Takedown
Johan crouched at the feet of the statue of Leopold the Inarticulate, high above Carpathy Square, and focussed his binoculars on the corner where the turn-off to Hamelin Gate sprouted out of the main highway like a blackened growth. He'd been waiting here since sunset; he'd waited for the last of the daytime throng to dissipate, then swarmed up the statue's column and made himself as comfortable and unobtrusive as possible in the shadow of the statue. Down beneath him, the shadows of the square shifted with its nocturnal population, none of whom particularly interested Johan.
It was a little past midnight when Johan spotted Fiona's rust-red Daimler purr up the highway and stopped near the Hamelin Gate turn-off. She was less than an amateur, a civilian playing at spies. Johan tucked his knees up against his chest and braced his elbows on them, watching Fiona emerge from her car. They both waited for about fifteen minutes. The shadows by the road shifted; Johan watched as a man-shaped silhouette detached itself from the dappled darkness and approached Fiona, who jumped in surprise when he spoke to her.
Johan did not recognise the man, but supposed he must have come from the other side of the Gate. Rather surprising was the appearance of another person behind the man ... a woman, perhaps, in a shapeless dress? Johan frowned and peered more closely at this third person. Was it a nun? It didn't matter. Passage through the Gate was forbidden, and Johan had a job to do. Not turning away from the meeting at the turn-off, Johan set down his binoculars and picked up his sniper rifle. The man first, of course; he didn't look like an amateur, and was the most likely to disappear at the first sign of trouble. Then the nun, the unknown quantity. If Fiona managed to get away while Johan took down the other two, well, he knew where she lived.
Johan was just about to raise the rifle to aim, when he felt a cold barrel press against his temple and heard the click of a hammer being cocked.
"Put the rifle down, Johan."
Johan couldn't help but smile. "Jack Savage. I should have known."
Fiona might not have known anything about the games of espionage, but she certainly seemed to know people who did.
It was a little past midnight when Johan spotted Fiona's rust-red Daimler purr up the highway and stopped near the Hamelin Gate turn-off. She was less than an amateur, a civilian playing at spies. Johan tucked his knees up against his chest and braced his elbows on them, watching Fiona emerge from her car. They both waited for about fifteen minutes. The shadows by the road shifted; Johan watched as a man-shaped silhouette detached itself from the dappled darkness and approached Fiona, who jumped in surprise when he spoke to her.
Johan did not recognise the man, but supposed he must have come from the other side of the Gate. Rather surprising was the appearance of another person behind the man ... a woman, perhaps, in a shapeless dress? Johan frowned and peered more closely at this third person. Was it a nun? It didn't matter. Passage through the Gate was forbidden, and Johan had a job to do. Not turning away from the meeting at the turn-off, Johan set down his binoculars and picked up his sniper rifle. The man first, of course; he didn't look like an amateur, and was the most likely to disappear at the first sign of trouble. Then the nun, the unknown quantity. If Fiona managed to get away while Johan took down the other two, well, he knew where she lived.
Johan was just about to raise the rifle to aim, when he felt a cold barrel press against his temple and heard the click of a hammer being cocked.
"Put the rifle down, Johan."
Johan couldn't help but smile. "Jack Savage. I should have known."
Fiona might not have known anything about the games of espionage, but she certainly seemed to know people who did.