Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter Colletion_ Books 6-10 - Laurell K. Hamilton [805]
I got the idea that he wanted me to be quiet, but I didn’t know why. Of course, I didn’t need to know.
We lay quiet, and the silence seemed to build. Finally, I heard the first scrape of a footstep coming down the hall. I tensed, and Edward’s hand pressed on my shoulder. Easy, he was saying, easy. I swallowed as quietly as I could and tried to relax. Quiet I could do. Relaxed was not happening.
The movements were stealthy, very quiet. Someone was creeping down the hallway towards us. Wondering if we’d gotten blown up. We were pretending that we had, but once the man got down here, the jig would be up. We could kill him, but there was another man at the end of the hall. If he didn’t run out of ammo, he could hold the hall against us. He didn’t want to come to us, and we needed to go down that hall. Becca and Peter were in cells in the hall. The bad guys had the upper hand because we needed to move forward, and all they needed to do was hold position.
Of course, one of them was coming to us.
Edward pantomimed for me to go forward and lie down. I knew he wanted me to play dead, but that far out from the wall was kill zone. If they started firing, even flat on the ground, I might be hit. But . . . I crawled forward through the debris, being very, very careful not to scrape any weapons or the purse against the floor or make the rocks roll. I was farther out than I wanted to be when I looked back, and Edward gave one nod. I lay down on the floor, quietly. I lay face down because my acting abilities aren’t up to playing dead. My hair flung across my face and I left it there, the better to peek through. I kept the sub-gun in my hand, but Edward shook his head. I let the gun go, moved my hand minutely away from it, and played dead. If Edward were wrong, I wouldn’t be playing for long. I’d never get to the gun in time. Once the man cleared the corner, it was over.
I lay there and strained to hear movement. Mostly, what I heard was the thudding of my heart. Whoever it was, was being even quieter than before. Maybe he’d chickened out. Maybe he wasn’t coming at all, and they’d start shooting again. I had to fight to keep still, not to move, not to breathe too much. I willed myself to relax into the floor, and I’d almost succeeded when I caught movement in the hallway. I was far enough out from Edward that I had a better view at the end of the hall. Would he see the shine of my eyes through my hair? I took in a deep breath, closed my eyes, and held it. Either Edward would kill him, or he’d kill me. I trusted Edward. I trusted Edward. I trusted Edward.
Noises, soft, slithering noises, the brush of cloth. Then a sharp exhale of breath. Nothing you’d hear from the other end of the hallway. Silence so thick it was frightening, but if Edward hadn’t won, there would have been gunfire. I opened my eyes a slit, then wider, because Edward was kneeling over Mickey’s body, searching it.
I must not have been the only one who thought the silence was a long one because a man’s voice sounded, “Mickey, you okay?”
Edward answered, and it didn’t sound like his voice. It wasn’t a perfect imitation but it was good. “All clear.”
“What’s the roger?” the man asked. I didn’t recognize the voice. One of Simon’s men we had yet to meet face to face.
Edward looked at me and shook his head. I didn’t know what a roger was, but apparently, we couldn’t fake it, though Edward tried. “Get the fuck down here and help me search the bodies.”
The answer to that was gunfire. I was already as low as I could get to the ground, but I tried to get lower. The bullets sprayed over me into the wall beyond, and the only thing that kept me from screaming was pride.
Edward gave one abrupt motion. I thought I knew what he wanted. When the shots ended, I belly crawled back towards the wall. I was actually almost there when he fired again. I froze in place, face to the ground. The firing ended, and I put my back to the wall on the other side