Deceit. [COMPLETED.]

Chapter 84

"The end of the road."

Otto Grundig saw the door open and turned his whole body nimbly to one side. He saw the owner of the house appear carrying what appeared to be a small rolled up carpet. She then started to scream.

Instinct commanded Grundig to hesitate. The noise was unexpected but not dangerous. The carpet looked to have come from the hallway but if she thought she could trick him into thinking she was holding the child then she was mistaken.

He stayed behind the car, the only light coming from a nearby street lamp.

The sound of breaking glass to his right though took him by surprise. Furrow lines etched across his forehead as he turned his attention towards the sound.

He saw too late the woman move quickly to one side but she was still too slow for his agile mind and he lifted his arm quickly and opened fire with two rapid shots before she was able to disappear behind a small hedge. The light was poor but he was sure he had hit her.

He smiled. They were being clever. He admired that. It made for a very interesting game.

He remained where he was. It didn't matter that the house had not exploded. They had played their hand and he now knew what they were trying to do.

Escape one at a time.

Another loud crashing noise to his left caused him to move quickly to the front of the car. The car was parked side on to the house with the front closest to the front door. He couldn't see too much and so needed a better view but his amusement at what was happening quickly changed to confusion.

A shot rang out.

Something small struck him just below his right collar bone. A sharp pain caused his heart rate to climb while beads of perspiration seeped out from beneath his skin to mark his forehead.

He saw again too late a man leap out of the front window to his right. The man then disappeared into the darkness behind a bush. He saw a form. He was sure it had been a man but was unable to identify which of the two it had been.

But what he could do was add and simple arithmetics told him that so far two of the original five had now made it outside.

It required a change of direction.

He accepted quickly that the owner of the house had in fact survived and so that now meant there was two people near by capable of doing him harm.

He pursed his lips angry at having been duped. He needed to tip the balance back in his favour.

He closed his eyes. He tried to ignore the pain. He cleared his mind.

His refusal to accept that anyone of the five could have been in possession of a gun had been a costly one but not fatal. He was well used to adapting under pressure and he never came to a kill without having a backup plan.

He grimaced as he slowly shifted his body in an effort to ease his pain. He glanced in all directions. It was so hard to see anything in the dim light. He listened for any noise.

'Kirk quick. This way. Bring Amy. He can't see me from here. Quick. We can make a run for it.'

He shook his head dismissively and allowed himself a wry smile.

The tone of her voice, the words chosen were crude and no more sinister than an attempt at stalling or distracting but fool him once and never fool him again.

He moved slowly to the edge of his hiding place at the front of the car and gazed up at the top floor of the house in an effort to see if any of the windows were opened but they all seemed closed. He grimaced. Either they had a skilled marksman amongst them or it had been a lucky shot.

But he had no intention of hanging around to find out. His gun had a silencer fitted but the noise of that single shot might have been enough for someone in one of the neighbouring houses to call the police. Time was becoming critical.

He gingerly placed his free hand into his trouser pocket and brought out a small square remote detonator. With two already outside the explosion would not kill them all but it would be enough of a blast to give him back the advantage.

He flipped up the safety catch just as another noise spun his head in its direction. He was a little disoriented. He watched for what seemed an age as out of the darkness a medium built man leapt from a bush towards him.

Trained to calculate the severity of a threat in quick time Grundig momentarily ignored the detonator in favour of bringing his gun to bear and although he had but a second to react he fired off a couple of rounds before the man was able to reach him.

But the man continued his assault crashing into Grundig sending him over onto his back dropping the detonator onto the drive.

A fist landed against the side of his face and before he had time to respond the full weight of his assailant had landed on him.

A finger suddenly probed deep into the hole made by the bullet reaching down into flesh and sending more pain up through the base of his skull. But discipline and training taught him to fight back and with all the strength he had left he pushed up with a knee and struck his attacker in his midriff.

The man cried out. A bullet wound in his attacker's side indicated to Grundig that he had struck home.

He quickly directed a well timed punch against the man's side. He rolled him and landed another fist against the man's face.

He caught sight of the detonator. It was just out of reach in the half light cast by the street lamp but more important was his gun which was tantalisingly close.

The still of the night air echoed every sound and every groan.

The door to the house remained opened but no one else seemed intent on coming out. Time was still on Grundig's side.

And then something remarkable happened.

A shadow appeared in the peripheral of his vision. He tried to latch onto it. He avoided another punch by deftly swinging he good arm sideways and then suddenly there she was.

A little girl standing in the doorway.

Such a pretty little girl, the light from the street lamp highlighting her innocent face and in that moment Grundig knew what he had to do.

He didn't need to reach for the detonator. He didn't need to fight off his attacker.

He just needed to reach for his gun.

He heaved himself up. He landed a heavy kick against the man's wounded side. He lunged for his gun.

He then turned quickly aimed and pulled the trigger.

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I always said that I could never promise who would survive. That always rested with my characters.

But rest assured the next chapter will reveal all :)

Again ... words are not enough.

Thank you as always for being so brilliant  :)

JU.