Skinner's festival

99

Andy Martin lay on the damp grass. He saw the car's approaching headlights, and saw it swing to a halt with its beams shining into the hangar.

He saw the muzzle-flash and even at that distance, heard the sharp sound as Ingo dispatched the driverHe saw him pull Alex from the car.

He saw the eye-to-eye, gun-to-gun stalemate between Skinner and the Swede.

And then he saw Sarah's head and shoulders emerge from the far side of the car, and saw the profile of the woman who followed, pushing her forward but staying close, holding something to her side.

It was the profile he had come to know so well, in the moonlight not so long before, but different somehow. The truth came to him in a flash, and his heart sank. He had taken the devil into his bed and into his heart, in the guise and the garb of an angel.

He watched, helpless. Seeing her lips move, he strained to hear what she said, but of course he was too far away.

He saw Arrow take the bags from the car and carry them into the hangar.

He started in horror as she shot him down.

And then, still through the telescopic sight of the sniper's rifle which Skinner had taken earlier from Brian Mackie, he saw her push Sarah away from her, and knew instantly what she was about to do.

Tears flooded his contact lens, but only in the second after he pulled the trigger.