The building that Chase was hiding atop was on the downward slope of the hill. He had scouted it earlier and saw that there was a rough track that clung to the side of the slope; it offered a way for him to approach the safe house without being seen from the street. He crawled to the lip of the roof and dangled over the edge, his feet probing for something to support him and finding the sill of a window below. He let go with his hands, ducking down and then reaching for a drainpipe that took run-off rainwater from the roof to the track below. The pipe was loose and, as Chase put his weight on it, the screws popped free and the pipe started to come away from the wall. The track beneath him was narrow and, if he overshot that, he faced a deep enough drop that he would be lucky if the only injuries he suffered were two broken legs. The pipe bent out, but, before it could fall away completely, Chase managed to snake out a hand and grab onto a ventilation outlet. He slithered down the rest of the pipe, dropped onto the track, and started to run.

“Where are they?” he said into the throat mic.

A clatter of automatic gunfire echoed around the houses.

“They’re going north,” Ziggy reported.

Chase sprinted.

109

The alley came out at the back of the block of three buildings that included the safe house. There was a wooden gate, but it was flimsy and Björn was able to kick it down. They emerged onto a side street. Björn looked right and then left, checking that the street was clear. Björn knew what the soldiers would have done: they would have thrown a cordon around the building, blocking the main ways in and out.

He turned to La Bruja. “How well do you know this area?”

“Very well,” she said. “I was born here.”

“We need to find our way out, but not on any of the main roads. Alleyways and passages only. Okay?”

“Yes,” she said. She pointed over the road to the mouth of a narrow passage that sneaked between the flanks of two dwellings. “We can go through there. There is a park northeast of us. We have another property on the other side of it. No one knows about it. I will be safe.”

“Good,” he said.

It wasn’t much of a plan, but it would have to do. There were three of them and La Bruja, but at least they were well armed. On the other hand, they had no backup; Ten and Eleven were occupied with the medevac of the injured Number Two.

It wasn’t going to be easy, but they had a shot. Bjorn just needed to get them through the cordon and maybe they’d stand a chance.