Page 126 of Two Kinds of Stranger

He would need to breach the apartment when there was at least one live target inside who would be alert and expecting him.

Better option was to go in hard and fast right now. Keep the element of surprise.

The hallway was in darkness to disguise his escape. Anyone else on this floor stupid enough to open their door to see what was going on would hopefully only see a large shadowy figure disappear down the stairs.

He checked the load in the Sig.

Thought about how to get through the door.

There might be security chains or deadbolts on the door, operated only from the inside. No real way to tell.

If he shot out the lock, or shot out the hinges, that would require multiple shots and he may as well call the police himself.

Better he used the crowbar. If he jammed it in between the door and the frame just right, it didn’t matter what kind of security they had on the other side. The door itself was not very sturdy. It would give or break with enough pressure.

Bruno tucked the pistol into the front of his pants, and took the crowbar from the sleeve inside his long coat. He stepped out from the wall, levelled the head of the bar and faced the door now. Unless someone had their eye right at the peephole, that didn’t matter. He placed his right hand near the bend just before the head, his left round the crook. His eyes fixed on the exact place to stab the bar into the tiny space between the door and the frame.

He didn’t know if he heard something or felt it.

But he froze.

Then he definitely heard something.

‘Don’t move,’ said the voice to his left. A woman’s voice.

A voice he’d heard before.

Bloch.

51

Bloch

The camera Bloch had fixed inside the air vent in the hallway ceiling was motion activated.

She had taken the first apartment on this floor through Airbnb. The front door looked down the entire length of the hallway, as did the camera.

The first thing she heard was the beeping from the remote camera app on her phone, picking up motion. She checked the feed and saw Bruno unscrewing the lightbulbs along the hallway. Lake would have gotten the same alert on his phone. But, just to be sure, she sent him a text message. She drew Maggie, her beloved Magnum 500, turned off the small lamp in the living room and approached the door.

It was just a question of when to open it.

Ideally, when Bruno was focused on breaching the apartment door just down the hall.

She waited until he’d put his gun away and taken out a crowbar.

Bloch had already greased the locks and hinges of the door to this apartment so that it opened with no more of a sound than silk brushing skin.

She pointed Maggie at him. He was side on, facing the door to Lake’s apartment.

‘Don’t move,’ said Bloch.

It was dark. No light spilled from the apartment behind her. She could just about make out his silhouette.

At this point, Bloch regretted not bringing a flashlight. She couldn’t have any light on in her apartment, because Bruno would have seen it when she opened the door. Now, she just wanted to be able to flick on a powerful flashlight and bathe her target in bright light.

‘Drop the bar. Put your hands in the air,’ said Bloch.

Bruno froze.