Capital Falling | Book 4 | Sever Winkless, Lance (most popular ebook readers TXT) 📖

need to be sorry,” I begin, after taking a breath, calming myself down and lowering to my haunches in front of her.

“My minds all over the place. I can’t believe Jim is gone,” Karen starts to get more upset, which is the exact opposite of what I’m trying to achieve.

“Yes, Jim is gone and I’m sorry about that Karen, truly I am. What he did was so brave, and he did it because he had to. He had to do it to save you, so that you can get back to Stacey. To see your daughter again.”

“I know.” Karen snivels again.

“Don’t let his sacrifice be for nothing. If you don’t get your head together straight away, we have no chance of reaching the river and getting back to Stacey. There will be a time to get upset and grieve for Jim, but that time is not now. Do you understand?” I say assertively.

“Yes, Andy, I understand, but it’s difficult.”

“Of course, it is. Don’t dwell on it now, think of Stacey, think of seeing her again. She needs you, now more than ever. Are you up for it?” I say with all sincerity.

Karen’s head rises and she takes a deep breath through her mouth, a breath that is quickly expelled through pursed lips and bulging cheeks.

“Yes Andy, I am up for it. I won’t let you down again. I will put it out of my mind,” Karen says confidently. “The important thing now is to see my daughter again.”

“Yes, Karen. Yes, it is. That is all that matters.”

“I’m ready,” she tells me.

“And what are you going to do?” I ask.

“Watch you and do everything you tell me,” she insists, looking me straight in the eye.

“That’s all I ask. We are so close now Karen. Just a bit longer.”

I push myself back up and Karen follows me up straightaway, her sleeve in use again, this time to dry her eyes.

“How are you doing Tanya?” I ask, looking at her.

“It’s just so frightening,” she tells me.

“I know, you’re not the only one that thinks that,” I reply.

“We will be okay, won’t we?” Karen interjects, putting her arm around Tanya’s shoulder. “We will follow your lead so that we can get the hell out of here, won’t we Tanya?”

“Yes, let’s get out of here,” Tanya agrees.

“Good, that’s what I like to hear,” I tell the two women. “Let’s see if there is another way out of here, I don’t want to go back in the direction of that courtyard. Stay close.”

I move towards the door on the opposite side of the room and quickly crack it open. Outside is another room, a small reception area and a set of stairs leading up on the far side of the room with another door at the bottom. The reception is clear, so I move out into it and see the main door on the left that must open onto the street.

Moving over to the stairs, I point the M4 up the stairs and listen, but there is only silence. I debate whether to check behind the other door, but it is closed and so I decide to leave well enough alone.

“Watch the stairs and that door while I check the front door,” I tell the two women, who nod, their eyes darting immediately in that direction.

The front door is wooden, big, and solid, it won’t be kicked open easily. In fact, I see that it opens inward and so it won’t be kicked open at all. Positioned halfway up is a standard lever that can be opened from inside, but below the leaver is a deadbolt that can only be opened with a key. Shit, I think, the only way I am going to get this door open is to shoot the frame away around the deadbolt, that is going to cause noise and it will take more than a couple of rounds to break it.

The only other options are to look behind the door by the stairs or go out the way we came in, neither of which are good options. I decide to have a look to see what is in the next room and go over to the door by the stairs.

My reluctance to open the door turns out to be unfounded. There is only another empty office behind the door, there is no exit though, unless we start climbing out of windows, which is not going to happen.

That leaves me with either going back into the courtyard, where the two grenades have just exploded or dealing with the front door, which I decide is the best option.

The frame next to the deadbolt splinters with a thud as the first bullet hits the wood, the shot is aimed high. The next three shots are aimed in a line down from the first shot and the frame next to the deadbolt is in tatters by the time I lower the M4.

I approach the door in hope and reach up to the lever above the deadbolt. With the lever turned, I pull at the door, the sound of cracking wood accompanies the door opening slightly, but without enough leverage from just the lever the door holds. There is no door handle to pull on and so the only other place to grab hold of is through the letterbox.

With my hand stuck through the letterbox, I turn the lever and yank at the door with all my weight. More wood splinters and suddenly, the frame gives way and the door jerks open. I catch myself and the door before it shoots open too wide, exposing us completely.

“Well done,” Karen says from behind me.

“Are you ready ladies?” I reply faking a smile.

They are and I gradually increase the gap of the door so that I can get sight of the street outside.

I don’t know why but the view I get surprises me, I was expecting to see a wide road with cars and shops. The view I get is a dim narrow road, completely overhung by tall