David Morrell - The Covenant Of The Flame

But how many more could there be? Six were already dead. Surely just a few, if any, were left. All the same, she desperately wished that she'd thought to dump extra rounds into her purse, that she hadn't shoved the two boxes of ammunition under the front seat of the Porsche.

'Craig, you shot twice! Your revolver holds six! Have you got any other - ?'

Yet again Craig didn't answer.

Oh, Jesus, Tess thought. He's got only four rounds left, and my bullets don't fit his revolver.

'I picked up the two pistols from the men on the floor at the front. I still don't see any other men. Maybe you're right! Maybe we got them all!' Craig said.

'Last night, they burned my mother's house, hoping the fire would get me! And if it didn't, they planned to shoot me when I hurried outside!' Tess said. ' This time, why didn't they-?'

'Late afternoon, the smoke would be so obvious that a neighbor or a passing driver would call the fire department! Besides, since you got away from them last night, I think this time they want to make sure they finish the job, face-to-face, no doubts! And they want to make sure they get the photographs!'

'I mailed your office the negatives!'

'Good! Priscilla, how's Richard?'

Tess heard her murmur. 'His eyes are open. He's breathing. But…' Priscilla whimpered.

'What?'

'He can't… Richard can't seem to talk.'

Tess cringed. A stroke? No! Please, not…! I shouldn't have come here! I shouldn't have put them in danger! 'Priscilla, I'm sorry! I - '

' You didn't do this. The men who want to kill you did.'

'Still no sign of them in front!' Craig said.

'Nothing back here!' Tess crouched behind the kitchen table.

'I'm soon going to need my insulin,' Priscilla said.

'I'll get it for you!' Tess kept low, watching the back door while she inched toward the refrigerator. 'Craig, what if - ? Suppose we didn't get them all!' When she opened the refrigerator, with a quick glance she saw a row of loaded syringes and grabbed one. 'Suppose a few of them are still outside!' She closed the refrigerator. 'Suppose they're afraid that a neighbor did hear the shots! They can't wait around! But they'll want to make sure I'm - !' She backed nervously toward the corridor, her left hand cradling the syringe. They might get desperate enough to try what they did last - !'

'Night,' she began to say but flinched as an object smashed through the big kitchen window, glass flying.

The object was metal.

A canister.

It banged on the floor.

A grenade?

A gas bomb?

Tess had no way of knowing.

All she did know was that the thing was rolling toward her. She couldn't get away in time! She had to - !

She dropped the syringe, barely hearing it shatter as she lunged toward the kitchen table and heaved it over so its top landed on the canister.

At the same time, her heart pounding, the canister blasted apart, flames whooshing sideways from beneath the table top.

A fire bomb.

'Craig!'

He didn't respond.

'Craig!'

In the front of the hallway, glass fractured.

'Craig!'

'They're - !'

Something exploded. Flames reflected down the corridor.

'Priscilla, a fire extinguisher!' Craig yelled. ' Have you got a- ?'

'In the pantry.' Priscilla's voice shook. 'Next to the refrigerator.'

'I'm getting it!' Tess scrambled past the fridge and yanked open a door.

Next to shelves of boxes and cans, the fire extinguisher was mounted to a clamp on a wall. She rammed her pistol under her belt, grabbed the fire extinguisher with one hand, released the clamp with the other, then pulled out the pin that secured the extinguisher's lever, and spun toward the flames gushing from beneath and eating through the overturned table.

Desperate, she aimed the extinguisher's nozzle, pressed the lever down, and spewed a thick white spray toward the blaze.

Foam gushed over the table, over the flames.

Coughing from smoke, Tess inwardly shouted in triumph as the flames diminished.

But another canister crashed through the window. As it landed, before it erupted, Tess tried to smother it with a dense pile of foam.

Whump! The canister blew apart, chunks of metal bursting through the foam. Tess kept aiming the nozzle, spraying the flames, which struggled, dying.

Tess!' Craig yelled from the front. 'I need that extinguisher!'

Trembling, she glared at the kitchen window, saw no one, and darted into the hallway, stunned, unable to see the front door because of the spreading blaze. In a frenzy, she pressed the extinguisher's lever again, spraying foam toward the flames.

Craig didn't try to take the extinguisher from her, realizing she had control. 'Someone has to check the back!' he blurted. 'I'll trade places!' He was gone.

Tess kept spraying.

The flames diminished.

Then the foam diminished.

Abruptly it stopped.

We've got to get out of here! Tess thought. Throwing down the empty extinguisher, she ran toward the study.

On the floor, Professor Harding blinked with a look of helplessness. Beside him, Priscilla quivered, her face gray, terrified.

Tess tried not to show her own fear. 'Can you walk, Priscilla? Can you reach the hallway?'

'Do I have a choice?'

Their next target might be this study, Tess kept thinking. If they throw a fire bomb through the study's window…!

She scooped up the photographs, crammed them into her purse, slung the purse across her shoulder, and bent toward Professor Harding.

He lay on a carpet. Grabbing its end, she tugged both it and the limp weight of Professor Harding across the floor into the hallway, joining Priscilla, who sagged against a wall.

At the front of the hallway, the flames spread, their roar increasing.

Crash! A canister hurtled through the study window. Fire gushed over the desk, the chairs, the floor.

'Let's go, Priscilla!' Tess gripped the carpet, dragging Professor Harding toward the kitchen.

Another canister must have landed there. To the left of the refrigerator, the room was ablaze.

Craig wheezed, enveloped with smoke, his revolver aimed toward the kitchen door. They'll be waiting for us!' He fought to breathe.

'The paths in the garden!' Tess said. 'If we can get there, the flowers are tall enough to hide us!'

'But what about Priscilla and Richard? How are we going to-?'

Tess whirled toward Priscilla, realizing that the aged woman wasn't strong enough to drag her husband to safety. The flames became more powerful. Tess winced from the heat. 'Craig, you'll have to go ahead!'

'But I can't leave you!'

'We'll die if we stay here! There isn't another-! Go! I'll be right behind you! Reach the garden, then cover me!'

Craig hesitated.

The flames roared toward them, singeing.

'Open the door!' Tess said.

Craig stared, then nodded. With fierce resolve, he jerked the door open and raced outside.

For a fraction of an instant, Tess's mind played a trick. The afternoon changed to night. This house became her mother's house.

It was happening again! They'll kill us the same as they killed my - !

No! I've got to - !

Tess clutched the carpet, rushing backward from the kitchen, dragging Professor Harding through the door into the haze-choked sunlight. Priscilla did her best to hurry and follow.

Tess heard a shot. Ignoring it, she tugged Professor Harding across the back porch, bump, bump, down the steps, feeling the jolts to his body, wincing in sympathy.

Another shot. Tess released the carpet and spun, her pistol drawn, searching for a target.