Page 156 of Intent to Kill
That would do.
She stood beneath the pipe and jumped, grasping it with both hands and hanging from the ceiling. Swinging back and forth, she clenched her jaw, working all her muscles to pull the rusty pipe out of the roof.
With a snap, the pipe, and her along with it, came crashing to the floor. Standing, she tossed the new weapon in her hands, testing it and wielding it like a baton.
She had to get to Dorian Blake in time to kill him. No time to sneak around, this was permission to make a really big mess.
She smacked the rusted metal pipe against the wall, a commotion to draw attention. To make them investigate the noise.
Slowly, the latch unhooked.
With a bang, she smashed the door open with her foot.
The two guards who had tried to push through the door stood gawking, but quickly raised their guns. She hit the first over the head with the pipe, and kicked the gun from the other’s hands, sending it flying into the air above. With another swift hit, she knocked out the second guard just in time to grab the gun as it fell.
There was only enough time to lock, load, and slide against white tile, ducking behind a storage crate for cover before the halls filled with guards. Before alarms sounded, emergency lights bathing the compound in a blue tinge.
She shot. One shot, two shots, then three. Three guards dead in an instant as more piled into the hall to stop her.
This was always the fun part. She’d waited her whole life for the opportunity to showcase exactly what she could do. That’s what this was to her. Not a fearsome fight to her death. An opportunity.
She made a run into the hall.
Running directly down the corridor, she raised her gun, only stopping to steady her shoulder against her shots, and taking out guards that appeared from closed doors lining the walls. Pipe still in her hand, she shot with her right, and swung with her left.
She was only walking, not bothering to run, when she rounded the next corner. She dodged the swipe of a knife and kicked the guy down. Kept walking. Smacked another over the face with the pipe. Kept walking.
Suddenly, someone got the jump on her, grabbing her throat and pushing her against the wall to strangle her. She only grinned as his hands tightened. Over his shoulder, more guards approached. How reckless of him to think he could take her down with just hands.
Reaching to his face, she steadied her hands on his head, and before he could think, she snapped his neck cold. She readied her gun in her right hand, and held the dead guard in front with her left, sinking down the wall as his body took all the shots that were meant for her. Her human shield.
She was drenched in blood, none of it hers. Mercedes threw the dead guard away and emptied her magazine into the enemies at her front. All of them headshots. All of the bodies hanging in mid-air like they were suspended in shock before they fell dead.
She didn’t bother to wipe the blood from her face, or tidy herself even a little, as she bolted into a run down the hallway, rounding a corner right into the path of six more.
The first one blinked, stopping dead as she ran at him. She dove feet first to slide between his legs until she was crouching behind him. A quick lift of her gun, another headshot. She twisted on her knees to turn, still crouching, another headshot. Another body slamming to the floor.
Sliding along the floor again, she found herself standing center in a pack of four enemies. Good.
She dodged one punch from the left, another from the right, then jerked her elbow backward, slamming it into the face of the guard behind before pushing it forward and punching the one at her front.
Whirling, she punched again. Then she was on the floor, sweeping out the legs of the guard on her right, and lifting her foot up to kick the face of the guard at her back.
Back on her feet, she took knife slashes all across her arms, one narrowly missing her neck, but she could barely feel it. Until the guy on the left pointed his gun. She grabbed the barrel before he could act, taking control. With him pushing at her back, she shot two of his friends and then finished him with an elbow to his throat. The last one dove at her, but not before she grabbed his head and snapped his neck in mid-air. He fell dead as she stepped aside.
Out of ammo, she pushed ahead with nothing but her bare hands. The end of the hallway greeted her with plastic strip paneling.
Pushing it open, she entered a large open area, like an industrial floor. The ceiling was at least three stories high, with giant open windows running along the third floor. The night sky shone through. More time had passed than she thought. She had to hurry.
Voices at the other end of the floor showed her the exit. She ducked into a crawl, hiding behind metallic benches. They hadn’t spotted her yet.
Four guys waited to attack her. Child’s play. Absolute child’s play. She’d managed to do what she did from the shadows for seven years. Did they really think they could escape her when she didn’t have to hide?
She was about to rush ahead without a weapon when she spotted footsteps at her left. A fifth guy she hadn’t seen. Still undercover, she grabbed him, placing her hand over his mouth to silence his death before she snapped his neck.
Attached to his belt was a set of knives that glittered in the moonlight.
Fucking perfect.
