Busted by Karin Slaughter Page B

Sawed off. The metal was rough-cut, freshly hewn. There was a pause, a slight adjustment as the shooter pivoted to the side. Lena saw that the hand supporting the barrel was tattooed. A black skull and crossbones filled the webbing between the thumb and forefinger.
    One last, careful step.
    Lena two-handed the hammer and swung it into the man’s face.
    The claw sank into his eye socket. She heard the crunch of bone as the sharpened steel splintered a path into his skull. The shotgun went off, blasting a hole in the wall. Lena tried to pull out the hammer for another blow, but the claw was caught in his head. The man staggered, tried to brace himself against the door. His fingers wrapped around her wrist. Blood poured from his eye, ran down into his mouth, down his neck.
    That was when Lena saw the second man. He was running down the hallway, a Smith and Wesson five-shot in his hand. Lena yanked on the hammer, using it like a handle to jerk the shooter in front of her, to use him as a shield. Three shots popped off in rapid succession; the shooter’s body absorbed each hit. Lena gave him a hard shove backward into the second assailant. Both men stumbled. The S&W skittered across the floor.
    Lena scooped up the shotgun. She pulled the trigger, but the shell was jammed. She tried the pump, worked to clear the chamber as the second guy climbed his way up to standing. He lunged for her, fingers grazing the muzzle of the gun before he fell to one knee.
    Jared had grabbed his ankle. He held on tight, his arm shaking from the effort. The man reared back, started to bring down his fist on Jared’s head.
    Lena flipped the shotgun around, grabbed it by the barrel and swung it like a bat at the man’s head. Blood and teeth sprayed as his jaw snapped loose. He crashed to the floor.
    ‘Jared!’ Lena screamed, dropping down beside him. ‘Jared!’
    He moaned. Blood dribbled from his mouth. His stare was blank, unseeing.
    ‘It’s okay,’ she told him. ‘It’s okay.’
    He coughed. His body shuddered, then a violent seizure took hold.
    ‘Jared?’ she screamed. ‘Jared!’ Lena’s vision blurred as tears filled her eyes. She put her hands on either side of his face. ‘Look at me,’ she begged. ‘Just look at me.’
    Movement. She saw it out of the corner of her eye. The second man was inching toward the bed, trying to reach the gun. Half his body was paralyzed. He dragged himself with one arm, a wounded cockroach leaving a trail of blood.
    Lena felt her heart stop. Something had changed. The air had shifted. The world had stopped spinning.
    She looked down at her husband.
    Jared’s body had gone completely slack. His eyelids were closed to a slit. She touched his face, his mouth. Her hand shook so hard that her fingertips tapped against his skin.
    Sibyl. Jeffrey. The baby.
    Their baby.
    Lena stood up.
    She moved like a machine. The hammer was still embedded in the first man’s face. Lena braced her foot on his forehead, wrapped her hands around the handle, and wrenched the claw loose.
    The cockroach was still crawling toward the bed. His pace was slow, his progress incremental. Lena took her time, waiting until he was inches away from the gun to drop her knee into his back. She felt his rib snap under her full weight. Broken teeth spewed from his mouth like chunks of wet sand.
    Lena raised the hammer above her head. It came down on his spine with a splintering crack. The man screamed, his arms shooting out, his body bucking underneath her. Lena held on, her mind focused, her body rigid with rage. She raised the hammer high above her head and aimed for the back of his skull, but then – suddenly – everything stopped.
    The hammer wouldn’t move. It was stuck in the air.
    Lena looked behind her. There was a third man. He was tall, with a lanky build and strong hands that kept Lena from delivering the deathblow.
    She was too shocked to respond. She knew this man. Knew exactly who he was.
    He was dressed like a biker –