Simon Kernick - The Murder Exchange

I had difficulty turning the key to let myself into her apartment, but managed it on the third go. It was five past seven in the morning and I looked a mess, probably the worst I’d ever looked. My eyes had been blackened, my lips were split, and I had a long, deep cut across my forehead. Three fingers were broken and the wound in my thigh looked like it might be getting infected. It had been a bastard of a journey to get here, but I’d made it.

The apartment was dark. I didn’t call her name, figuring that she was probably asleep. I needed sleep too, more than I’d ever needed it. I was going to have to get myself cleaned up before she saw me, otherwise the poor woman would get the shock of her life, but it was going to have to wait.

I walked down the hall to the bedroom and slowly opened the door. It was dark in there and the curtains were drawn, but I could make out her figure under the sheets. It was the most welcoming sight I thought I’d ever seen. I put the holdall on the floor and removed my jacket and shirt, chucking them down too. When I was naked, I checked my wounds again, and saw that my thigh was still oozing blood. I was going to have to bandage it before getting in beside her.

‘Max? Is that you?’ Elaine sat up in bed, rubbing her eyes. ‘What are you doing here? I thought you were coming back later.’

‘Nothing. Don’t worry. I’m coming to bed in a moment.’

She switched on the bedroom light and gasped. ‘What the fuck’s happened to you? Have you been attacked?’

I think I might have managed a grim smile. ‘You could say that. Look, don’t worry about it. I’m OK, I promise.’

‘Christ, come here.’ She stepped out of bed, dressed only in a baby doll nightie, and for a moment I felt my troubles fading. It’s amazing what female flesh can do for a man. We embraced, and I kissed her on the mouth, ignoring the pain in my lips. ‘It’s good to have you back,’ she whispered, looking up at me, her fingers stroking my inner thigh. In spite of everything that had happened, I began to get a hard on. ‘Did you get the money OK?’

I smiled as her fingers drifted across to my balls, and motioned towards the holdall. ‘Yeah, I got the money. And I think I’ve earned it.’

Gallan

I yawned. It was early, far too early for a Sunday, but it was all about surprise. Confront your quarry when they least expect it. However, quarter past seven on a Sunday morning could almost be construed as harassment. I was sure a clever lawyer would see it that way, but I’d worry about that later. I didn’t want to waste any time. With all the absentees on the Matthews case, it was good to get the chance to speak to someone who was still actually around.

I crossed the road and walked up to the entrance of the apartment building. An attractive middle-aged lady in jogging gear was coming out. I smiled at her, and she automatically kept the door open for me to walk through. Very careless, particularly in a city like London. I could have been anyone. I didn’t complain, though, since it made my job easier. Just smiled and thanked her, and she smiled back.

When I was inside, I started up the stairs.

Iversson

She pulled me towards her, kissing me hard, her tongue slithering and tumbling into my mouth like a three-legged lizard. ‘We’re rich, baby. Rich beyond our wildest fucking dreams.’ She laughed out loud, stroking my cock while I let loose with the old moans of pleasure, beginning to forget all my various aches and pains. Bending down in front of me, she brushed her lips across my nipple, gently nibbling it, before sinking slowly down to her knees in a way that was guaranteed to bring forth a bout of premature ejaculation. I let out a thin gasp like a hamster’s squeak as she slowly swallowed me up, all the time gazing up at me with those big brown bedroom eyes.

I smiled down at her, then let my eyes drift around the room as I tried to stop myself from coming, eager to prolong things as long as possible. My battered face stared back at me from the mirror on the opposite wall, grinning stupidly. I focused on it for a moment as Elaine’s tongue created sensations I could hardly stand.

And then, as I was beginning to turn away, I saw it. A wicked-looking silencer coming into view. Pointing straight towards the back of my head. I heard the creak of a floorboard behind me and knew immediately that I was one second away from death.

In one single movement I threw myself against the wall, ignoring the pain as Elaine bit me in the shock of my sudden withdrawal, and lashed out with my arm, knocking the gun flying. Its owner, a stocky bloke in a baseball cap, looked momentarily shocked. I took my chance and jumped forward, grabbing him as best I could and headbutting him on the bridge of his nose. The cut on my forehead immediately reopened but the gunman had been hurt. He took a step backwards but quickly recovered himself, delivering a sudden flurry of rabbit punches to my kidneys as he struggled to break my grip.

Every part of my body seemed to be burning with pain, and blood from the head wound was dripping down my forehead and into my eyes. But I knew I couldn’t give up. I had to protect us.

Summoning all my strength, I headbutted the gunman again and wrestled him through the bedroom door and out into the hallway, banging him hard against the opposite wall. His cap fell off, revealing a hairless head beneath, and for some reason this seemed to give him a renewed burst of strength, like Samson in reverse. He cursed and managed to push me away, before trying but failing to deliver a punch to my bollocks. I gasped as he got a better shot to my ribs, and took a step back as if hurt, before charging forward, head bowed like a bull, and delivering another ferocious headbutt right to the chin. Something cracked in there and the gunman made a sound half like a cough, half like a scream. Realizing my head was my best weapon, I shoved him back against the wall, then swung round so my back was facing him and delivered a skull-jarring reverse butt. His resistance simply evaporated and he slid down the wall, unconscious.

My head was spinning and my eyes stinging with blood, so much so that I could hardly see. Regaining my balance, I wiped at my face with my forearm, clearing the worst of the obstruction, and tried to focus again.

Which was the moment when the silencer hissed and a searing pain that eclipsed anything I’d yet felt surged through my shoulder, the force of it sending me reeling into the wall.

Gallan

I was just about to knock on the door when I heard a loud commotion from inside and the sound of shouting. I put my head against the wood and listened. It sounded like a fight between two men, and I wondered for a moment if I’d got the wrong place. One of the men howled in pain, and there was a crash as if they’d both just charged into a wall. They were big blokes, I could tell that from the force of the impact, and I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and that it was best just to call for reinforcement.

Then there was a pause in proceedings for a couple of seconds, followed by a faint popping sound, then a cry of pain and a dull thud.

I’d seen enough Hollywood films to know immediately that it was a gunshot from a silencer, and the damage it had done was obvious, even if I couldn’t see it. I stepped back from the door and dialled the station on my mobile. The controller answered after four rings. I gave my location and called for back-up.

‘I need firearms units as well as an ambulance,’ I hissed into the phone. ‘Someone in there is definitely armed, and it’s the address of a person we need to question with reference to a murder, although I must emphasize that at the moment the person is not, I repeat not, a suspect.’