Sanctus

Chapter 121

Sweat stung Kutlar’s eyes as he limped across the blacktop towards the guardhouse. He could feel the cool night air on his damp skin but it did nothing to quench the heat boiling up inside him. His wound was infected, he was pretty sure of that. He was also in shock from losing so much blood. He needed to get help fast or he might die after all. He couldn’t let that happen. Not now. It seemed like hours since he’d leaned on the horn and finally escaped from the van, but it was probably only a few minutes.

He’d heard the muffled exchange of gunfire through the pounding of his heart, then the silence that had followed the two explosions. Maybe everyone was dead. Even the guy who’d killed Serko. With no witnesses he could still talk his way out of this one. Just needed to get to the guardhouse and call for help.

The headlights lit him up from behind when he was just thirty feet away. The blood was pumping so loud in his head he hadn’t even heard the engine. Panic rose in his throat. He tried to run. Stumbling forward. Felt what was left of his stitches pulling and popping inside his leg.

The lights got brighter and lit up the side of the guardhouse just twenty feet in front of him. He could see the faint spray of red on the back wall. The guard hadn’t reached for a gun, but he must have one somewhere. If he could get to it, he might stand a chance.

He could hear the engine now, rising up through the thump of his heartbeat. The guardhouse pulled closer. Just fifteen feet now.

Ten more agonizing steps.

. . Eight more. .

. . Seven.

Cornelius drove straight through Kutlar as if he wasn’t there. He felt the crump as the police car smashed through both his legs and saw the windscreen cobweb where his head struck it on his way over the top.

He glanced in his rear-view mirror. Saw the body land head first on to the concrete, arms flopping lifelessly, legs twisting at unnatural angles. He slammed on the brakes. Threw the car into reverse. He didn’t want to leave anything to chance where Kutlar was concerned and he also didn’t want to leave a body in plain view.

The engine screamed as he hit the accelerator and the crumpled pile of flesh and clothes grew bigger in the rear-view mirror. He braked a metre short, popped the boot and slipped from behind the wheel, leading with his gun. He rounded the rear of the car, half hoping to find Kutlar still alive. He liked the idea of him spending the rest of his life as a cripple, drinking through straws and shitting in bags. He was met instead by a fixed, blank stare and was almost disappointed.

He ducked down and quickly scooped the body from the ground. Felt broken bones crunch inside the swollen flesh of Kutlar’s legs as he wedged him inside the tight boot space next to the body of the driver. He had to lean his whole weight on the boot lid to get it to click shut then looked around the open ground of the airport as he made his way back to the driver’s seat. He saw no movement. Heard no distant sounds of sirens heading his way. He wanted to go back and sweep the warehouse, tie up any loose ends, but he had his orders and his primary objective had been achieved.

He climbed behind the wheel and glanced in the back where the girl lay unconscious. A set of handcuffs fed through a thick D-ring in the floor held her arms out in front.

He watched her chest move as she breathed and figured the crack on the head would keep her out long enough to get where they were going. He locked the doors anyway, just to be safe, then put the car in gear and eased on to the service road leading away from the airport and back to the city of Ruin.