Run (28 page)
Authors: Gregg Olsen
Two minutes earlier she had looked her reflection in the eyes and raised her chin. This was her opportunity to make a break, and she was taking it.
Natalia had heard the key turning in the lock. She had frozen in place, straining her ears. One set of footsteps, then another and a third. The Troika. The Troika were coming through the door.
All she could do was run.
One minute earlier Natalia had charged through the kitchen towards the terrace door. She had fumbled with the lock. Her hands had been shaking so much she couldn’t get the door unlatched. Then, by some miracle, it had opened, and Natalia had run across the snow-covered terrace into the garden. Her leather boots had sunk in the snowdrifts, but she had pressed on without looking back. She had not heard anything. She had thought for a moment that she might make it after all, that she might escape, that she might actually win.
Thirty seconds earlier a pistol fitted with a silencer had fired a dull snap and a bullet had pierced the back of Natalia Smirnova’s coat and skin, barely missing her spine and ripping through her internal organs and finally the handle of her Louis Vuitton bag, which she had been clutching to her chest. She had fallen forward into the pure, untouched snow.
Now the red puddle under Natalia continued to spread, consuming the snow all around. The red was still voracious and warm but cooled as each second passed. One set of slow, heavy footfalls approached Natalia Smirnova lying in the snow. But she did not hear.
First published in Great Britain in 2014 by Hot Key Books
Northburgh House, 10 Northburgh Street, London EC1V 0AT
Copyright © Gregg Olsen 2014
The moral rights of the author have been asserted.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978-1-4714-0186-2
This eBook was produced using Atomik ePublisher
Hot Key Books is part of the Bonnier Publishing Group
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