Chris Kuzneski - The Prophecy

From their military training, they realized the next step was the most dangerous. Although they had downloaded the floor plan from the building’s website and knew the basic layout of the

Ultimately, it was a risk they had been willing to take.

The odds of a roommate were higher than the odds of an intruder.

As an added precaution, Jones would fling the door open while taking cover in the hallway, just in case a shooter was lying in wait. Sometimes an inexperienced adversary would fire at the first sign of movement instead of the first sight of prey. This tactic was a way to avoid those bullets. After a brief pause, Payne and Jones would then breach the room in tandem, carefully scouring the apartment for trouble before they searched for evidence.

With their weapons drawn, Payne stood to the left of the door while Jones stood on the right. From this point on, Payne would be in charge — as he was in the MANIACs.

‘Ready?’ he whispered.

Jones put his left hand on the knob and nodded.

With a quick push, the door swung open and bumped against a coat rack with a muffled thud. Light from the hallway spilled into the dark apartment, revealing a carpeted floor and little else. While keeping their backs against the hallway wall, they struggled to detect movement of any kind, but neither man heard a thing. The apartment was completely silent.

If someone was inside, he was a professional.

But not as deadly as Payne and Jones.

Communicating through hand signals, Payne explained what Jones needed to do. No words were necessary. Years of experience and hundreds of missions had prepared them for this moment. Jones simply nodded, letting Payne know he was ready to breach the room.

Payne moved first, dashing through the door and to his right. A moment later, Jones cut behind him and headed left into the darkness. Both men stayed low and under control, their eyes sweeping for targets and their guns at the ready. Without flashlights or night vision, Payne flicked a switch on the far wall and scanned his surroundings, searching for immediate threats. Much to his surprise, the apartment looked like a tornado

‘What the hell?’ Jones whispered from across the room.

Payne signalled for him to shut up and cover him while he checked the back rooms. Jones nodded and moved into position. With his gun leading the way, Payne eased down the hall and glanced into the bathroom on the left. It had been wrecked as well. The shower curtain had been ripped down and the cabinets had been emptied, but it was devoid of threats. Next, Payne entered the bedroom on the other side of the hall and checked the closet and under the bed, looking for targets. The room was secure but completely in tatters.

‘We’re clear,’ Payne said as he glanced back. ‘Go get the door.’

Jones hustled to the other side of the room and closed the door so curious neighbours couldn’t see inside. Then just to be safe, he locked it and used the security chain, too.

‘What the hell happened here?’ Jones asked.

Payne shrugged as he stared at the wreckage in the front room. Everything had been pulled off the shelves, and a knife had been taken to all the cushions. A thin layer of stuffing that looked like used to be — because it had been overturned and torn apart as well.

‘You know,’ Jones said, ‘I’ve only seen this once before.’

‘What type of case?’

‘It wasn’t a case. It was on a cartoon. The Tasmanian Devil ripped shit up!’

Payne smiled at the image. ‘Somehow I doubt Taz was here.’

‘Yeah, you’re probably right. It’s too friggin’ cold for a marsupial.’

Both of them laughed at the absurdity of his statement as they waded through the debris, looking for anything that would explain what had happened, or why.

Jones asked. ‘What do you think they were searching for? The letter?’

‘That depends.’

‘On what?’

‘When this happened.’

Jones kicked aside a broken lamp. ‘What do you mean?’

‘If this happened yesterday, they might have been looking for Ashley’s travel plans so they could track her down. If this happened today, they were probably looking for the letter.’

they , by the way?’

Payne shrugged. ‘Who knows? Maybe the Belgian Gun Club.’

‘The notorious BGC. Kinda sounds like a rap group.’

‘Hopefully, we’ll find something that points us in the right direction.’

‘Such as?’

‘What’s with all the questions? Aren’t you supposed to be the detective?’

Jones stopped searching. ‘Are you paying me for my time?’

‘No.’

‘Then I’m not a detective. I’m merely your lieutenant.’

‘In that case, go get a broom and clean this mess up.’

‘I will, right after you kiss my ass.’

The two of them searched the apartment for over ten minutes, not finding anything of value until Jones wandered into the kitchen. He had gone in there for some water — the salt from the fries had made him thirsty — but found something better.

‘Hey Jon,’ he called, ‘you need to see this.’

Payne left the bedroom and walked into the cluttered kitchen. Strangely, he found Jones just

It was a photograph of Payne and Jones.

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Philadelphia Inquirer . It described his upcoming charity event at the Cathedral of Learning and provided a brief synopsis of their adventures in Greece, complete with a photograph from some random press conference. He and Jones had done so many during the past year they all ran together in his mind.

‘That really pisses me off,’ Jones growled.

‘What does?’

‘That they used that picture for the story. It makes my ass look fat.’

Payne shook his head. He was amazed that Jones was a year older than he was and not twenty years younger — because Jones sure acted like a teenager at times. ‘Are you finished?’

‘With what?’

‘Being an idiot.’

Jones nodded. ‘I guess you want to talk about the article, huh?’

‘Not much to discuss as far as I’m concerned. It simply means that Ashley wasn’t lying about everything she told us at Heinz Chapel. Remember, she mentioned the article there.’

‘True,’ Payne said, ‘but in my opinion, it means more than that.’

‘Such as?’

‘Because of this, I think the odds are pretty good she came to Pittsburgh to meet with us, not someone else. It also might explain why a second gunman showed up today.’

‘How so?’

Payne explained his theory. ‘Let’s assume both gunmen are on the same side of things. The first one went to Pitt to eliminate Ashley. He did his job with a shot to the head, then fled the scene. Unfortunately for him, a bus kills him before he can retrieve the letter. Meanwhile, a second team comes here, trying to find it. From the looks of this place, they didn’t find much. So what do they do next? They go to plan B.’

Jones nodded in understanding. ‘They noticed our names in the article and realized she had flown to Pittsburgh to meet us. They can’t ask Jean-Pierre for help because he’s dead, so they send gunman number two. He finds you and asks

‘He tries to take me out.’

Jones paused in thought. ‘So, what’s their next move?’

‘If I was them and wanted the letter, I would send more troops to Pittsburgh to chat with you and me. No doubt about it.’

‘Well, that settles it.’

‘Settles, what?’

‘I’m never going back to Pittsburgh.’

Payne grinned at the comment. ‘Not even for the playoffs?’

‘Shit! I forgot about the playoffs!’

‘How could you forget about the playoffs?’

Jones shrugged. Unable to think of a clever retort, he did the next best thing. He changed the subject. ‘Let me ask you a question. Where did Ashley get the letter?’