Better Off Dead: (Victor the Assassin 4) Read Online Free Page A

to help you.’
    ‘You bastard. I’m going to —’
    The voice continued: ‘It’s nothing personal, but I can’t let any of you live. I know you understand that. You would do exactly the same in my position.’
    The Finn pulled out her earpiece and smashed it beneath a heel. ‘
Bastard
.’ She whispered to the Swede, ‘We need to move. Right now.’
    ‘How? He’s out there.’
    ‘He’s at the van. If we’re fast —’
    The Finn shook her head. ‘No, damn it. Think for a second. He could have killed Jans and taken his mike the second we were through the gate. He could be anywhere by now.’
    ‘Then what do we do?’
    The Finn thought about this for a moment, then pointed at the hole in the unit wall and made a walking action with her index and middle finger.
    The Swede shook his head. ‘No way. That’s suicide.’
    ‘Then what do you suggest?’
    He didn’t answer.
    The Finn inched closer to the hole.
    ‘I’m not going through there,’ the Swede whispered.
    ‘Fine.’ She pointed to the open roller door. ‘Stay here and cover that entrance until I get to it.’
    ‘We can’t split up. That’s what he wants us to do.’
    ‘We have to do
something
. Do you want to end up like the others? If we wait here, we’re playing into his hands.’
    He nodded. ‘Okay.’
    ‘It’s going to take me no more than a minute to crawl out and come back round the front. If I’m any longer than that, I haven’t made it.’
    ‘Don’t say that.’
    ‘Listen to me, please. You wait one minute for me. If I’m not in front of you by then, he’s got me. So you need to take advantage of that and run. Just run. He can’t be in two places at once. You count to sixty and at sixty-one you run for your life. Do you understand me?’
    He nodded and swallowed.
    She exhaled, then kissed him on the lips. It surprised him, but he kissed her back.
    ‘Don’t be late,’ he said.
    She didn’t want to be late. Late meant dead.
    ‘I won’t be.’

FIVE
    The ground was cold beneath the Finn’s elbows and knees. She crawled through the first hole and into the unit next to the target’s. It was empty. When she stopped, she could hear the rapid breathing of the Swede. She wanted to shout back and tell him to be quiet, but she daren’t give her position away. The target – not that he could still be thought of as such – could be anywhere in the facility, but he was close. The Finn knew that. Had their roles been reversed she would stay near, within eyesight or hearing range. She’d called him a lion before. Now, she pictured a lion stalking through tall grass.
    She crawled through the next hole. Only one more unit before she was outside. The cool air on her skin made her more aware of the sweat coating her face. The current unit was full of musty smelling cardboard boxes crammed with magazines and books. The Finn stepped around them.
    The final unit was empty. She released a breath and crept over to the hole leading outside. If the killer was waiting to ambush her, it would be here. But there was just as much chance of him covering the unit where the Swede waited, which meant this hole would be safe to crawl through. There was no way to know for certain until it was too late. At least for one of them.
    Thirty seconds remained until the designated minute had been depleted. What had she told the Swede?
You count to sixty and at sixty-one you run for your life
.
    She stopped. There was no need to crawl through the last hole and risk an ambush, because in less than half a minute the Swede was going to run. Then, either he wouldn’t make it or he would. If he did, the Finn would know the killer wasn’t covering his rented unit and therefore must be watching the hole. However, if the Swede didn’t make it, then the hole was safe because the killer couldn’t be in two places at the same time.
    The Finn waited.
    She didn’t want him to die. But she wanted to die less. She breathed in shallow exhales and inhales to limit the