Free Siege by Simon Kernick Page B

of secrets. He was squatting down on his haunches next to a unit a few feet away, looking scared but calm. He tried to give her a reassuring look.
    But there was nothing to be reassured about. They could either run and be cut down by the guns or wait here and die.
    The shooting had stopped. Somehow, Elena found the silence even more terrifying than the noise because she had no idea what was going to happen next.
    She heard more shouting coming from the gunmen, telling people to get down and stay down, followed by footsteps coming closer.
    She held her breath and pushed back against the metal, hoping it would somehow open up to conceal her, praying for God’s help.
    The footsteps stopped. Out of the corner of her eye she could see a pair of scuffed black shoes, only feet away. On her side of the unit.
    Slowly, experiencing a cold dread that seemed to turn her whole body to jelly, she looked up.
    Armin stared back at her coldly, no feeling at all in his dark eyes, the barrel of the gun close enough to her face that she could feel its heat.
    Then he looked beyond her towards Aidan.
    Aidan looked at Armin calmly and there was defiance in his deep blue eyes. ‘There’s no need,’ he said, his voice steady.
    The gun kicked violently as Armin pulled the trigger, hitting Aidan in the head. He gasped once and toppled silently to the floor, his blood splattering the tiles. Then he lay still in a foetal position as his face was slowly overrun by a curtain of red.
    Seeing him go like that – his life, his dreams, his secrets, snuffed out in an instant – was such a huge shock that Elena hardly noticed Armin turn his gaze back to her.
    He looked down at her, and he was smiling as his finger tightened on the trigger.
    Surprisingly, like Aidan, she felt perfectly calm. If this was her time, so be it. She thought of Rod. Of the life they could have had together … the sun, the sea, children, because she’d always wanted children. A boy and a girl.
    And then one of the balaclava-clad gunmen appeared. ‘What’s going on?’ he demanded in a Middle Eastern accent.
    ‘That one tried to run away,’ Armin lied, motioning dismissively towards Aidan’s body. ‘And this one’s the manager.’
    The masked gunman looked down at Elena. ‘All right, on your feet. You’re coming with us.’ He leaned down and grabbed her by the hair, yanking her roughly to her feet, which was when she saw that there were five other gunmen dotted around the room.
    God, Elena thought, beginning to panic again. What the hell is going on?
    ‘Grab anyone that’s still alive and bring them through,’ the man holding her shouted. ‘Fox – you, Panther and Leopard are the vanguard. Now, let’s take the rest of this place. And remember, hold your fire and only shoot when you have to. We want to keep as many people alive as possible.’
    With that he shoved the rifle in Elena’s side and dragged her towards the door that led through to the rest of the hotel.

Nineteen
    THE PLAN CALLED for the utmost speed when taking control of the building.
    Already things had got out of hand with the assault on the kitchen. Fox had told the men to fire some warning shots to encourage the staff to comply, but the inside man, Panther, had gone crazy, shooting dead at least three people and panicking the others, several of whom had tried to escape. The result had been more people shot down by other members of the team. The Dane, Tiger, had been pretty liberal with the bullets as well, the sadistic bastard. Fox knew it was time to restore discipline, otherwise they’d provoke an early assault from the security forces, which would mess up everything.
    As Wolf took hold of the hotel manager, an attractive blonde in a smart trouser suit, and began barking out orders, Fox grabbed Panther by the collar of his waiter’s uniform. He thrust his face in close to the other man. ‘No more unauthorized shooting, or you die too. Understand?’
    Panther’s eyes blazed with anger, but Fox