“You can’t enter,” he said in heavily accented English. “Sie können hier nicht reinkommen.” “I will only be a minute,” I said. “But sir, it’s not safe. Sie sind in Gefahr. Achtung!” “I’ll be right back,” I said, pushing past him. “Sir!” he called after me. “Sir!” I turned a corner and raced up the stairs. There were still no police here, only firemen. Even so, I switched my gun from the back of my pants to the large pocket of the robe. It was heavy and made the bathrobe sag. I moved quietly and swiftly up the steps until I reached the fourth floor. We had done so many runs up the mountains at Mary’s ranch that I wasn’t even winded when I got to the right door. I knew the room was down the hall about forty yards. I didn’t relish seeing Raakel again. Her face was stained into my memory now too. Her brains and blood were sprayed across the blankets. I would never be able to unsee that. I could see the door. It wasn’t closed all the way, but there were no firefighters, no crime-scene tape.
