Джеймс Паттерсон - Lost

The two men closest to Billy rushed to his aid.

Hanna shouted in Dutch, “Run, Josie! Run!”

Her daughter didn’t need to be told twice. She jumped off the bench and turned to run.

One of the dark-haired young men moved from Billy and grabbed Josie. She didn’t make it three steps.

That’s when Hanna heard the first gunshots.

Chapter 100

THIS WAS LIKE a lot of operations I’d run in my career. We were making the most of our limited resources and I was working with the local police without telling my supervisor. Everything was going about like I’d expected it to.

Rolling down Ocean Drive in my Explorer, I strained to see where Hanna had gone with the backpack. That was what the Russians wanted, or at least the diamonds inside it. That’s what I was looking for. That’s where I’d find the Russians.

The last I heard, Hanna’s brother was still sitting in the rental car somewhere near the Clevelander Hotel. I could hear bits and pieces of music from the band around the Clevelander pool. Everything in South Beach picked up near dark.

Marie pointed to the road and shouted, “There!”

I saw him. Running across the street was Albert Greete with a pistol in his hand that he was aiming toward the beach. I heard gunshots. Holy shit. This crazy Dutchman was running through traffic shooting at someone.

I mashed the brakes and felt the car behind me crash into my bumper. That was the least of my problems. I popped on the blue lights and bailed out of the car.

Marie came out of the car with me but had the sense to wait by the vehicle.

Just as I pulled my service weapon, panic set in among the pedestrians. It started as a low rumble, then progressed to screams. Vehicles screeched to a halt and I heard the unmistakable thuds of cars smashing into other cars. A BMW swerved into a light pole.

A family with two little kids coming off the beach stepped right into the line of fire. My heart stopped when I saw the little girl’s face. The beefy father grabbed the kids and fell to the ground, covering the children. That was some good tactical sense. He had to be a Miami native.

People on the beach were running as well, topless women and buff men who had no idea where they were going. It looked like a disaster movie, but only I knew all the terrible things that could really happen in this story.

When I got closer to the beach, I saw Albert exchanging fire with big men dressed in suits—Russians, I assumed. I couldn’t see Hanna, but I knew where I was headed.

I dodged a Land Rover as I came off the street and cut across the sidewalk. I intended to intercept Albert.

It was showtime.

Chapter 101

HANNA DIDN’T CARE what happened to her; she just wanted to buy enough time to get her daughter away. The sound of gunfire had frozen everyone in place momentarily. Even the man who grabbed Josie had stopped midstride to look over his shoulder.

Billy had quit wailing and was now staring at the knife sticking through his left hand. Blood was still pouring out of the wound, but it wasn’t shooting up in the air like it had been a moment before.

The young man just to the side of Billy, dressed in a slick gray pin-striped suit, started to pull the knife out of Billy’s hand.

That’s when the man’s head exploded. Like a bomb. Blood spattered over everything near him. Billy was suddenly covered in brains and blood. The combination of the knife stuck through his hand and the blood everywhere briefly stunned him.

Somehow, he managed to grab the knife in his mutilated hand with his uninjured hand. It took three good tugs before the knife came free of the table and released him.

Billy reached across the table for the backpack.

Hanna snatched it away. Why not? Things couldn’t go any worse for this deal. She spun away from the picnic table holding the bag. Albert was only about twenty feet ahead, just crossing the sidewalk.

He fired almost point-blank into a big Russian thug in a blue suit. Even five quick shots to the stomach didn’t stop the man; he took another step and grabbed Albert by the neck.

Albert struggled with him for a moment, then broke free, took a step back, and fired a bullet into each of the man’s knees. Finally the man dropped to the ground. So much blood was coming out of the wounds that the sand couldn’t absorb it all, and it spread around his body.

Hanna needed to get Albert, grab Josie, and disappear with them. There wasn’t much else to do at this point.

As she started to run to her brother, Hanna heard someone shout, “Police, don’t move!” She looked toward the street and saw the big Miami cop, Tom Moon, rushing down the slope toward the picnic table. She hoped Billy would be the first person he grabbed. She looked over her shoulder for the bloodied Russian but didn’t see him.

She turned back to Albert, who was aiming his gun at another Russian. Then she saw a blur as someone came from the side and knocked into her brother.

It was Billy.

Albert rolled and came up on his feet to face Billy. That’s when the Russian brought the knife in a wide arc right across Albert’s throat.

Albert stood there for a moment, motionless. Then the gash on his throat opened wide, and he reached for it with his left hand. A moment later, he toppled into the sand.

The gun he’d bought here in Miami was still in his right hand.

Billy held the bloody knife and turned toward Hanna. He didn’t ask for the backpack.

She knew exactly what he intended to do.

Chapter 102

I TRIED TO control my breathing while scanning for the closest threat. Tourists and partyers from the Clevelander were scampering in every direction. I’d managed to block out the clamor of screams, car horns, and approaching sirens. My hand holding the Glock in front of me was steady.

I rushed toward the last place I’d seen Hanna. I knew that anyone in a suit was a threat. One man was already down by the picnic table with the majority of his head missing. Blood and brain matter covered the table and one of the benches.

There were two other Russians near the beach, but I saw Steph Hall and Chill rushing toward them shouting, “Police, don’t move!”

I trusted them to handle the two Russians. I turned to the next target. Even though it was hard to see his face because of the blood streaked across it, I knew it was Billy. His build and stupid blue goatee gave him away.

The body next to him wasn’t dressed in a suit. I saw it was Hanna’s brother, Albert.

In almost the same instant, I realized Billy had a knife in his hand and intended to use it on Hanna.

I didn’t have a clear shot at Billy, not with Hanna between us. She was dodging back and forth. I raised my pistol, then lowered it, looking for the right angle. Finally, I realized there was only one way to do this.

I lowered my head and charged forward, hoping my size and the element of surprise would win the day.

I took one step to the right to avoid Hanna, then crashed into Billy like a pickup truck. My left hand reached out to hold his right wrist and keep the knife away from me.

The sound he made when I careened into him told me I’d knocked the breath out of him. We tumbled into the sand and I managed to lose my pistol. This close together, it didn’t matter. I held on to his right hand with all of my strength. I grabbed his left hand; it felt odd and slick. Then I realized it was covered in blood, and more blood was pumping out of a wound in the middle of his hand.

He rolled and slipped away from me. We both jumped into a crouch and faced each other. The look in his eyes told me he was scared. He’d lost some blood and had seen his deal go to hell, and now he was probably thinking about what he’d have to tell Roman Rostoff.