BooksBarbecue
Back Run, Hide, Fight Back Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. Dedication
  4. Map
  5. Newspaper Extract
  6. Survive
  7. One Hundred Miles
  8. So Many and So Fast
  9. Start to Die
  10. Fish in a Barrel
  11. Because of the Blood
  12. Can’t be Real
  13. Waiting to Die
  14. Panic
  15. None of Them
  16. Trapped
  17. Video Game
  18. Like Her Life Depends on It
  19. Before He Sees Us
  20. It’s Your Lucky Day
  21. Just a Shell
  22. The World’s Best Reality Show
  23. How Long
  24. No Matter What Happens
  25. The One Who Decides
  26. What You Need to Do
  27. One Last Time
  28. The Biggest Secret Ever
  29. What They Want Me to Believe
  30. Who He Really Is
  31. People Like You
  32. I Believe She Is Saying
  33. Wake Up
  34. We Told You What Would Happen
  35. Slowly, Slowly
  36. Everything Is Under Control
  37. Come with Me
  38. The Last Thing They’d Expect
  39. They Can’t Shoot All of Us
  40. Go Down Swinging
  41. Not Running Away
  42. If You’re Going to Lie
  43. Every Rattle and Click
  44. Infinitesimal
  45. No Safe Place
  46. I Didn’t Know
  47. Straight to the Source
  48. Nothing but the Breathing
  49. Anything Other Than Killing
  50. You Honestly Believed
  51. Three Inches Away
  52. Not Anymore
  53. Refusing to Crack
  54. On the Trigger
  55. Over
  56. All Too Much
  57. Together, We Can Make a Difference
  58. A Note From the Author
  59. Other Mysteries by April Henry
  60. Honors for April Henry
  61. About the Author
  62. Newsletter Sign-up

Grace’s mouth falls open as she realizes her phone has just been destroyed. “I thought you said they wouldn’t shoot.”

Cole swears. “I didn’t know he had a silencer! We have to get out of here. Go back!”

Out in the hall, one of the killers shouts, “It came from that direction.”

Footsteps pound down the hall toward them. All their practice has centered around a curious guy with a long gun and an unwillingness to shoot, not an angry guy with a silenced pistol. They have to get out of this hall before he spots them. Maybe then he might not know where the Jeep came from. Although the kiosk filled with remote-control toys is a pretty good clue.

As they dash for the alcove they just left, Miranda’s stockinged feet almost slide out from under her. It’s like running in a nightmare. The world narrows to a swath of bright colors, vague smears. Part of her wishes that it was just over. She doesn’t care how it ends. Just that it does.

When they reach the end of the hall, Cole puts his finger against his lips and then points. Not at either service door, but at the stairs going up.

Miranda sees the logic. Upstairs, where there are no direct exits, is the last place the killers will look for them. There might even be places to hide.

No matter what, they have to keep moving. Right now, they’re all too visible.

They hurry up the stairs, or at least they try to. Miranda feels as if she’s moving through quicksand. She attempts to push her fear away, to concentrate on lifting her leaden legs, but it’s like she’s underwater, weighted down and helpless. Her socks slide on each step. The others are trying to be quiet as they climb, but each footfall echoes.

Cole is in the lead. The muscles in Javier’s arms stand out as he pulls himself up with the help of the railing. Behind them, Grace is panting openmouthed, her face contorted with fear. She pumps her arms, the broomstick swinging with each step. As they round the turn in the stairwell, it slams into Miranda’s hip. She bites back her cry of pain.

Somewhere below them, footsteps echo. Miranda’s heart skips a beat.

How long until it’s not beating at all?

Straight to the Source

STRAIGHT TO THE SOURCE

6:03 P.M.

Parker darts into the candy store, his heart a drum in his chest. Once he’s behind the counter, he drops to his knees. As he crawls into the workroom, the muffled clap of a gunshot echoes out in the hall.