The mix of gunfire changed over the course of the next several seconds. More and more suppressed gunfire, which sounded more like hands clapping than regular gunfire—until everything went quiet. Devin started to get up.

“Stay down!” yelled a voice from the intersection. “We’ll tell you when it’s clear!”

Devin crouched beside Marnie and reloaded his pistol while a brief symphony of suppressed gunshots played out in the intersection against a background of police sirens.

“I can’t believe this just happened,” she said, a single suppressed shot punctuating her sentence. “That it’s still happening. They’re just walking around intersections popping people in the head, aren’t they?”

“I can’t see exactly what they’re doing, but—”

“It was more of a rhetorical question,” she said, a nearby shot startling both of them. “Of course they’re executing people. How is any of this even possible—in the middle of fucking Baltimore? What did your mom stumble on?”

“You’ll see soon enough,” said Devin. “It’s big.”

“It must be,” she said.

“Devin. Marnie. It’s Rich. I’m standing directly in front of your car,” he yelled. “We’re clear, and we need to get out of here immediately.”

“You okay?” asked Devin.

“I didn’t get shot, if that’s what you mean,” said Marnie. “You?”

“I’m good,” he said before slowly rising from a crouch to a standing position.

His shin burned from the bullet that had grazed him, but that was about it. He’d been extremely lucky. An inch back, and the bullet would have torn muscle and possibly fragmented bone. They were both lucky, when he thought about it. Several bullets had zipped under the car during the gun battle, any one of them with the potential to have altered the night’s outcome.

Rich met them along the side of the car, next to three dead operatives. Suppressed assault rifle slung across a black-plate carrier vest, he pointed at a black SUV parked at the edge of the intersection.

“Get in the back with Karl,” said Farrington. “We’re out of here in fifteen seconds. Go!”

They took off for the SUV, Devin surveying the carnage as they ran. Rich and three of his associates quickly spread out among the vehicles, yanking the masks off several of the shooters and taking pictures. The moment Devin and Marnie reached the SUV, Rich spoke into his microphone and the crew bolted in their direction. Marnie opened the door and got inside, while Devin watched a precision machine in action.