Novel Square
Chapter 77
BLAM!
Crack!
Zollner seemed to be rolling back and forth between three different spots.
Either that, or he had people with him who were taking shots, too.
But if that was the case, why didn’t they lay down a blanket of fire?
And why the hell didn’t they aim lower and actually try to hit me? All they did was fire a foot or two above my head.
And why the hell hadn’t I been able to hit anybody?!
Then I heard Lucia scream from somewhere in the woods.
“Massimo!”
I looked over my shoulder in terror.
Shit –
She was right; he DID have other men out there.
I cursed myself for having her take a chance –
And then I forced myself to slow down and think.
Alright – I’m just going to have to go out there and get her back.
Then another gunshot rang out.
Crack!
The window panes had long since been shot out, so the bullet only hit the wall instead.
I’ve gotta kill Zollner first, though.
I took my rifle with me and crawled out of the room on my belly.
Crack!
Another shot came through the French windows but hit the wall two feet above my head.
Rather than exit the same way Lucia did, I pushed aside the heavy bureau blocking the front door and went out that way.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
No one was there.
I peered into the woods to see if I could catch a glimpse of Lucia, but it was nearly impossible to see anything in the darkness.
I wondered if I should just go directly after her scream –
Crack!
The gunshot echoed on the other side of the cabin.
No, I decided. I need to take care of Zollner first.
I set off into the woods to the left of the house. Then I circled around so I would come up on Zollner’s flank.
There were no more gunshots.
I crept quietly through the trees with my Beretta out. I moved through the woods from tree to tree, my heart thudding in my chest…
And finally reached the spot where I thought the gunshots had come from.
I steeled myself for the worst possible case – that Zollner was waiting for me – and held out my pistol as I leaned out from behind a tree.
What I saw confused me at first –
Then enraged me.
There were three rifles set up on three separate tripods.
They all had some sort of mechanical devices attached to their triggers – and all three devices were plugged into a cable that fed into a central metallic box.
I was guessing it was some sort of remote control device.
No one had been shooting at me at all.
Or rather, three remote-controlled machines had been shooting – which explained the awful aim.
But that probably meant that Zollner had –
“Lucia,” I whispered, then took off running for the woods on the other side of the house.