Chasing The Dawn (Luke Temple - Book 2) (Luke Temple Series) (13 page)

The men looked bemused as Luke came crashing through; he kicked the double doors open and sprinted out after Chung Su.

***

Luke tore at his shirt, pulling out the Sig Sauer, checking magazine as he flicked the safety off. The handle felt fat in his hand due to the extra magazine he had strapped on,
seconds matter
.

His heart was beating fast as he took the steps two at a time. He was about to blow his cover, and with two Carabinieri officers in the vicinity it may be a mistake, but it was a risk he had to commit to.

The night air hit him like a glass wall as he crashed through the doors, reminding him he had left his coat in his haste. He assessed the scene in seconds. Chung Su was stood in between the doorman twins about ten paces from the entrance. All three turned to look. Luke never slowed, he pounded toward the trio; the twin with the earring was the first to move, attempting to stand in front of Chung Su
. If you have multiple targets deal with the one who moves or speaks first, they have started thinking, and thinking is dangerous.
The twin caught the gleam of the gun, but it was too late. Luke used his momentum to drive his knee hard into the first twin’s crotch, connecting with soft tissue. The twin grunted loud with pain. Luke grabbed the earring and yanked down hard, ripping through the earlobe and pulling it clean off. The grunt turned to a scream. Luke smashed the gun barrel down behind the bleeding ear and the doorman dropped to the floor, silent.

It all happened so fast that Chung Su and the remaining twin were still rooted to the spot. Luke brought the pistol to bear, firing a shot through the remaining twin’s calf muscle. He crumpled to the floor in shock and pain; it was a clean wound straight in-and-out, designed to immobilise not kill.

Chung Su took off running, trembling with fear and intense cold, her breath catching the light, her heels scraping along the floor. Luke didn’t waste time shouting, it wouldn’t have halted her. It took no time to close the gap. As he came up behind her he cupped his hand over her mouth and pulled her head into his chest. He was forceful, shock and fear cripple people and he needed her to be alert to what he was saying. He picked her up off the floor and half-carried, half-dragged her away from the lit car park. She struggled and writhed against him.

“Listen to me! Listen! I do not want to hurt you, I-do-not-want-to-hurt-you. The men you saw do want to hurt you and I am trying to stop that happening.”

He had no idea if his words were being understood, she didn’t cease the struggle. The wounded twin moaned on the floor, but soon he was drowned out by shouts and screams. Luke guessed the other security employees had heard the shot and were responding. The shouts suddenly intensified and glancing back he saw the two Asian men spill out of the entrance. He arrived at a sleek-looking Mercedes parked up near the tree-lined frontage, but he knew the moment he let go of Chung Su she would be gone.

The first bullet went high, the bang followed by the familiar fizzing noise whipping past Luke’s right ear. Using his momentum Luke pulled Chung Su behind the frame of the car and they both collapsed onto the floor. The window blew out above their heads as both men opened up with their pistols. Chung Su screamed into Luke’s hand.

“Listen to me! I can protect you but you have to do what I say? Understand?”

A bullet thumped into the car. Chung Su could not get a grasp on her thoughts, she was freezing on the floor, and the bang of the guns struck terror into her heart. She did not know if what the man was saying was true but she had no choice, she nodded.

“Good, I am going to let go of you, but I need you to stay still and low, understand?”

Chung Su nodded.

“Ok.” Luke let go of her, she was shivering incessantly.

Luke swivelled and brought the Sig Sauer up in one motion. He peered above the window line and saw that the two men had taken up position off to his right, attempting to cover off the exit road. Luke spat two bullets at them. Both missed due to his firing position, but they caused the pair to back further toward the trees. A volley of bullets sprayed the car.

Getting into a fire fight was a bad idea, it burnt up time, effort and Luke didn’t know how much ammo they were carrying; they may have the capability to play this game all night. He absorbed his surroundings, to his left there were three further Mercedes parked up, behind them was the main Observatory building, lit eerily with an orange glow. To his immediate right lay the tree line and darkness: toward the two aggressors, front and right, was the exit driveway back onto the road. His ideal scenario would be to make it to one of the Mercedes and drive out, but the odds were against it, they would have to cross the killing ground, nothing to offer protection. Luke discarded the thought and began piecing together various other scenarios, analysing their likely success rates.

Another round of bullets thumped and fizzed into the car. Judging from the trajectory the pair were moving slowly round to the car’s rear, looking for a clear shot and simultaneously blocking the driveway. Luke fired two shots over the boot of the car, it was not intended to be accurate, just to discourage them from moving too far. Luke eyed the dark tree line; he knew the wooded area could not be more than fifty metres deep, at which point it would come out onto the small access road he had observed earlier. The darkness appealed, if he had been alone it would be his top choice – get into cover and disappear – but Chung Su complicated matters.

More gunshots rang out in the night. Luke’s brain flickered, alerting him. The shots had not come from the same position. They had come from their left; Luke pressed himself against the floor and looked under the car frame. Positioned behind one of the Mercedes was Officer Beltrano unloading with a pistol, judging by the shape and tone it was a modern Beretta. Beltrano was not firing at their position, he was letting off rounds at the two Asian men. Luke didn’t have time to question it, his decision was made for him; he grabbed Chung Su, pulling her to her feet and disappeared into the trees.

He tensed his body, waiting for the bullet to hit him in the back, but as he turned for the briefest of moments he saw that Beltrano had been joined by Delvechi and they were concentrating their fire on the area where the Asians had last been seen. Beltrano looked over at Luke and their eyes met, but the officer did not change his firing line. Luke turned back and followed Chung Su into the darkness.

***

Chung Su felt bruised from the intense shivering, her whole body felt numb, her head was spinning and with every step her heels caught on the twisted twigs and rough ground. She couldn’t see where she was putting her feet, and had no idea where she was heading. Stopping and leaning against a tree she could see her breath rise in the beams of moonlight coming through the canopy. Just as she was about to set off a hand locked around her arm and then another wrapped around her waist.

“Do not panic, I am not trying to hurt you. I will release you, but if you want to stay safe then we cannot waste any time, we have to keep moving together. If you understand, then nod.”

Chung Su nodded, not knowing what was best.

“Good. I am going to release you, do not run. I will lead, take my arm and follow the path I take, keep your steps high. Understood?”

Chung Su nodded.

Luke let go, he moved around the tree and knew he needed to adjust their course by bringing them slightly eastward to hit the small road. He moved in front and guided Chung Su’s hand to the crux of his left arm, his right stayed loose by his side, Sig Sauer in hand.

He could feel her breath shortening as her chest tightened; he knew she wouldn’t have long before hypothermia would begin its early stages. His first priority was to get them out of the trees. He took long steps, keeping his feet high to avoid catching roots and other foliage. It was not a dense woodland but jungle principle applied
. Less speed, more haste
. He moved them along smoothly and even-paced. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the moonlight but his main sense was going to be hearing. The gunshots had stopped which either meant people were dead or they had escaped. If anyone was tracking him then he would hope to hear them long before they could be seen.

His thoughts moved to Brun, the professor had just changed everything. He had revealed information that Luke knew should not have been discussed, but it fit with Luke’s feeling that the professor had been holding something back. He had no idea how that would impact Professor Vittorio’s safety or even Brun’s own, if he could have he would have taken Brun and Chung Su but it wasn’t possible and Chung Su was his priority at this point. She was here for more than just a science gala – she had attracted some serious attention.
Why did Beltrano not shoot at us?

A crack jolted Luke back to the present; he halted and put his hand on Chung Su’s shoulder. Another crack echoed. Luke went down onto one knee, and Chung Su instinctively followed. A third crack sounded, this time closer. Luke let go of Chung Su and propped himself up on both knees; he felt the cold damp mud through his trousers. He closed his eyes and took slow deep breaths, gripping the gun with both hands and extending it out in front. In the dull light his eyes would only play tricks; he trusted his ears far more in this environment. This time there was a rustle off to Luke’s right. He swivelled and pointed his gun in that direction. It was a rhythmic rustling, the footsteps of someone attempting to move quietly, he estimated around twenty metres away. Luke forced his body to stay relaxed, he would have to let the person get closer before he acted, he couldn’t afford any misses.

The rustling crept closer and closer. Luke filtered all extraneous noise and focused in on the steps. The footsteps belonged to one person, they were moving west to east in a diagonal across Luke’s position. The steps were now ten metres away. Luke was starting to shiver, he remained still, arms following the direction of the steps. There was a loud crunch as the individual pressed down on a group of twigs, Luke pulled the trigger, giving two bursts in the direction of the noise. A loud scream pierced the air. Before Chung Su could react Luke was up, grabbing her arm and setting off at a run, trailing her behind.

The tree line stopped abruptly at a small raised platform dropping down to the road. Luke jumped down and lifted Chung Su down behind him. The road was silent, without the canopy the moonlight was bright, bathing the whole area in a silvery light. To their left the road disappeared back up toward the main entrance to the Observatory. Straight in front open fields stretched away, the lights of Teramo shining in the distance. Luke got his first clear sight of Chung Su. Her hair was dishevelled and her skin looked pale in the dull light; he could see her eyes were glazing over as she fought her trembling limbs.

They were exposed on the road. Luke grabbed Chung Su and guided her across to the edge of the field, a steep slope dotted with hedges ran away down to the open plain. Chung Su’s heels clicked as she awkwardly ran across the road. Luke knew they would have to cover the distance to the town on foot; even if they could flag down a car in such a remote place it was too much of a risk. He looked over at Teramo, it was a long way to travel so unequipped.
There is always something available, improvise.

“You can’t continue like this, your body is going to start to shut down.” Luke pulled Chung Su’s coat as tight as it would go and fastened all the buttons. The material was thin, and he again cursed himself for forgetting his coat. “I need you to take your shoes off, now.”

Chung Su stared blankly at him. Luke bent down and pulled off Chung Su’s high-heeled shoes; her feet felt like ice as he placed them on the tarmac. The heels would be a big hindrance as they tried to navigate the mud and grass. He moved over to a thick hedge and snapped off a branch, he then removed his dinner jacket and used the sharpest end of the branch to rip around the sleeve joins. After much exertion Luke had torn away the sleeves. He took one and wrapped it tightly around Chung Su’s foot, making sure to cover the sole and upper section; once it was tied and secured he repeated the process with the other, then tossed the heels down the slope. The material would allow easier movement across rough ground and hopefully fight off the cold for a short while.

Luke then went back to the hedge and began stripping it of its leaves; he tore away wads of foliage and when he felt he had enough he went back to Chung Su.

“Hold your hands out.”

Chung Su obeyed but she was distant and slow. Luke placed the pile of leaves in her hands. He took off his jacket and began stuffing the internal pockets with them; he then ripped small gaps in the lining and stuffed more and more in. Once it was full to the brim he gave Chung Su the jacket to put on. She wrapped it over her thin coat.

“Put your arms inside and wrap them around your body tightly.”

He then proceeded to button it up. It was crude but he hoped the extra insulation would help stave off hypothermia for a little longer; her arms were to help keep the heat in her core. Once he had sorted Chung Su he went back to the hedge to extract some more leaves to stuff inside his shirt, he tucked it in tight to his trousers and filled it up. The cold was biting at all extremities, but he didn’t let his mind dwell on it
. You control your mind, your mind doesn’t control you.

“We are going to have go across there by foot.” Luke pointed out toward Teramo. “It’s the safest way. We can make it, but you can’t think about the cold, ok? Just keep looking forward, and keep your feet moving. Understand?”

Luke didn’t wait for a response; he began descending the slope. Chung Su staggered alongside him. He kept glancing back at the tree line, pistol at the ready in case anyone emerged onto the road. Eventually the road and trees disappeared out of sight as they descended onto the open fields. Luke pushed on, encouraging Chung Su to speed up. If he was honest with himself he had no idea if she could make it, but there was now no choice. He let his mind wander over the operation objectives, the moonlight lighting the way.