It was always better to fight from the top down rather than the other way around, but there was no time for useless wishes — the situation was how it was, and that was the end of it; he would just have to make do.
Up above, he could see flames licking around the hall entry on the staircase return, and knew it would be from the thermal grenades he had thrown.
Hoping the flames would cover him, he took a moment to reload his weapon, and then charged.
53
At he reached the top of the stairs, he saw three bodies strewn over the floor, charred and burnt. A sound beyond the flames to his left made him reflexively turn, identify, and fire, and the fourth man he had seen at the window dropped dead to the floor.
He was close to his family now, he could feel it. But he also knew he had to keep calm, controlled, in charge of his emotions; he couldn’t afford to make any mistakes.
And so he also swept each room on this floor, manoeuvring carefully through the flames, his flight suit mercifully inherently flame retardant. He had a feeling there would be no more guards — six in the tree line, six in the grounds, meant that six would probably be in the house. But Cole hadn’t survived so long by taking chances, and so went through each of the second floor rooms, clearing them in turn.
There was nobody else left on this floor, and as the flames from the grenades began to spread, eating away at curtains, wallpaper and plasterboard, Cole turned to the staircase and started up to the third floor.
54
There were just two rooms on the third floor, Cole remembered from his previous visits here — a small bathroom off to the right, and a large open-plan games room at the end of a short hallway on the left.
He checked the bathroom first — clear.
Then he turned his attention to the games room, stalking down the corridor carefully, very carefully, slow and controlled with each step onto the wooden floorboards.
He and Stefan had enjoyed good times in that same room, playing pool, listening to music, drinking beer and schnapps and talking and laughing into the small hours of the morning.
But no longer. Not anymore. This was now the room in which his old friend would die.
55
H&K submachine gun raised against one shoulder, Cole pushed open the heavy wooden door with his other hand, moving swiftly into the well-lit room, both hands back on the gun as he scanned, left to right.
He stopped in the centre, in front of the long, rectangular window with its drop to the back garden.
Sarah. Ben. Amy.
They all sat together, huddled against each other as Dan Albright — different now with his shaven head, scarred face and white eye patch — and Stefan Steinmeier — to Cole unchanged physically, but unknown now to him psychologically — aimed their handguns at them, safety catches off, triggers already depressed half way.
Sarah looked in control at least, and although she looked like she’d been badly beaten, the fire hadn’t gone out of her eyes, the fight hadn’t yet left her, and Cole’s heart swelled for a moment. But then he saw Ben and Amy, terrified, frightened beyond their young ability to comprehend.
Even when they saw their daddy, the relief in their eyes was only fleeting, seemingly already resigned to a fate described to them by the two hateful men who towered above them, guns raised.
‘Mark Cole,’ Albright said, smile wide, ‘at last we meet.’
‘Let them go,’ Cole demanded, his voice even.
Albright laughed. ‘Those aren’t our orders, I’m afraid.’
‘I don’t give a shit about your orders. Let them go. Now.’
There was an air of menace in the room that could be felt on a physical level, a rising tension that begged for release.
Cole looked Stefan in the eye. ‘Why?’ he asked.
Steinmeier laughed. ‘Why? You ask me why?’ He laughed again, then looked serious. ‘Money, of course. Oh, I know it’s something you don’t have to worry about. You make a million dollars a job, eh, and yet you never offered to help me, offer me work, anything! You know what my police pension is? You wouldn’t wipe your ass with it! Do you know how much a good school costs? University? For three children? A lot more than what I have, my friend. And so maybe I wouldn’t have done it for a hundred thousand, probably not even for a million. But ten million dollars?’ Steinmeier smiled at Cole. ‘You would have to kill ten people for that. I’m only going to have to kill the four of you.’
Cole felt the rage within him build, but controlled it. They had not killed his family yet, and so must have had a reason for keeping them alive, and Cole knew there was room for negotiation. But what did they want?
‘You’re probably thinking of how to negotiate this,’ Albright said cheerfully. ‘The trouble is, there is no way. Mr Hansard wanted your family kept alive so that you could watch them die.’ Albright grinned. ‘Punishment for destroying his plans, he said.’
Cole didn’t know whether to believe this, but started to react anyway, submachine gun tracking to Albright’s head; and then the unthinkable happened — right in front of him, right before his eyes, before he could react, Steinmeier raised his handgun to little Ben’s head and pulled the trigger, even as Albright pulled the barrel of his own pistol in line with Sarah’s forehead, and then two shots rang out, and Mark Cole’s wife and son were killed, their lifeless bodies slumping to the floor, blood pooling from their shattered skulls.
Rooted to the spot, Cole watched as Amy shrieked and started running towards him. Steinmeier reached out to stop her, but Albright restrained him, allowing her to run on.
‘Daddy!’ she cried as she ran, ‘Daddy, Daddy, Daddy — ’
She reached him finally, running to hug him, and then Cole saw a muzzle flash as Albright shot her from behind.
Amy’s body collapsed into his arms, and he turned around immediately, instinctively covering her body with his even as both men opened fire with their handguns, bullets peppering Cole’s back as he tucked his head in out of the way.
Cole felt the impact of the 9mm rounds hit him hard through the Kevlar vest, his whole body shuddering as they emptied their magazines into him.
Cole had tears in his eyes, mixed with the blood of his daughter, as he heard the guns click empty on the other side of the room.
And then he was on his feet and charging, an enraged figure of pure hate, unbridled bloodlust across his face. Both men were trying to reload, and he got to Stefan first, his right hand chopping down on the man’s right forearm, breaking the bone in two and causing the gun to drop to the floor.
As Steinmeier recoiled, grunting in pain, Cole steamrollered past him to Albright, just as the half-blind agent raised his reloaded gun to fire.
Cole grabbed the man’s gun hand and pushed it upwards, a round firing up into the ceiling as Albright pressed the trigger, and then Cole pulled down sharply, twisting the right wrist and forcing the pistol to go spinning out towards the far wall.
Cole’s knee rose viciously straight up into Albright’s groin, and the scarred agent squealed in pain. Cole moved in to deliver a nerve strike to the neck, but then Steinmeier’s huge, bear-like arms were around him, crushing his shoulders and constricting his chest.
Cole immediately thrust his head backwards, and he heard the muffled yelp of Steinmeier as his nose was broken. Still in the bear hug, Cole saw Albright coming back for him and reared back, kicking both feet straight into the agent’s chest, sending him staggering back towards the window.
Cole stamped down on Steinmeier’s foot, then sent his elbow backwards sharply into the big man’s ribs, rewarded by a satisfying crack as some of them broke with the impact.