Страница 42 из 58
The blonde man pulled Jake’s arms around behind his back and wrapped the cable tie around his wrists, as well as the central column that held the back of the chair to the base, securing them tightly together. He produced another tie from his pocket and used it to bind Jake’s ankles. There was no way he was going anywhere now. The man walked back to the window and looked out. Jake could see that Melvin was still speaking.
The gun was propped up against one of the equipment racks. The German sauntered over and scooped it up. He unclipped the ammunition cartridge and popped out a number of bullets, which disappeared into his pocket. After slotting the cartridge back into place, he returned to the window, and raised then gun sight to his eye.
“What the hell are you doing? You’re going to kill Melvin?” Jake said incredulously. He struggled against the fastenings, trying to get free, but there was give, he was stuck fast.
“Shut the fuck up, if you don’t want to see your intestines ripped out and spread across this desk,” the blonde said without looking around.
Jake did as he was told.
Forty-Six
THE SCRUFFY MAN opened his mouth to speak. If any words escaped his lips, they were never heard. The crack of the gunshot rang out from the back of the auditorium. The noise bounced off the walls, the stage, and the specially placed acoustic surfaces suspended from the ceiling, deafening everyone present for a split second. A red dot appeared in the forehead of the election candidate. The back of his head, along with his brain, was spread over the black curtain that lined the rear of the stage. He crumpled to the floor as if someone had let the air out of him.
Somebody screamed. Then, everybody screamed.
“Everybody get down!” Fly
A second shot rang out. It hit Melvin’s right arm. He cried out in pain, grabbing the wound.
“No!” Fly
The fourth shot found its mark and Melvin’s head exploded, his brain tissue and bone mixing with that of the scruffy man on the black curtain. His body fell backwards, crashing to the floor.
Fly
“Quiet! Everyone stop pushing!” Fly
The four shots had all been fired within a few seconds. When a minute had passed with no further gunfire, Fly
“You two, with me!” Fly
“He’s in the lighting room, look!” he yelled breathlessly.
The two men looked in the direction of Fly
“Watch out! He’s got a gun!” someone shouted near the back.
As all eyes followed Fly
Forty-Seven
FROM HIS POSITION tied to the chair, Jake had a perfect view of events as they unfolded. He watched his blonde captor shoot the scruffy man on the stage. He saw him shoot at Melvin. He watched the moderator dive to protect Melvin, and the two subsequent bullets which injured the moderator and killed Melvin. He waited for one last bullet which would surely kill the moderator, but it never came.
As soon as Melvin was down, the man stepped back from the window and turned to Jake. His hand went into his jacket pocket and came out grasping a something thin and black. He squeezed it. A steel blade shot out, perfectly polished. He took another step forwards.
Jake, who only hours before thought he was no longer afraid of dying, found himself very afraid indeed. He closed his eyes, and waited to feel the blade on his neck, or through his heart. But he felt neither. Instead he heard a light snipping sound, and the tension around his ankles was gone. He opened his eyes but the blonde man was nowhere to be seen. Then, another snip, and his hands fell free. He jumped to his feet and whirled around.
“Congratulations,” the blonde said, “you just committed double murder. Catch!”
He threw the gun at Jake. Instinct kicked and he caught the weapon in both hands. The man opened the door, released a catch on the lock, exited the room, and pulled the door closed behind him. Jake stood for a second, stu
It was then that he became aware of the noise coming from the window behind him. There had been screaming since the first gun shot, but the commotion had changed, it was less screaming and more shouting. He turned to look.
“Watch out! He’s got a gun!” he heard someone near the window scream out.
He looked down. He was still holding the weapon. He looked up. The election moderator was headed his way at a charge, followed by two burly men.
• • • • •
Fly
“Son, don’t do anything stupid. Give me the gun,” Fly
Jake looked at the gun in his hands as if he couldn’t believe it was real. He dropped it like a hot potato, jumped backwards, away from the window.
“Get in there and pin him down!” Fly
Back in the theatre the panic was subsiding. The gunman had been stopped, there was no longer a danger. Now the people were migrating towards the back. Everyone wanted a glimpse of the madman who had just killed the two candidates in cold blood.
“Jake? Is that you?”
The voice came from behind Fly
“You know this man?” Fly
The man stepped forwards, to better see through the window. Jake recognised him at once.
“Know him? That’s Jake Noah. He is, was, the captain,” the man said.
“Martin! No! This isn’t what it looks like!” Jake cried out. Seeing his chief engineer had snapped him out of his state of shock.
“This is Noah?” Fly
“No, that’s not true and you know it,” Jake protested. “Melvin came to depose me. You were there, one of his heavy mob, I saw you!”