do. Tearing her focus away from the fight, she looked on the floor and saw Rufus’s gun, lying by the door. She dashed over, picked it up, and pointed in the direction of the combatants. As she did, she heard a siren.

It wasn't close—still blocks away—but it was getting louder. Within seconds, it was joined by countless more. Both Pierce and Rufus heard it too, stopping their battle just long enough to be sure. Pierce seemed to wince briefly at the sound as if it was causing her physical pain. But she recovered in a flash, kicking the bodyguard and sending him stumbling backward. She reached for the window and flung it open as she dropped the knife and started to grab the gun from her shoulder holster.

Hannah knew she didn’t have much time. Hoping the safety was already off on Rufus’s gun, she pointed it at Pierce and shouted, “Don’t!”

Suddenly, everything seemed to move in slow motion. Pierce looked over at her, and it was clear that she was calculating two things: first, if Hannah was a good shot, and second, whether she could get the weapon out of her holster in time to fire first. For a fraction of a second, her face was filled with a wild cockiness that suggested she was certain she could.

But then something changed. A hint of doubt flickered in her eyes. Instead of reaching for the gun, she leaped out the open window, disappearing from sight before Hannah could even think about getting off a shot. For several seconds Hannah and Rufus stood there, unmoving, shocked by what they had just seen. Then the bodyguard spoke.

“Give me the gun,” Rufus ordered, and she tossed it to him.

He moved over to the window, pulled a small mirror out of his pocket, and held it out over the window ledge so he could see below. Hannah watched his face slump in surprised disappointment.

“What is it?” Hannah demanded, rushing over. “Let me look.”

He didn’t stop her. She peeked out the window and immediately saw what had stunned him. Ash Pierce wasn’t lying dead on the ground. A knotted rope extended down from just beside the window all the way to the flower bed below.

But Pierce wasn’t on that either. Amazingly, she had already shimmied down it. Through the darkness and the downpour, Hannah scanned the area for any sign of the woman. After several seconds, she saw movement.

"There," she shouted, pointing at the shadowy figure in the distance. Pierce was nearly across the lawn, barely visible in the heavy rain. Rufus saw her, too, and aimed his gun in her direction. But a second later, she was gone, rounding the corner past a large hedge and disappearing from sight.

“Go after her!” Hannah shouted.

“I can’t,” he said. “My mission is to protect you, not catch her.”

“But the cops can stay with me. They’ll be here any second.”

“That’s all the time she needs,” Rufus said, re-holstering his gun. “While I’m out there searching for you, she could double back around to finish the job.”

“Just put me in the panic room then,” Hannah told him.

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