UNDERGROUND [4]

She puffed out her cheeks at the prospect, and Sam knew that, despite her focus and drive, she was as fatigued as he was. 'Let's see, shall we?' she said.

Once she and Sam were in position, Purna nodded, and Xian Mei plucked open the door. Purna and Sam stepped out quickly, turning in opposite directions, guns poised. However, the corridor they stepped into was dark and quiet, and although a brief examination revealed the floor to contain little more than a staff locker room and shower block, it was obvious from the stickers on the lockers and the wording on a staff shift chart on the wall that they were in the right place. As if further proof were needed, at the far end of the corridor was a reinforced fire door with a keypad on the wall beside it, above which a sign read CELLS 1–12. Idly, Purna tapped in the four-digit security code – 4274 – that had failed to open the main door earlier, and was not surprised to find it failed to open this one either. Retracing her steps, she pushed open a set of double doors onto a stairwell, and the three of them cautiously and silently began to ascend.

The sign on the wall next to the double doors of the floor above read G. Although that presumably stood for 'Ground', Purna guessed that because of the steps outside, which led up to the main door, it was more likely to be the floor above this one where they had first entered the building, and the one above that where they had encountered the three men. She whispered as much to Sam and Xian Mei, and they nodded their agreement. The trio ascended another flight, and then another, whereupon Purna crossed to the double doors and peered through the reinforced glass panel set into it. Recognizing the corridor leading to the open-plan office where the men had ambushed them, she turned to check that Sam and Xian Mei were ready, then pushed the door open a few inches.

She slipped through the gap quietly, checking left and right. The door to the office was about three meters to her right on the opposite wall of the corridor. Purna crossed the corridor swiftly, turned to flatten herself against the wall, and sidled along it to the door. She waited until Sam and Xian Mei were beside her, then she peered around the edge of the glass door.

She saw the men immediately. They had cleared one of the desks and were sitting around it, playing cards. She saw Jin too. The girl was huddled against the opposite wall, hands and feet tied, face bruised and streaked with tears.

Purna saw the oldest of the three men, the one with piggy eyes who had fired at them out of the upstairs window, raise his head and call something across to Jin, his voice rough and mean. Jin cowered, lowering her head, and the other men laughed. Trying not to let her anger cloud her judgment, Purna saw that the older man and the tattooed man had replaced their hunting rifles with Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine guns, presumably from the police armory. The weapons were propped against their chairs, within easy reach should the need arise. Because the scrawny man was on the far side of the table, Purna couldn't see where his weapon was, or whether he had replaced his original handgun with something else. She drew her head back and told Sam and Xian Mei what she had seen and how she thought they should handle the situation. Again, and without hesitation, both nodded their agreement.

Purna took a slow deep breath, composing herself, then nodded. The three of them stepped away from the wall, moving into position. Purna nodded once more, then strode forward and kicked the door open, raising the shotgun as it flew back. Before the men with their backs to her had even turned round, she barked, 'All of you, raise your hands! Do it now!'

She didn't glance round to see if Sam and Xian Mei had moved into position on either side of her; she trusted them to have followed her instructions. She was focused only on the three men, on what they would do with their hands. When the tattooed man twisted and reached for his gun, Purna shot him.

She did it without hesitation, blasting a hole in his back. There wasn't a coin-sized wound and a trickle of blood like on the TV. Instead, a chunk of flesh tore away from between his shoulder blades, shattering his spine and causing blood to gush from him like a punctured water bag. He collapsed forward, his face smashing against the edge of the desk as his chair tipped over. When, a split-second later, the older man jumped up and clawed vainly for his gun, which had already toppled to the floor because he had stupidly knocked it over when he had moved his seat, Sam shot him in the stomach.

The scrawny man, meanwhile, snatched a handgun off the table beside him. The handgun had been hidden from view by the older man's body, and the scrawny man actually managed to raise it an inch or two before a flare, fired by Xian Mei, exploded in his face. He screamed and went over backwards, but still managed to squeeze the trigger of his gun as he fell, the bullet dislodging a chunk of plaster from the ceiling. To ensure he wouldn't be able to get off another lucky shot, Purna adjusted her aim, tilted the shotgun down and to the left slightly, and shot him through the heart.

The echoes of the gun battle seemed to reverberate in Sam's ears for far longer than they should have done. It was only when they finally began to abate that Sam realized the room wasn't as silent as he had thought. Huddled against the wall, Jin was sobbing hysterically, her hands covering her face, and the man Sam had shot was whimpering and clutching his stomach, his hands and shirt slick with blood. As Xian Mei went over to comfort Jin, Purna walked forward, cursorily examining the two dead men and then looking dispassionately down at the wounded man at her feet.

'Please …' he whispered. 'Please …'

'Sorry,' Purna said, her voice flat and dead, 'but there's nothing we can do for you. You can either lie here and die slowly in pain, or we can make it quick.'

The man's eyes widened. 'No …' he whispered. 'You can take me with you … Please …'

Purna shook her head. 'We can't carry you, and you're too badly wounded to walk. Sorry, but that's just the way it is.'

'Please …' the man whispered again, his world suddenly reduced to nothing but a desperate desire to survive and a terrible fear of death. 'Please … please …'

Purna sighed and slowly, wearily began to load her shotgun.

'No,' Sam said, walking towards her.

She looked up at him, her face expressionless.

'No,' he repeated, reaching out and putting a hand on her arm. 'It ain't fair you should do this. Not again. It's someone else's turn.'

She stared into his face, her eyes so deep and penetrating that Sam couldn't help but

think she could see all the way down into his soul. He turned away from her gaze, but was still aware of her eyes on him and of the weight of the gun in his hand.

'It's my turn,' he said quietly.