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Back Angels of Vengeance
Chapters (68)
  1. Blurb
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. CHARACTER LIST
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. TWO MONTHS LATER
  60. ONE YEAR LATER
  61. TWO YEARS LATER
  62. FOUR YEARS LATER
  63. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  64. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  65. Also by John Birmingham
  66. ALSO BY JOHN BIRMINGHAM
  67. Copyright
  68. Cover

‘You! Stop now!’ cried the Mexican girl.

Another short, rattling bark from the AK-47 lit up the night outside as Caitlin hurried after the younger woman. She feared that after running from light into dark her night vision would be ruined, but she needn’t have worried. Sofia Pieraro stood on the front deck, levelling the assault rifle at Bilal Baumer, who had both hands in the air and was staring at her as if pursued by an apparition from the seventh level of hell. Porch lights bathed him in a soft, yellow glow. He looked slow, disoriented. Possibly concussed. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and that side of his face looked grossly misshapen. When he saw Caitlin emerge from the house, he started to move again, only stopping when the gun roared and plowed up the earth around his feet.

Caitlin pushed past the civilian and charged at Baumer, advancing on him in great, lopsided strides. He smiled.

She caught a glimpse of porch light on the blade that appeared in his right hand.

‘I will shoot him,’ cried Sofia.

‘No! Don’t!’

Caitlin put herself between them deliberately. Turning slightly side-on to Baumer, she faced him with her injured leg to the fore, placing most of her weight on the rear foot. Her hands came up in a guard position, using the chain-link of her handcuffs to ward off the knife, which came flashing in at her as Baumer cried out, ‘Allahu Akbar!’

She was ready for his feint, and did not commit her block until he had switched the arc of his attack at the last moment, turning a backhanded slash into an overhead stab, aimed at the base of her neck. She pivoted on her good leg, keeping the turning circle as small as possible, parrying the stroke, and whipping her elbow back into his broken cheekbone.

Crack!

He cried out in shock and pain. Caitlin reversed the flow of her defensive sweep, channelling her ki through her forearms and into a looping shield that landed concussive hammer fists on his face, shredding his lips and breaking his nose.

Holding her body close to his, jamming his knife between them so that he had no chance to use it, she raked the handcuffs down the length of his arm until she had proper control of the weapon hand. After keeping most of her weight off the injured leg until the last possible moment, she gritted her teeth and stepped through, absorbing the pain as she dragged his hand across the front of her body and down towards his hip. Reversing the direction of her attack as she brought the captive limb up, Caitlin fed Baumer’s arm into a figure-four entanglement. A downward sword-slashing move broke his arm in three places.