I took the shot. I never missed. He fell down, dead. I was already running down the stairs before he touched the floor. She wasn’t alone. I wouldn’t leave her there. Jumping down entire groups of steps to the mini-landings between them, I got out and quickly made my way across the street, then sprinted up the stairs four at a time until I got to the door marked with a big number twelve. Slowing down, I walked until I was far enough across the building to be where the window had been.
Kicking the door in, I found her on the floor shaking and crying. I scooped her up and held her.
“Go back to the apartment. Don’t stop for anyone. Don’t look back. Do you understand? Don’t stop. Lock the door behind you and keep the lights off. The enforcers will be all over this and I have to clean it up.”
“No.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you clean it up they won’t know he’s dead.”
“His watch measures his vitals. All enforcers have one. They already know he’s dead. Do you understand? I have minutes to fix this. Youmustget away.”
Stunned, she nodded and fled. I wanted nothing more than to stay with her, but that wasn’t the best way for me to protect her, right now.
I turned my attention to the dead enforcer. This was usually a two-hour job. At my best guess I had five or six minutes. Perhaps my conscience would be prickled more if he hadn’t been so violent toward Natasha. Maybe he did good work, but he was a shit human being. The best plan would be to leave him here and start a fire.
I mentally steeled myself for a grisly night and I got to work burning down the apartment. The compartmentalized containment system would stop it spreading, so no one else was in any danger. I found some combustibles in the kitchen and bathroom, and mixed them all together. Lit a match. Boom. Left the building out of the window, propelled into the air by the explosive force. I caught a balcony railing with one hand and slowed my descent. A few floors down, I did it again. It wasn’t the first time I’d escaped like this.