A gunshot sounded in the basement.
"What the--?" She shrieked. "You--you bastard!"
Chandler smiled. "Calm down, Miss Larsen."
"I'm negotiating with you in good faith, you son of a bitch, and you sent your lackey down here to shoot me. All I have to do is hit the send button. It only takes one second."
"It was a mistake," he said smoothly. "I told him--"
"Call him off! If I see his face, I will send this e-mail. I swear it."
The line went dead.
Chapter Sixty-six
I hung up. Then I opened the door and peered out. Gabriel was crouched by the foot of the stairs. He waved me over.
As I headed to the steps, a phone started to ring. It came from the body sprawled at the bottom of the stairs. Anderson. Unconscious. Blood seeped from the back of his head. Judging by the way his hair stuck up on one side, I guessed Gabriel had grabbed him by it and cracked his head against the concrete. There was more blood on the steps. Bits of shoe, too. And flesh.
I looked over at Anderson's foot. It was a bloody mess, half of it blown off.
"How'd you manage that?" I whispered to Gabriel.
"I waited behind the stairs and shot his foot through the risers as he came down."
"Smart." I looked around. "Messy, though."
"It's a big gun."
Anderson's phone had stopped ringing. Mine started.
I answered and said to Chandler, "You've called him off?"
A hesitation, then, "Yes, of course. I'm sorry about that, Miss Larsen. I--"
"Whatever. Now, let's negotiate. I want-- What the hell? I thought you said you--"
On cue, Gabriel fired his gun. I dropped the phone and fired my own gun, aiming somewhere across the basement. Then I hit the floor, groaning.
"Miss Larsen?" Chandler called from the fallen phone.
I stopped groaning.
"Anderson?"
Silence. Then a curse. I could still hear Chandler's breathing, quickening now, as buttons clicked. He hung up. Anderson's phone began to ring.
I winced as I rubbed my shoulder. "I need to work on my pratfalls."
Gabriel motioned for me to save the commentary and play dead. I did, lying on my back, gun gripped in my hand. Gabriel crossed the room, his left foot dragging now, breath coming ragged. How badly was he hurt? Too badly to play this game much longer.
Too badly to finish it? I hoped not. Really hoped not.
A few minutes later, the basement door creaked open. A long pause. I imagined Chandler peering through. A curse as he saw Anderson's fallen body. Then a louder one as he saw me lying several feet away. He started down the steps. I counted them off.
Four, five, six...
"Stop," Gabriel said. He didn't bark it. Barely even raised his voice. Just a calm and steady, "Stop."