Robin Cook: Death Benefit

Then the men opened fire, both with pistols muffled with silencers. Russell fell forward the way he was facing, across the threshold of Edmund’s house. Edmund had no time to process what he was seeing, that there were two men firing weapons at him, that he’d gambled on this venture and this was how he lost. He fell backward, propelled by three bullets in the chest. He fell straight back, only the soles of his most comfortable pair of slippers visible.

The first man walked up the stairs, looked at Edmund, leveled his gun, and shot him once more in the forehead. The second man kicked over Russell’s body and did the same to him. The men looked at each other and nodded. They found the spent cartridge cases and picked them up, then walked back to the car, got in, and removed their balaclavas before driving off.

At the wheel, Prek Vllasi navigated the drive out of the gate and turned onto the road. Prek turned to Genti Hajdini and banged once on the steering wheel. Both men smiled.