Free The Einstein Pursuit by Chris Kuzneski

video game. His eyes lit up, and he actually squealed with delight as the larger mercenary stared through the hole in his bloody hand.
    It looked like a scene from a horror movie.
    The gaping wound made the large man even more enraged. He charged recklessly toward Payne, who countered the move by jumping on to the bench and delivering a knee to his opponent’s chest. The blow had the dual effect of dropping the larger soldier on top of the smaller one and at the same time dislodging his weapon from his holster. Both fell to the ground, the larger man pinning his partner beneath him.
    But the larger man was unrelenting. He couldn’t rise, but he had the presence of mind to grab the nearest pistol. He smiled as he aimed it squarely at Payne’s chest.
    Payne had nowhere to run – and he knew it.
    The gunman pulled the trigger, but nothing happened.
    He tried it a second time, still nothing.
    The mercenary glanced at the gun and realized his mistake. Each of the thug’s weapons had been fitted with a palm-print reader on the grip. This biometric safety prevented anyone but the authorized user of the gun from firing it. In his haste, he had reached for the first weapon he saw and had grabbed the wrong one. In his hand, his partner’s gun was basically just a hunk of steel. He threw it at Payne’s face, hoping to do some damage.
    Payne ducked just in time.
    Unarmed and one-handed, the thug was at Payne’s mercy. Payne grabbed him by his suit collar and slammed him into the far wall. The glass cracked from the impact. A moment later, he swung his elbow into the man’s throat, crushing his windpipe. Suddenly unable to breathe, the thug slumped to the floor as blood poured from his nose and mouth.
    The smaller man realized he’d be next if he didn’t act fast. He dove to the ground and grabbed both weapons just as Payne spun to face him. The gunman didn’t know which gun was his, but it didn’t matter. If he squeezed both triggers, he knew
one
would fire.
    Payne saw everything in slow motion.
    The guns. The gunman. The triggers.
    Ka-boom!
A shot thundered in the cable car, but he didn’t see a muzzle flare. Instead, the front window exploded into a thousand shards as a bullet cut through the glass.
    Payne instantly recognized the sound of his own gun. He didn’t have to look to know that Sahlberg had pulled the trigger. But the mercenary had no idea who had fired the shot. As he glanced to find the shooter, he took his eyes off Payne for a split second.
    It was a reaction he couldn’t control.
    An instinct that cost him the fight.
    Before the gunman could re-aim, Payne lowered his shoulder and exploded from his stance. Years of American football had taught him how to turn his body into a battering ram. The impact was violent. He lifted the mercenary off the ground and kept his legs churning forward until the man slammed into the wall. He felt ribs breaking in the man’s chest.
    The mercenary fell limp against the wall.
    As the world sped up to real time, Payne turned toward the upper level of the car. Sahlberg was standing at the edge of the railing, Payne’s gun shaking in his hand.
    The room was moving forward but also still.
    There was no more violence.
    No more gunshots.
    The only sound was the wind.
    ‘Everyone okay?’ Payne asked.
    ‘We’re all right,’ the husband answered.
    Sahlberg nodded. So did the woman.
    Only then did the teenager react, leaping to his feet with so much vigor that Sahlberg momentarily pointed the gun his way. He pumped his fist several times and screamed at the top of his lungs, ‘That … was … AWESOME!’

13
    Payne checked the fallen gunmen for signs of life. Both were breathing, but the larger one was in bad shape. He would need medical attention to survive the day.
    But it wouldn’t come from Payne.
    Not with Sahlberg’s life still in jeopardy.
    Payne searched their pockets for identification. He found nothing useful. It was further proof that Sahlberg had been telling the