Private Dublin

Chapter 49

We ran toward the waterwheel.

The man who’d shouted at us was on the other side of the concrete channel, an indistinct shape beyond the reach of the house lights. His silhouette was large and menacing, and I saw the shadow of a gun in his hands as I glanced back.

The first crack of gunfire echoed against the stone channel and the side of the house. The bullet ricocheted off the brickwork, chipping away flakes and sending dust into our faces.

He fired again, and this time he hit the waterwheel, with the noise of wood splintering to our right. Andi and I ran around the gangway, bringing us closer to the shooter. We couldn’t have been any more than eighteen feet away.

He shot again, and this one zipped past my ear with a sharp rush of air that was unmistakable. We heard the projectile thud into the rear side panel of an Audi parked in the yard.

I saw shadows and movement in the house. Even with the noise of the waterwheel, the sound of gunfire would be audible inside. We needed an escape route and fast.

The shooter was running across a metal bridge that would bring him to our side of the river, and I had no doubt the occupants of the house would soon join him in trying to capture or kill us.

“Try the cars,” I said to Andi, “and pray at least one driver is careless.”

She nodded and we immediately ran along the row of parked vehicles trying to open the doors. The first two were locked, but the third was open.

Andi tried the push start button, but the car was unresponsive, so I ran to a black BMW M5 and did the same.

The engine roared to life as half a dozen men burst through the front door of the mill and yelled at us.

“Jump in,” I shouted to Andi, who bolted to the passenger side.

The gunman rounded the waterwheel and started shooting.

“Hey! That’s my car,” one of the men by the front door yelled as bullets struck its bodywork.

The shooter stopped for a moment and Andi jumped into the passenger seat. I settled behind the wheel, flipped the paddles that controlled the semi-automatic gearbox into first. The engine growled as I stepped on the accelerator and the car shot forward, shooting gravel into the air behind us as we sped away.