Page 68 of The Lazarus Protocol

“You, too. Though, I have no idea who you are.”

Steph turned away from Adam and reached the opening to the stairs, ducking in to follow Ice. Adam headed down the stairs after her and heard Kai behind him. The stairs were pine wood and had been crudely hammered together, descending steeply down four stories and leaving the narrow hall empty except for the shadows above them as they went down.

Had to be a hall inside the exterior wall on the side of the building. Probably a long hallway leading to apartment doors or the elevator, then a vacant space between that and the apartments themselves. With views of the street or the river behind the building, he doubted anyone realized there was a vacant space all along this side of the building. Or that it had likely been here for a hundred years.

Adam reached the bottom of the stairs and almost collided with Steph in the dark.

“Got it.” Ice twisted the handle and got the door open, swinging it wide into the mad scramble of people running. He ducked out into the crowd, and the rest of them followed.

Adam spotted a drone up in the air to their right, almost at the level of the fourth floor.

As they rushed out, the drone rotated to face them, bringing the barrels to bear on their group. With far too many people nearby to allow it to fire.

“Target practice!” Adam pointed Ice’s pistol at the drone.

Ice fired before him. Steph actually hit the drone.

He got a couple of shots to impact the body, and it started to drop. The others finished it off, and the drone crashed to the cobblestone between buildings.

Two police officers rushed around the corner.

“Anyone speak Swiss?”

Steph twisted to Adam. “It’s a collection of German dialects that vary by region. No one speaks Swiss except the Swiss. They’ll know we aren’t from here!”

Another drone flew around the building.

An older woman stumbled and fell. Ice helped her up so she could continue hurrying to the back of the building.

Two uniformed cops yelled, racing their way.

“Time to go.” Adam motioned them left toward the river. “Hustle.”

In his ear Marina said, “Go to the riverfront side of the building and turn south. In half a mile you’ll find a couple of boats moored in the water.”

“Copy.” Adam glanced around to place the sun and get his bearings, then led them through the crowd and south along the riverfront.

The buzz of a drone got louder behind him. He expected gunshots, but they didn’t come. Instead, the drone followed. Flying low over the crowd.

“We need to shoot that thing.”

“It’s herding us.” She gasped a breath, and he wondered if her feet were hurting.

“Ready, break,” Adam said. “Steph, stay with me.”

Her hand slid into his and he clasped it, glad she was on board and sticking with him. There was no time to explain the principles of the plan. Ice and Kai replied back that they copied. Adam waited until they were at the street between the next buildings and said, “Break.”

Ice and Kai dashed off to the right, racing toward the road that ran parallel to the river. They would likely break off again and go in separate directions.

Marina said, “Ice, double back and get one of those drones. Kai, the cars are clear.”

“Is my best option still the boat?” Adam kept his head on a swivel.

Steph said, “We’ll be exposed.”

“If we draw out a drone on the water, away from people, we can take it out.”

Whether she agreed or not, she kept her mouth shut.