destination, with only limited options to get to République, all of them now on narrow cobbled and quiet streets like this one. Marner hoped that she would keep straight ahead until they were back onto the busier avenues, even though it meant deviating away from the direction of République, but she was the making the decisions and all of them had to follow.
Marner saw the man in the grey suit glance across at his partner and nod, the first sign that he had seen of any recognition or communication between the two. Suddenly they both increased their pace, accelerating instantly from the slow plodding that Lemele had dictated, to a fast lope that was almost running. Marner reacted immediately, but he was still only moving at the same pace that they were and therefore still a constant fifty metres behind them, whereas they were closing rapidly on the oblivious Lemele. He sensed the danger and wanted to break into a full run, but that would certainly draw attention to him in this street with few people, crowded by solid buildings that would cause his boot steps to thump and resound.
The men reached Lemele just as she was passing an archway opening into a yard on the right. She became aware of their presence at that moment, whirling around to face them as they drew level with her. They parted to pass, one on each side of her, scooped her up under her armpits and dragged her into the archway. Marner’s last view of her was an ‘O’ of surprise on her mouth, and a gasp of shock that echoed down the street towards him.
Chapter Eleven
Now he broke into a run, struggling desperately to wrestle the pistol from the inside pocket of his sweaty, rumpled, unfamiliar jacket, cursing as the edges of it caught in the too-tight pocket lining.
He arrived at the opening of the archway still moving at full speed, gasping and sucking for air. Such was his speed that he swerved through the archway opening in a smooth parabolic arc that caused him to glance off the interior wall as he raced through, jarring his left shoulder but without slowing his velocity or destabilising him. The darkened tunnel of the archway opened into a courtyard, barely wider than the arch but at least there was some daylight leaking into it from above. He passed doors on either side, some of solid wood, others with glass panels that showed only dark behind and so he allowed his legs to continue pounding forward unabated, almost a detached observer riding along atop his sprinting body. The courtyard was fifty metres long and he could see that it ended in large double gates that were closed. There was no possibility that they could have reached that far with Lemele, so he continued scanning the doors on each side as he thundered on, his boots sending loud ‘thwaps’ echoing off the walls around him.
Then he saw the door, fifteen metres ahead on the left side, being pushed the last few centimetres shut. Without breaking step he veered across to the wall on the right and then curved back towards the door. This allowed him to negotiate an arc without slowing, one that delivered him up to the door not quite head-on, but sufficiently square to let him leap, hurl his body, full speed, full weight, turning his right shoulder into the impact, yelling out to fully release the aggression and adrenaline into the motion.
The door exploded inwards, shattering one side of it and ripping the door frame from the wall with a screaming and rendering of wood fibres. Marner, the door and one of the men inside crashed to the floor in a tangle of splintered timber and flailing limbs. Marner fired his pistol involuntarily as his arm took the jarring impact and then the gun went clattering away into the darkness. The hallway and wrestling figures were briefly illuminated by the flash of the discharge. He heard Lemele scream and prayed that she had not been in the trajectory of the stray bullet, but he had no time for distraction. He was up
Marner saw the man in the grey suit glance across at his partner and nod, the first sign that he had seen of any recognition or communication between the two. Suddenly they both increased their pace, accelerating instantly from the slow plodding that Lemele had dictated, to a fast lope that was almost running. Marner reacted immediately, but he was still only moving at the same pace that they were and therefore still a constant fifty metres behind them, whereas they were closing rapidly on the oblivious Lemele. He sensed the danger and wanted to break into a full run, but that would certainly draw attention to him in this street with few people, crowded by solid buildings that would cause his boot steps to thump and resound.
The men reached Lemele just as she was passing an archway opening into a yard on the right. She became aware of their presence at that moment, whirling around to face them as they drew level with her. They parted to pass, one on each side of her, scooped her up under her armpits and dragged her into the archway. Marner’s last view of her was an ‘O’ of surprise on her mouth, and a gasp of shock that echoed down the street towards him.
Chapter Eleven
Now he broke into a run, struggling desperately to wrestle the pistol from the inside pocket of his sweaty, rumpled, unfamiliar jacket, cursing as the edges of it caught in the too-tight pocket lining.
He arrived at the opening of the archway still moving at full speed, gasping and sucking for air. Such was his speed that he swerved through the archway opening in a smooth parabolic arc that caused him to glance off the interior wall as he raced through, jarring his left shoulder but without slowing his velocity or destabilising him. The darkened tunnel of the archway opened into a courtyard, barely wider than the arch but at least there was some daylight leaking into it from above. He passed doors on either side, some of solid wood, others with glass panels that showed only dark behind and so he allowed his legs to continue pounding forward unabated, almost a detached observer riding along atop his sprinting body. The courtyard was fifty metres long and he could see that it ended in large double gates that were closed. There was no possibility that they could have reached that far with Lemele, so he continued scanning the doors on each side as he thundered on, his boots sending loud ‘thwaps’ echoing off the walls around him.
Then he saw the door, fifteen metres ahead on the left side, being pushed the last few centimetres shut. Without breaking step he veered across to the wall on the right and then curved back towards the door. This allowed him to negotiate an arc without slowing, one that delivered him up to the door not quite head-on, but sufficiently square to let him leap, hurl his body, full speed, full weight, turning his right shoulder into the impact, yelling out to fully release the aggression and adrenaline into the motion.
The door exploded inwards, shattering one side of it and ripping the door frame from the wall with a screaming and rendering of wood fibres. Marner, the door and one of the men inside crashed to the floor in a tangle of splintered timber and flailing limbs. Marner fired his pistol involuntarily as his arm took the jarring impact and then the gun went clattering away into the darkness. The hallway and wrestling figures were briefly illuminated by the flash of the discharge. He heard Lemele scream and prayed that she had not been in the trajectory of the stray bullet, but he had no time for distraction. He was up
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