She glanced frantically to her left and saw Archie still in the doorway. He was even paler now, almost waxen. His gun was still trained on Karim—the end of the barrel close enough that Susan could have touched it—but Archie’s arm had sunk from a ninety-degree angle to a seventy-degree angle. His eyes were anguished. Susan could see him straining to raise the weapon, but he didn’t seem to have the strength.

“The gun’s getting heavy, isn’t it?” Karim asked Archie, his voice smug. “Your head’s swimming. You don’t have the strength to pull the trigger.”

Archie fired again.

Susan closed her eyes and braced herself. Karim’s body jerked. But the knife didn’t leave her throat. Then she heard the sickening sound of Karim’s laugh. She forced herself to open her eyes. Archie was sinking to the floor. He’d used the last of his strength to shoot Karim, and he’d hit him—Susan had felt the impact. She strained around to see Karim, and he rotated her roughly so that they were face-to-face. Karim lifted his arm and showed her the tear and streak of blood where Archie had managed to graze Karim’s bicep. Susan hated him. She could feel the contempt form on her face and she didn’t try to hide it. She looked toward Archie. He was trying to stand again, then stumbled sideways, and leaned back against the wall to the left of the door and started to slide to the floor. The gun fell from his hand onto the concrete.

Susan’s throat felt swollen, like it might close entirely.

Archie tried once more to stand, failed, and came to a rest in a sitting position, legs akimbo in front of him, back against the wall. He looked up at Susan and his eyes filled with tears. His lips were colorless and his expression was puzzled. “Sorry,” Archie muttered.

Susan was shaking uncontrollably now. Karim pulled her into the doorway and sandwiched her against the doorjamb and then, to Susan’s horror, he pressed his gun against Archie’s forehead.

“I could kill you,” Karim snarled at Archie. Then he bent his elbow and lifted the gun. “But instead I’m going to leave you here to die.” Karim’s breathing came in halting rasps. He was pressed against her hard, worming his pelvis against her, trying to work her legs open, but Susan kept her thighs clamped shut. Karim holstered the knife into his waistband and socked her hard between her legs. Susan cried out and Karim forced his hand into the front of her pants. He grinned, his face glistening with sweat. But he wasn’t even looking at Susan. This was for Archie. Karim clawed his hooked hand against her underpants, digging to get inside her even as she clenched her body tight to resist him.