“Wanda told me you were snooping around.”
Pine said nothing. She just kept her eyes on the pistol held against Blum’s head.
“Wanda said you were looking for Becky.”
Now Pine spoke. “Her name is Mercy. Not Becky. That was the name you gave her.”
“Well, whatever, she was Becky to me.” She glanced at Pine’s waist. “You’re FBI, so you got a gun. Take it out and put it on the floor. Real, real slow. I know how to use this gun real good.”
Pine took out her Glock and, holding it by the muzzle, knelt, and set it on the floor. Pine had a Beretta Nano in an ankle holster as her backup weapon, but it was useless so long as Atkins had the gun against Blum’s head.
Atkins smiled in triumph as Pine stood. “Now, that’s real good. No trouble from you I can see. Becky was a badass. A real troublemaker. You, not so much.”
Pine just stood there looking at Atkins.
The woman said, “Now, you two are going to get in Gail’s little hidey-hole.”
“And then what?” asked Pine.
“And then I’m leaving. I’m all packed to go, suitcase in the car. I was as soon as Wanda called me.”
“And Gail?”
“She’ll be coming with me. She needs me to take care of her, don’t you, Gail?”
Gail looked up at Pine with baleful eyes.
“You don’t have to go with her, Gail,” said Pine.
“Hey, hey!” cried out Atkins. “You don’t tell her shit like that. You do that again, your friend here gets it good.” She shoved the muzzle so hard into Blum’s face that the woman moaned.
“Okay,” said Pine. “Okay.”
“That’s better,” said Atkins, clearly enjoying this. “Now move.”
Pine led the way with Atkins bringing up the rear, her gun still pointed at Blum’s head.
They entered the HVAC room where the underground space was.
“Okay, you can hold up right there,” said Atkins. She shoved Blum toward Pine. The woman staggered and nearly fell, but Pine was quick enough to catch her.
Now Atkins pointed her gun at Pine as her finger slid to the trigger.
“I take it we’re going down into that space feet first,” said Pine.
“Well, I can’t very well let you live to tell people things. I guess somebody will find you eventually. By then, I’ll be in another country.”
“It’ll be tough to get out of the country with Gail.”
“Who said she was coming?” Atkins said brusquely.
“So you’re going to kill her, too?” said Pine.
“Gail is a little scared mouse. She’ll do what I tell her to do and—”
The next instant Atkins cried out because Gail had jumped forward and bitten down on the hand holding the gun. She scratched and clawed at the woman’s eyes. They struggled until Atkins brought the gun down on Gail’s head, and the girl gasped and fell away.
Then a far stronger hand gripped Atkins’s gun. She looked up into the face of Pine.
Pine couldn’t help but smile as she cocked her arm back and then slammed her bony fist into the woman’s face. The massive blow flung the much smaller woman against the wall, where Atkins slumped to the floor, unconscious.
When Atkins woke up about ten minutes later, she moaned and slowly sat up. Her eye was blackened and swollen shut, and her right cheek was heavily bruised. She looked up with her good eye at Pine, who towered over her.