He didn’t know what Taylor had in mind, and didn’t know how long he’d been in the apartment. Finn could only hope that the gentle click of the front door had filtered through to his sleep, that Taylor was only a step ahead of him. He sacrificed stealth now, moving quickly to Hailey’s door, pushing it open, reaching in with one hand to turn on the light.
Immediately through the glare he saw a figure near the bed—crouching or sitting, he couldn’t be sure—and aimed his gun, blinking through the light-blindness, knowing at least that Taylor would be doing the same.
A second crept by, he heard a muffled cry from Hailey, saw the guy’s head, the dark hair, the tan mentioned by Grasset.
Finn kept his voice calm and low as he said, “Keep very still or I pull the trigger.”
“No, you keep very still or I’ll ram this right into her neck.” He had a vague London accent, and at first Finn struggled to understand his meaning. He saw the one hand over Hailey’s mouth, her alarmed eyes, her own terrified stillness, and then he saw the reason for it and he understood what Taylor had meant.
With his other hand, Taylor was holding a syringe against the side of Hailey’s neck, the point of the needle touching the skin, his thumb on the plunger. Finn looked at Hailey’s eyes, and for a moment he considered pulling the trigger anyway, confident at this range of hitting Taylor clean in the head.
But he had no idea what was in the syringe, and for all he knew, the shock of being hit could be enough in itself for him to puncture her flesh, to drive the needle in. Taylor knew that, too, and smiled. Finn could see immediately how this guy would have relished killing Jonas, and as desperate as he was to put a bullet in Taylor’s head, he lowered his gun.
“Your plan’s blown, Liam.”
Finn heard movement in the apartment behind him, as Ethan and Debbie woke, realized something was wrong, clambered out of bed.
Taylor looked derisive and said, “Who are you calling Liam? You’ve got a very short time to learn some lessons, like you’re Harrington and I’m Mr. Taylor. Or you can call me sir.”
“I like Mr. Taylor. My family used to have a greengrocer called Taylor.”
“Finn?” It was Debbie emerging from their room.
Then he heard, “Oh God, stay here,” as Ethan followed her and realized immediately that something was very wrong.
Taylor didn’t hear them, still busy being unimpressed by Finn’s joke. He turned and smiled at Hailey, and removed his hand from her mouth like a magician producing a bunch of flowers from his sleeve. She gasped, but remained still and silent.
Taylor reached inside his jacket with his free hand and pulled a gun. He waved it at Finn as he said, “Put the piece down, Harrington.”
“The piece?” Finn didn’t wait for a reply, but nor did he put the gun down. “What’s your plan, Mr. Taylor? Whatever’s in that syringe, there’s no making it look like an accident now, and I doubt Perry or Karasek would be too well-disposed if you ended up murdering her, me, her parents. The whole point is to keep the police out of it.”
Finn could sense that Ethan and Debbie had appeared in the doorway behind him, and Taylor’s eyes briefly leapt over his shoulders before settling back on Finn.
“My plan’s simple, Harrington—you do what I say or I’m gonna drive this needle into her neck and then I’m gonna kill you, her parents, and the neighbors too, police or no police. You understand me now? Put. The gun. Down.”
Behind him, Ethan said, “Don’t do it, Finn.”
“It’s okay, Ethan. I’m sure Liam Taylor of Brac Global Systems knows what he’s doing, and I’m sure his boss, Ed Perry, knows what he’s doing, too.”
Taylor looked nervous, confused by the way Finn was speaking, and said, “What are you playing at? What are you up to?” He looked around the room, worried perhaps that it was bugged. “Just put the gun on the chest of drawers over there.”
“Whatever you say.” Finn moved cautiously and placed the gun on the chest of drawers, and Taylor gestured for him to move back to the doorway. Taylor nodded then, satisfied, and removed the needle from the side of Hailey’s neck. She sighed with relief and closed her eyes, but still didn’t move.
Taylor stood and said, “You two, back away, against that wall.” Finn heard the rustle of Ethan and Debbie’s nightclothes as they stepped backward. Taylor looked at Finn. “Move that way, to the side.”
Finn moved, and Taylor started to edge toward the doorway, covering all his angles, even Hailey behind him, the syringe still in one hand, the gun in the other.
Finn waited until he was almost at the door and said, “This is your plan? To just leave? What kind of operative are you, Liam? The police are involved now—we’ll call them as soon as you’ve gone. They’ll link you from here to Jonas’s death. Then you’ll talk, implicate Perry and Karasek.”
Taylor knew Finn was baiting him but couldn’t resist saying, “Talk—me? There’s no police force in the world could make me do that.”