Stephen Leather - The birthday girl

'So, were you guys hiking?' she asked.

'Sort of,' Freeman said. He sat back and rubbed his eyes. He sighed deeply.

'You sound exhausted,' Jenny said.

'Bad day.'

'You wanna tell me about it?'

Freeman shook his head. 'Just a bad day.'

Jenny studied Mersiha in the driving mirror. She was beautiful, despite the strain on her face. She had a lovely jawline and high cheekbones, and huge eyes that seemed about to burst into tears. It wasn't the face of a killer, but she could see how Bzuchar's brother could have allowed her to get close to him. Jenny smiled to herself. Time and time again she'd managed to get to targets for exactly the same reason – people assumed that she was too pretty and too feminine to be a threat.

'Do you live around here?' Mersiha asked.

'No. I'm a tourist. You?'

'We're on vacation too,' Freeman said.

'Skiing?'

'Horse-riding,' Mersiha replied.

'Yeah? I'm allergic'Jenny smiled at her in the mirror, if I so much as see a picture of a horse, I start sneezing. So, where do you guys wanna go?'

Mersiha put a hand on her father's shoulder and he looked around. Something unspoken passed between them. 'Our cabin,' he said eventually.

'Yeah? Where's that?'

'You can drop us in town. We'll get a cab.'

'A cab at this time of year?' Jenny laughed, i don't think so.

I'll take you right to the cabin. Just tell me how to get there.'

'Are you sure?' Freeman asked.

'Hey. What else have I got to do? I'm on vacation, remember.'

'Thanks, that's really nice of you.'

Jenny smiled. 'Just show me the way.'

Mersiha said nothing as Jenny drove. Freeman made small talk about horse-riding and where the best places to ski were.

Jenny had to admire the man's guts. He'd been pursued through the mountains, shot at, seen several men killed, escaped, temporarily at least, in a balloon, yet he chatted away as if he'd done nothing more strenuous than a little window-shopping.

He seemed a pleasant enough guy, the real fatherly type. Not like her own father, she thought. He didn't have the predatory look in his eyes which her father had developed once she'd gotten beyond the age when she could ride Tess. She shivered as she remembered the late-night visits, the promises of the things he'd buy her if she did what he asked, the threats if she ever told.

'Cold?' Freeman asked.

'No. Someone walked over my grave,' she said, smiling. Not her grave, she thought savagely. Her father's grave. Well, not really a grave at all, just a lime-filled hole behind the barn where he'd never be found.

'That's the track where we turn off,' Freeman said.

'I see it.' In fact she'd already seen it but hadn't let on. She indicated and waited for a mini-van full of skiers to drive by before turning on to the track. Mersiha reached over and put her hand on her father's shoulder. He patted her hand. Jenny was suddenly jealous. It was a father-daughter relationship the like of which she'd never experienced. Total trust and understanding, not after-dark fumblings and threats.

'Wait!' Freeman said sharply.

Jenny slammed on the brakes. 'What? What's the matter?'

'Look,' he said.

Jenny looked. There were two vehicles parked in front of the cabin. Bzuchar's Jeep Cherokee and a white Lincoln Continental.

'What's wrong?' she asked, even though she knew what he was thinking. She turned off the engine.

Freeman turned around in his seat and looked at Mersiha. 'We have to go to the police,' he said. Mersiha nodded silently.

'Why? What's happened?' Jenny asked.

'I can't tell you,' he said. 'Please, just do as I say.'

Jenny shrugged. She turned the key, but not all the way.

She cursed, and tried again. 'God, that's twice it's happened today. There's a loose connection to the battery or something.

My husband was going to get it fixed but…'

'Come on, come on,' Freeman said urgently.

'I'll have to open the hood,' she said. 'Can you look at it for me?'

Freeman swallowed nervously. Jenny made a show of trying again. Nothing. She smiled brightly. 'It's easy to fix, really. It took my husband less than a minute.'

'Dad…' Mersiha said apprehensively. 'Let's go.'

'It's better we drive than walk, pumpkin,' he said, climbing out of the Jeep.

He pulled the hood open and peered inside. 'Why don't you help your dad?' Jenny suggested.

Mersiha nodded and clambered out to join her father. 'Stay in the car. We're not hanging around here,' he said.

'But she said…'

'I don't care what she said. Do as I say.'

They looked up as they heard the sound of a bullet being chambered. Jenny stood at the side of the Jeep, the submachine pistol in her hands. Freeman looked as if he was going to run and Jenny pointed the Ingram at him. 'I think you'd both better do as I say, don't you?' Without being asked, Freeman and Mersiha raised their hands. Jenny smiled. 'There's no need for that. I don't think you're going to give me a hard time, not when I've got firepower like this.' She gestured with the gun for them to walk to the cabin. Freeman and Mersiha lowered their arms and walked together down the track. He put his arm around her shoulders.

It was a touching scene, Jenny thought. But not touching enough for her to spare their lives.

Freeman's shoulders slumped as if he'd given up all hope, but Jenny wasn't fooled – she could see that he was heading for the pile of cut wood and that his hand was swinging a little to the side. 'Freeman, if you even try to reach for that axe, I'll shoot your daughter,' she said. Freeman instantly pulled his hand back

as if he'd been stung. Jenny kept her distance as she shepherded them between the two vehicles and up on to the deck. 'Open the door,' she told Mersiha.

Katherine Freeman dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief, but the man on the sofa was unmoved. 'You can't kill them,' she said.

'I can do whatever I want,' Utsyev said. 'I'm the one with the gun, remember?'

'She's just a girl. A sixteen-year-old girl.'

'She killed my brother. She blew his face away.'

'She must have had a reason.'

Utsyev chuckled. It sounded like the rustling of long-dead leaves. 'And that makes a difference, does it?' | Katherine sniffed. She blew her nose loudly. 'How do you know it was her?'

'She used your husband's gun. And my men saw her going into my brother's office.'

Katherine shook her head. She began to cry again. 'Please don't hurt her. She's only a child.' Utsyev said nothing.

They heard steps on the deck outside. Katherine started to get to her feet but Utsyev held a finger to his lips and pointed die gun at her head. Katherine twisted around on the sofa. The door _ | opened. It was Mersiha. Behind her was Tony, his hand on her I shoulder. Katherine jumped up, shouting for all she was worth.

'Run, Tony! Run! He's going to kill you!' The door continued to open, revealing a tall blonde woman holding a large gun.

Utsyev threw back his head and laughed. Freeman and Mersiha stepped into the middle of the room and the woman Iclosed the door behind them. Katherine hugged her husband and then pulled Mersiha to her. 'Are you all right?' she said.

'What are you doing here?' Freeman said.

'I came to warn you,' she answered. Freeman shook his head, sadly.

'Who's she?' Jenny asked Utsyev.

'The wife,' he said.

'The wife?' she repeated. She tossed back her hair. 'That means we can kill three birds with one stone.'

Freeman stood in front of Katherine and Mersiha and stared at Utsyev. The man looked ill. His skin was deathly pale and his eyes seemed rimmed in black as if he hadn't slept for a long time. He had his back to a window and the light behind his close-cropped grey hair formed a halo around his skull. Freeman instinctively knew that there was no way he could talk the man out of what he intended to do. He was a stone-cold killer, with eyes that held no human warmth at all. There was no point in pleading for their lives. As if reading his mind, Utsyev aimed the gun at Freeman's stomach. 'You won't get away with it,'