Chapter Nine

Susan Oliver watched the big man's body crumple to the floor, then hurried up the hall toward the front of the house, hoping McPherson would be all right. Ian had shown her courtesy and respect and she had no desire to kill him. Had she a contract, of course, that would have been a different story. But she just needed him out of the way long enough for her to attend to business.

Now what could she do about Ned? No way she could afford to let him talk to the police. He had to die, and quickly. But how? And what about Lara? Should she kill her or not?

Reaching the front hall, she saw the bodies of Simon and Ned lying on the floor in the semi-darkness. A light was on in Lara's office.

Just as she reached Ned's body, she heard a low groan escape from his lips. He stirred and she saw that he was trying to get up. Quickly she drew her pistol again and knelt beside him, gasping at the sudden stab of pain in her wounded side. A swift blow followed and Ned Lewis collapsed at her feet.

So far, so good. She looked around quickly and saw the Uzi lying a few meters away. That gave her an idea. Quickly she picked up Ned and dragged him near the entrance to Lara's office, forcing herself to ignore the protests from her body. Time enough to tend the wound later.

Pausing next to the door, she listened, hearing the sound of running water from within. Satisfied, she returned to pick up the Uzi.

* * * * *

Lara had been startled, but grateful when the lights had come back on. Looking around, it was clear the office would definitely need to be redone. She'd have Ian call a contractor tomorrow.

Getting to her feet, she unbuckled her guns and set the belt on the desk. The weapons would require cleaning before she could hang them back on the wall. Funny, she had kept the Colt revolvers as a memento of her trip to Silverado; she had never expected to use them in her own defense.

Her office had a bathroom set into the back wall and she stepped inside. She took one look in the mirror and gaped in surprise at what she saw. Her face with streaked with her own blood and her hair was a tangled, sticky mess. To make worse, the blue nightgown, open at the front to begin with, was now rippped badly at one shoulder, allowing a considerable view of what lay underneath. No wonder Ian had been looking at her.

She paused, remembered his reaction when he first saw her at the door. The relief in his voice was obvious and the fierce way he had hugged her was a real surprise for the normally restrained former soldier. Her face colored a bit when she remembered how good it felt to have his arms around her. In spite of his age, Ian was a handsome man. His hair was still dark and there wasn't an ouch of flab on him anywhere. In her travels she'd met a lot men, and there weren't many more attractive than Ian McPherson.

And what about that 'adequate' remark of his? Was that what he really thought? That she was 'adequate?' She gritted her teeth, remembering the sly grin on his face. She'd make him eat those words. Soon.

Turning on the water, she quickly scrubbed her face the best she could. At least she could get that part clean. The cut on her head would probably require stitches.

With her face now shiny clean, she blotted her face with a towel. Then she jumped right out of her skin at the sudden crash of gunfire behind her.

Her hands dropped for her guns, but touched only the nightgown, Lara Croft suddenly realizing that she was unarmed. Again.

"Miss Croft?" called a feminine voice from out in the hall.

"Susan! Is that you?" Relief flooded through her.

"Yes, ma'am. You better come take a look."

Lara rounded the corner and stopped abruptly in the doorway. In front off her on the floor was Ned Lewis, an Uzi in his hand and a pair of closely spaced bullet holes in his back. Glancing up in wonder, Lara received a second shock at the slender figure in the black jumpsuit, a pistol in each hand.

"I…I was hiding in the kitchen when the lights came on," Susan said, her voice shaky. "I was coming to find you when I saw this man about to enter your office." She gestured at the Uzi. "I was afraid he was going to shoot you, Miss Lara, so I…I shot him." Embarrassed, she looked down at the floor and returned the pistols to her belt.

Lara crossed to her and put her arm around the older woman's shoulders. "Easy, Susan. It's all right. I would have done the same."

Susan looked up shyly. "I don't know what happened, I was about to go to bed when I heard all the shooting. I remembering seeing your guns downstairs, Miss Croft, and I just knew I had to help. I…uh…hope it was all right."

"All right?" Lara chided her gently. "Of course it was all right, Susan. Did you really shoot Ned and two of his men all by yourself?"

Susan looked down again. "Uh…it was three, Miss Croft. One of them tried to corner me in the freezer, too. I…I guess I got shot."

Lara glanced down and noticed the large wet spot on Susan's jumpsuit. "You're hurt! Why didn't you say so?"

"I…I feel kind ashamed. I told him to drop his gun, but he shot me instead."

Lara guided her into the office. "Come with me, Susan. Let's see how bad you're hurt."

Once they reached the bathroom, Susan unbuckled her guns, set the belt on the floor, and unzipped the jumpsuit. After removing the red-soaked cloth, Lara was glad to find the wound was not as bad as she had feared. She washed the ragged tear as best she could and applied a fresh piece of cloth.

"Ian's called the authorities," she told Susan. "We should have some help here soon."

Susan zipped up the jumpsuit again. "I'm just glad you weren't hurt, Miss Croft. I remembered that ghastly Christmas present you got. I was afraid something like this might happen. I'm glad you insisted that I learn to shoot."

Lara led the way back to the main hallway. "I am too, Susan." She looked at the second body lying nearby. The man was a mess, with more pairs of closely-spaced bullet holes. A small pool of dark liquid surrounded the body.

She glanced up at Susan in wonder. "You did this, Susan?"

Susan's hand when to her mouth. "I…I just don't know what happened, Miss Croft. The man shot me and I fired back. He kept trying to bring up his gun and I shot him again."

Lara looked back at the body and shook her head. The man had been shot six times. Three pairs of bullet holes, exactly like the one's in Ned's back. It was remarkable shooting.

"This is the man that shot you, Susan?" Lara glanced up. "I thought you said it was a man in the freezer."

For an instant there was look of surprise on Susan's face, which quickly gave way to a look of embarrassment. "Oh…uh…no, Miss Croft. What I meant was that the other man tried to corner me in freezer and I shot him. But this man is the one who shot me."

Lara searched Susan's face. Something wasn't quite right. "Was that before or after the man in the freezer?"

"Well, uh…" Susan stammered. "It was after."

'Hmmm," Lara replied, turning toward the kitchen. "Let's take a look in the freezer. Maybe I know the man."

Susan didn't move. "Uh…I…I don't want to go back in there, Miss Croft. I…I'm afraid. Can't we just wait for the police?"

"I want to see if I know the man, Susan. If so, it might provide a clue who sent him."

"Sent him?"

"Sure. Our villain over there," she pointed to the other man lying nearby, "once told me that he never works without a contract. So, my guess is that someone gave him a contract. I'm going to find out who it was."

With Susan following reluctantly, Lara led the way toward the kitchen. A moment later she pulled open the heavy freezer door and looked inside. A man lay there and when Lara knelt beside him, she was disappointed to find he was a stranger. But what drew her attention were yet another pair of bullet holes, just as closely spaced as before, in the man's back. Strange, each of the men had been shot exactly the same way, in the back.

And there was one other thing strange, too. "Susan, you said this man tried to corner you?"

"Yes, ma'am," Susan replied, her voice so soft that Lara could hardly hear it.

Lara looked up at her. "Then why is he shot in the back?"

Again there was that look of shock. Susan covered her face with her hands and shook her head. "I don't know, Miss Lara. I….I…." She turned and left the freezer.

Lara got to her slowly. Something was definitely wrong. Susan was really upset. Why? She had done quite well, but now she was coming apart.

After closing the freezer door, Lara walked back to the main hall, trying to think things through. Susan's story didn't make any sense. She'd said she was getting ready for bed when she heard the gunfire. Then she'd gone to the range to get the pistols.

Lara's mind clicked into high gear at that inconsistency. Having vaulted over the railings, it couldn't have taken more than twenty seconds to reach the steps going downstairs. Susan couldn't possibly have run down to the range in pitch dark, retrieved the guns and made it back upstairs in that amount of time.

So she must have…all kinds of alarm bells suddenly when off in Lara's mind. What was going on? Why wasn't Susan telling the truth?

As Lara entered the front hallway, she saw the dark-haired woman kneeling next to Ned's body. And then Lara noticed that Susan's jumpsuit was identical to those worn by the men. And that must mean…

"Susan, have you ever seen that man before?" she asked, uncomfortably aware that she was unarmed.

"Yes, Lara, I have." The whinny voice was gone, replaced by steel. Susan turned to face her and Lara saw Ned's Uzi in her hand. "You just couldn't leave it alone, could you?" Susan got to her feet, keeping the weapon pointed at Lara's stomach. "You just had to keeping picking at it. I wasn't going to kill you, Croft, but now you leave me no choice."

Where was Ian? If she could stall Susan, he would come back. "Why are you doing this? I thought we were friends. I thought you enjoyed working here."

"Friends?" Susan sneered. "Not bloody likely, Croft. I came her to kill you, pure and simple. Your former assistant had a convenient 'auto accident.' So did the woman the agency sent to take her place. I've been ahead of you every step of the way."

"If you came to kill me, then what's Ned doing here?"

Susan shrugged. "He tried to force his way into the deal. Tried to blackmail Ham into giving him the contract."

Lara's eyebrows shot up. "Ham? Hamilton Southby?" The man's nickname was well known, but never spoken in his presence.

Susan nodded. "Correct. Seems he hasn't forgive you for stealing the scroll from him."

Lara glanced toward the ballroom. Where was Ian? "I didn't steal it from him. The museum did all the groundwork, all the research. Southby tried to snatch it, but he didn't succeed. His men were careless."

"Makes no difference to me, Croft." Susan replied. "And if you're waiting for Ian to come to your rescue you can forget it. He's not coming."

Lara's heart jumped up in her throat. "What have you done to him?" She started for Susan. If Ian was hurt…

Susan brought up the gun. "That's far enough, Croft. Don't worry about him. Worry about yourself. The police will be here soon enough. They'll find you dead here on the floor and an autopsy will show you were killed by Ned's gun while bravely trying to defend your home. It should make good reading in the newspapers. The tabloids will have a field day over Lara Croft being killed in her own home."

"I'm not dead just yet."

"Time to take care of that detail right now." Susan's expression was as cold as ice.

"Oh, I think not, Miss Susan," said a familiar voice.

Lara's head snapped around to see Jeeves on the steps right above her, an old shotgun pointed in Susan's direction.

"Drop the weapon, Miss Susan," he declared forcefully. "Or I will be forced to 'blow you away' as the young people like to put it."

Susan glanced in his direction, but her gaze returned to Lara. "This is not your fight, old man. Put the gun down or I'll kill you before you can get off a shot."

"It is my fight when you come into my employer's home and try to kill her. Now, do as I say and drop the gun…or I will be forced to shoot."

Lara could hear the determination in Jeeve's voice. So could Susan.

"All right, old man," she said. "You win. See? I'm going to set this gun down right here and step away from it."

She knelt and placed the Uzi on floor with her left hand, while her right hand…the one away from Jeeves…closed around the butt of the Beretta automatic stuffed in her boot.

Go to Chapter Ten