‘You got my attention at the word money,’ a strange voice said.
Irene and Kai both turned. A man was watching them, standing in a crevice between two fallen walls that gave him a commanding view of the area. His suit was pin-striped and sharply cut, and his hat was tilted to half-conceal his eyes. Stone dust had settled on his shoulders and sleeves, suggesting that he’d been waiting there for a while.
Of course, the thing that really caught Irene’s attention was the gun that he was holding, pointed directly at the two of them. It was about a yard long, and he was supporting it with one hand while keeping the other on the trigger. She didn’t know very much about guns, but it looked large and unpleasant. ‘Is that a Thompson submachine gun?’ she said.
‘I see you’re an educated type, lady. We call it a tommy-gun. Don’t give me no reason to fire and we’ll do just fine.’ He pursed his lips and whistled. An answering whistle came from their right, followed by approaching steps.
‘But why are you pointing a gun at us?’ Irene hoped that sounded like an innocent question, rather than just a completely stupid one. But then pointing guns at people frequently resulted in stupid comments. She’d been on both sides of the barrel, so she should know.
‘That’s how it goes,’ the man said unhelpfully. ‘Rob, you think he’s going to want to talk with them?’
Another man emerged from the shadows. He was holding a tommy-gun too, and like the first one, he was pointing it right at them. This was a significant problem. Irene knew a number of ways to disable a gun by using the Language, but words took time. And if either of those men so much as twitched a finger on the trigger, Irene and Kai could end up dead.
‘He said he wanted to interview anyone caught wandering around here,’ the presumed Rob said. ‘I reckon that’s a yes.’
‘Right. Don’t try anything stupid, you hear me? Or you’ll both regret it.’ The first man gave a quick jerk with his gun towards their left, down a shattered stretch of colonnade. ‘Walk along there nice and easy, and stop when we tell you. There’s a gentleman who’d like a word.’
Irene didn’t have to look behind her to know that Kai was tense. She reached out to touch his sleeve. ‘Let’s do what the gentleman tells us,’ she said, putting a quiver in her voice.
Weighing the alternatives, she decided to run first and answer questions later. They had a job to do. As the men had relaxed at her apparent capitulation, she focused her words. ‘Dust, rise.’
As she spoke, she dropped to the ground and rolled sideways, pulling Kai down as well. Dust billowed upwards from the ground, from every nook and crevice, swelling into a choking, eye-burning cloud around them.
A quick spray of bullets ripped through the air above their heads, then one of the men yelled, ‘Stay where you are! Or we’ll shoot!’
Without needing to exchange a word, Irene and Kai rose and quickly edged sideways. Irene caught Kai’s sleeve so they weren’t separated. A few more seconds and they’d be out of these thugs’ immediate zone of fire.
It was an absolutely textbook escape, and in an ideal world it wouldn’t have been spoiled by Irene turning her ankle on a loose stone and going down with an audible thud, losing her grip on Kai.
She tried to pull herself to her feet, but Rob was abruptly on top of her, pointing the gun directly at her. There were no ifs or buts in his reddened eyes. If she tried anything at all, she could tell that he’d pull the trigger.
Irene raised her hands meekly. ‘You got me,’ she said. ‘My friend’s already out of here.’
She knew Kai would obey her implicit instruction to make a break for it, no matter how unhappy he felt about leaving. To be fair, Irene wasn’t that happy about it herself.
The other man loomed out of the dust. ‘On your feet,’ he ordered.
Irene pulled herself upright, wincing. ‘I’ve sprained my ankle,’ she said pitifully.
‘Hop,’ Rob advised. ‘We’ll walk slow.’
Irene limped along, exaggerating her difficulty in walking, with the two men a few paces behind her – close enough that she didn’t have a chance of dodging and running for it, but far enough away that she couldn’t try to grab at them. On the whole, she had to rate these two as professionals. She tried to convince herself this was a positive sign. Less chance of being shot by accident.
She was escorted to a boarded-up side door, where a third gunman was stationed. His eyes widened as he saw her, but he nodded to the other two mobsters.
‘You call the boss, Pete,’ Rob said. ‘We’ve got someone here he’s going to want to talk to.’
‘He might not be around,’ Pete whined. ‘You know he’s been out of town these last couple of days.’
‘Yeah, well, this dame had better hope he is around, or she’s going to be standing on that busted ankle of hers a lot longer. Now get to it, before the cops take an interest.’
Pete muttered, but put down his gun – out of Irene’s reach – and left through the side door. The boards pulled aside easily, taped in place rather than nailed down, more of a visible deterrent than an actual barrier.
Irene mentally debated whether to signal for Kai, or wait to see if she could get anything out of this boss. The need for information won. ‘Mind if I sit down?’ she asked.
‘Sure, but keep your hands clear and where I can see them,’ Rob said. ‘You want a cigarette?’
‘Not for me, thanks.’ Irene eased herself to the ground, rubbing her ankle. The more helpless they thought she was, the better.
‘Suit yourself.’
She tried to start a conversation a couple of times, with no luck. Finally she gave up, and hoped that Kai was less bored than she was. And neither of them had anything to read this time.
After about fifteen minutes the barrier swung open again, and Pete poked his head around it. ‘He’s here,’ he said. ‘The usual car.’
Rob put down his tommy-gun, but pulled a revolver from an inner holster. He kept Irene covered while his friend did the same. ‘We’re going to walk out onto the sidewalk and to the car that’s parked there,’ he informed her. ‘You just keep on behaving yourself.’
‘I just wish you’d tell me what’s going on,’ Irene tried.
‘Sorry,’ Rob said. ‘That ain’t what they’re paying me for.’