Adriana gripped the pistol with both hands and executed a quick dive across the opening to the other side of the corridor. As expected, the other woman fired again, this time using only two of her remaining three shots. Why she didn’t use the last one, Adriana didn’t know, but she doubted the maneuver would work to draw out the final bullet. She’d have to attack.
She crouched against the wall and waited for ten seconds, which seemed like ten hours, before she noticed a dented tomato sauce can sitting next to a garbage bin. An idea popped into her head, and she picked up the object with her right hand. The distance from the opening to the edge of the water was about thirty feet. Forty at most. From that distance, her accuracy with the knife would be good enough, but if the handle struck, it would be wasted. The sauce can, however, had some weight to it and could at least buy her an extra few seconds to cover the distance and maybe throw off the other woman’s aim.
Gripping her gun in one hand and the can in the other, Adriana stood, sliding her back against the smooth brick. She took a deep breath and leaped out of her spot. The blonde tracked her with her pistol, taking careful aim as Adriana planted her left foot and launched at the far wall. The Spaniard jumped hard and extended her right foot as she lifted off the ground, careful to keep the knee bent to absorb the impact.
Her foot struck the wall,and she reared back her arm. An instant later, she flung the can at her target and pushed off the wall in the other direction. The blonde’s gun barrel popped, but the bullet whizzed by Adriana’s right leg into the brick.
Adriana landed on the ground with her left foot and rolled to a crouching stop just ten feet away from her prey. Both hands clutched her gun and kept it trained on the woman’s heaving chest.
“Put your weapon down,” she ordered in English first.
The blonde resisted, keeping her pistol aimed at Adriana’s head. “Not a chance. You put yours down.”
Adriana replied with one shake of the head. “You are out of bullets. I still have all of mine, and I have no problem using them on you.”
“You sound pretty confident.”
“If you had more, you would have fired them by now. So like I said, drop the weapon.”
Checkmate.
The blonde sighed, frustrated and angry. She loosened her grip on the gun and let it drop to the ground where it clacked on the hard stone. She slowly raised her hands and waited for a second before speaking again. “You know, I don’t see why you and I can’t just—”
“Not gonna happen.” Adriana cut her off. “Now turn around, and get on your knees.”
“So what? You’re just going to execute me here in broad daylight? I don’t think so. Besides, that thing will bring down every Amsterdam cop within ten blocks of here.”
She was underestimating the power of the many buildings to muffle the sound of gunfire, but she wasn’t wrong. And the people in the crowded park across the way wouldn’t be able to ignore it.
“Get on your knees,” Adriana commanded. “I don’t want to say it again.”
“Fine,” the blonde answered and slowly lowered down to both knees. “Now what?”
Adriana hadn’t thought that far ahead. She needed something to tie the woman’s hands and feet, but she didn’t see anything in the alley. The last thing she needed was to let the blonde know she didn’t know what to do next. “Now turn around, and face the canal.”
The captive’s eyes flared, but she did as told and wiggled around so she was facing the other direction. Beyond the canal, a quiet street wrapped around a small park with strategically placed trees and benches. Young people sat around on blankets, drinking cans of beer, nibbling on picnic snacks, and laughing.
Adriana stepped close, keeping her gun aimed at the back of the other woman’s head. “What is your name?”
The blonde laughed. “Really? You have a thing for knowing the names of the people you kill? Odd practice for a thief.”
“You know nothing about me.”
“And you obviously know nothing about me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have to ask, ghost.”
Adriana wondered about the nickname but said nothing about it. She was more curious about her prisoner. “I know that you’re called the Chameleon, but you have many aliases.”
“Pick one of those. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“You’re American.”
“So?” The blonde risked a sideways glance.
“Eyes forward, Allyson.”
Allyson laughed. “How did you come to settle on that one?”
“It sounds American enough.”
“Like I said, I don’t care what you call me. Just kill me, and get it over with. Good luck with getting out of here, though. You’ll be hemmed in like a stray goat.”
Adriana rapidly scanned her surroundings but couldn’t find even a shred of string, much less rope or cord to use in binding her prisoner. That left only one solution. She’d have to knock the other woman out and leave her here. Adriana was no murderer. Allyson was right about that. Most thieves weren’t killers. They steered clear of that whenever possible. While Adriana had killed before, and she suspected Allyson had as well, executing an unarmed human being wasn’t her style. She’d hit her on the back of the head and leave her unconscious. Whatever happened after that was up to Allyson and the city of Amsterdam.
She raised the butt of her gun and was about to strike when a male voice shouted from the other side of the canal. The man was wearing the standard navy blue pants and white, button-up shirt of the Amsterdam police. He’d yelled for her to halt in Dutch, which essentially exhausted her ability to understand the language.
“Don’t move!” he repeated in English. He held a Walther P99Q in both hands, pointed straight at Adriana.
From that distance, she doubted his accuracy with the weapon but wasn’t willing to take the risk. “Okay,” she said. “I’m putting it down.”
She raised the weapon a few inches and then extended the hand slowly away from her body. Her fingers let go of the grip, and the gun dropped to the ground near her feet.
Allyson took advantage of the moment, kicked her right leg out behind her, and then swept it around. Her calf struck Adriana’s heels and sent her toppling over. In the same movement, Allyson rolled to the pistol and scooped it up. She brought it up and fired off five quick shots at the stunned policeman, catching him in the leg with one round. He dropped to the ground, clutching the wound before he landed.
Adriana regained her footing and pumped her legs hard, driving at Allyson,who was still facing the canal. She spun around,but it was a second too late as Adriana plowed her shoulder into the other woman’s ribcage and drove her to the stone. The landing jarred Allyson momentarily, and Adriana used the window to straddle her, squeezing her opponent’s abdomen with her knees. She raised her fist and smashed her knuckles against Allyson’s cheek and then raised the other hand to repeat the assault.
The first blow hurt, but it brought Allyson’s senses back and she raised both arms to block the second punch. The deflection caused Adriana to lose her balance, and Allyson used that momentum to kick up her legs and throw Adriana forward, sending her rolling head over heels.
Allyson struggled to get up for a second, still reeling from the shoulder to the ribs and the sudden impact with the street. She forced herself through the pain and managed to stagger over to the canal’s edge. A man was shouting amid a woman’s screams across the waterway. Sirens blared in the distance, echoing through the canyon of old Dutch dwellings. Either the cop or a bystander had called for help. Didn’t matter which. Backup would be there soon, and that was something Adriana didn’t want to deal with.
Fueled by anger, adrenaline, and pain, Allyson stepped close. Adriana jabbed with her left,but the blonde grabbed her wrist and pulled her close, smashing her other fist into Adriana’s jaw. She brought her knee up toward the Spaniard’s abdomen, but Adriana recovered fast enough to grab it with her free hand and flip Allyson backward. Instead of hurting her, Allyson deftly completed the somersault and landed on her feet. The next second, she took two steps and jumped through the air, aiming to strike her target in the chest with the sole of her shoe. Adriana saw the attack coming and stepped aside in the nick of time as Allyson flew by. The blonde realized she’d overcommitted to the jump and lowered her feet in a futile attempt to land and stop before going over the edge. It was too late though, and she barely dragged her toes before toppling into the water with a splash.