Nothing.

She grabbed a flashlight out of the glove box and jumped out of the car. The next moment she was crossing the street toward the Sunrise Apartments. How was she going to get to that second-floor apartment? Tanner had said he was going to go in the back way down the fire escape. Then stay out of his way and go in the front. She went past the Subaru and straight to the front entrance. She opened the screen door and went silently up the steps.

She heard a child crying on the first floor.

Nothing from the second floor yet.

She was almost to 12G. Still no sound.

Then the door to 12G exploded open and a dark man in a hoodie was catapulted out into the hall!

He saw her in front of him. “Shit!” He went on the attack. His fist plowed into her stomach. She lost her breath. She instinctively lifted the flashlight and brought it down on his head. When he staggered, her other hand came down in a karate chop on the back of his neck. She followed it with another blow to his throat and the man was lying unconscious on the floor at Lara’s feet.

“Out of the way, Lara.” It was Tanner following the attacker through the doorway. He looked down at the unconscious man on the floor and then shrugged. “Or not.” He gave her a quick look. “Okay?”

She nodded. “He…surprised me. I didn’t expect him to come through the door like he was blown from a cannon.” She added defensively, “Otherwise I would have been able to put him down sooner. Or if I’d had a gun. I should have had a gun.”

“Why? When you had that handy-dandy flashlight? I told you to stay put.”

“And then you walked away. I’ve told you I didn’t like that.”

“So you did. I’ll pay more attention next time.” He was dragging the man in the hoodie back into the apartment. “Come in and shut the door. We don’t want anyone tripping over bodies in the hall.”

“Bodies? Then she saw another man crumpled on the floor a few feet in front of an open doorway. “There were two of them?”

He nodded. “But he came in the bedroom when I was jumping in the window from the fire escape. I broke his neck, but the guy in the hoodie heard us and went after me.”

“And he was the one you tossed through the door?” She was looking around the apartment. “Where’s Walker?” She stopped, her gaze flying to the man lying in the doorway. “Was one of them—”

“No, Walker was supposed to be in his fifties.” His glance followed hers to the doorway. “I think he’s the man lying on the bed in the other room. I didn’t have time to examine him, but I don’t think he’s going to be telling us anything.”

She stiffened. “Dead?”

“I’ll go check in a minute.” He was taking off the man’s belt. “I need to tie this one up before he comes to.”