Matt Hilton - Slash and burn

'No, I think we've done enough for now. We'll fall back to Pilot Point. Come back again tonight.'

'They've seen us as well,' Harvey said. 'Maybe we should continue this way, loop round and come in from the north. We'll see you back at the lake house.'

Harvey's suggestion made sense. Maybe the chopper would be lying in wait ahead, watching for them. If they didn't show up in the next few minutes, the men would probably come looking for them again. Maybe this time there'd be a face to face meeting. The men from the chopper would probably end up dead. But I didn't want Rink and Harvey thrown into the mix yet. I wanted to keep them in reserve for when I went in to take Kate back.

'Easy as it goes, guys,' I said. 'Avoid contact if you can.'

Rink winked and gave me his shit-eating grin.

Harvey pulled away and I watched them go. Then I started my car and drove towards the lakeside cabin we'd set up as our base.

I wasn't too disappointed. This trip had always been a simple matter of reconnaissance. And I'd seen enough for now. The presence of the chopper meant that Huffman was home and waiting for me to arrive.

'See you later, Quicksilver,' I said.

Driving a little faster than before, I followed the same long road back to Pilot Point. To pass the time, I thought about Kate. I pictured her walking along the sand as she approached me that first time, her sandals bumping her hip with each step of her long legs. I thought of her drinking Corona straight from the bottle and how a drip had run down her chin and into the hollow of her throat. The bead of liquid had shivered in time with her pulse. As early as then I was attracted to her.

When Kate kissed me at the motel at Little Fork I'd played it cool. I kidded myself that I was being professional. I couldn't afford to be distracted. Really I was feeling a little guilty. Eighteen years to the day, Diane had kissed me in a similar way. We were standing in front of the vicar and had just said our vows. Till death do us part, we'd sworn. I suppose that in my heart there'd always be a place for my ex-wife, but Rink was right, I didn't have to be a monk all my life.

My thoughts drifted to my conversation with Rink when I'd phoned him after dumping Larry Bolan's truck that first time.

He had asked me if I had a thing for Kate. I'd denied it and Rink had admonished me. He knew exactly what was going through my head.

'I can't let things distract me, Rink,' I'd argued. 'I start paying more attention to her pretty face, I miss the gun pointing at her head.'

If I'd heeded those words, maybe I wouldn't have missed the Land Rover speeding across the field on my right now.

The first I knew of its presence was when a bullet shattered my window and buried itself in the instrument panel in front of me.

Immediately I went into defensive mode. I pressed the gas pedal to the floor and the car shot forwards. It made it all the way up to eighty miles per hour, but that was it. I'd picked the nondescript car for its ability to blend, not for speed. It wasn't known as the gas saver for nothing.

Behind me, the Land Rover bounced over the verge and on to the road behind me. Looking in the rear-view, I could make out two men inside it. One of them was intent on driving, while the other hung out of the passenger window aiming a rifle.

Apparently my disguise hadn't worked as well as I'd thought.

Attesting to that fact was the grey and red chopper racing in from the right. The passenger in the chopper had an automatic rifle as well.

Superior machinery, superior numbers and superior weapons. How the hell do I get out of this fix?

Tito was true to his word, but Larry Bolan wondered how long that would last. When Larry came out of the back room and through the storage area into the dimly lit bar, Tito's four friends had returned to their seats around the table. They were talking among themselves. As Larry made his way across the room, passing the raised stage, the man he'd stiff-armed was scowling, but the others only watched him with mild distraction. He nodded at them and they all nodded back. The scowling man made it look like he was trying to regain face with his buddies, his nod accompanied by a curled lip.

Larry laughed then turned away. He could hear the others laughing, and it wasn't at him.

Boys will be boys.

Tito was walking behind Larry. It was as if he wanted to see the big man off the premises. He made it look like he was happy with the fifteen hundred dollars, but maybe he hadn't quite taken Larry's joke at face value, which was wise, because Larry hadn't been joking.

Larry caught Tito's reflection in a chrome surround on the doorway. Tito was looking back at his friends and there was a lot of gesturing going on.

Larry felt for the Desert Eagle, but then let it go.

Tito stepped past Larry, pushing the double doors open with the flats of his hands. The doors banged, startling the two minders who were lounging outside. Both men came to attention, swinging into battle readiness. Then they saw who was coming out and they faltered.

Tito jerked his head at them.

'Chill out, guys,' he told them. 'My friend's leaving.'

Larry watched the men's faces. He saw a paleness creep into one of their throats, a slight widening of the eyes of the other. They were signs of apprehension, and not because they weren't going to be doing their duty. Tito's words were some sort of prearranged signal. Larry heard faint footsteps from inside. Tito came to a standstill, and Larry went on by him. Tito tapped Larry's elbow and Larry glanced back. Tito stuck out a hand. 'It was a pleasure doing business with you.'

The way they were standing, Larry would have to turn his back on the two minders to take Tito's hand. But he was OK with that.

'Yeah,' Larry agreed, taking the hand.

He'd given up his back, but the disadvantage was negated by the fact that he could now see the four men approaching from inside the bar.

Larry smiled down at Tito.

He heard the shift of feet behind him.

'You made some good money back there, Tito. You should've left things at that.'

Then he hauled Tito by the hand towards him. He pivoted, whipping Tito around and off his feet and directly into the two minders. Tito crashed into them, stalling them, and Larry threw a right cross over the top of him, crunching his fist into the face of the minder on the left. Larry felt the power in his arm as it transferred to the man's jaw. It was like an explosion of kinetic force that compressed the man's jaw up into his skull. If that man wasn't dead, he was going to be taking his meals through a tube for a long time. He dropped straight down, his upper body folding over the top of Tito and taking them both to the floor.

The second minder stumbled, his legs entangled among those of his friends. Larry reached for him, grabbing the man by his shirt, and tugged him free of the melee of limbs. The man was above average size, but in Larry's hands he was a child. Larry hauled him straight up and off his feet, pivoted again and threw him against the wall next to the open doors. Larry rammed his knee between the minder's legs, even as he reached with one hand and pushed the nearest door closed. From inside came shouts of dismay, and suddenly the other four were charging forwards. Larry dragged the minder with him, placing the man between him and Tito's four friends. Two of them had handguns, the other two had knives, but none of them could use them. Larry slammed the other door in their faces.

The minder was winded from his manhandling, but not finished. Foolishly, in Larry's estimation, he threw a punch at Larry's jaw. Larry dipped and the man's fist hit the side of his head high up near the crown. The man probably broke his fist, but Larry didn't wait to find out. He slammed the man's head repeatedly against the closed door, the sound echoing the frantic banging coming from the other side. Blood had spattered all over the wood by the time Larry allowed the man to slip to the floor.