No Exit by Taylor Adams 2

Sandi was in hysterics. She cried out again, a hyena
scream, another big glob of shiny snot hanging from her chin.
Lars thrust the Beretta’s muzzle into her face, and she
promptly shut up.
“Change of plan,” Ashley said, tapping Lars’s shoulder,
and the fluorescent lights shuddered above him. “See, you and
me, baby brother, we’ve already carpet-bombed this little
building with forensic evidence, and we don’t have nearly
enough bleach, or time, to scrub everything down. So we’re
going to have to get creative, if you catch my drift.”
Lars nodded once. Spy Code message received.
Ashley continued, stepping over a spreading puddle of
Ed’s blood. “And as for Darby and—”
Wait.
He realized something.
“Wait, wait …” He grabbed Sandi by the elbow, snapping
his fingers in her face. “Hey. Look at me. You said … you
trapped Darby and Jaybird in the restroom, right? The men’s
restroom?”
She sniffled, looking up at him with bloodshot eyes, and
nodded.
No.
Lars looked at him, too, not getting it. But Ashley did.
No, no, no—
He threw Sandi to the floor, stomping past her, past Ed,
toward the restrooms, and he elbowed the MEN door open to
see … an empty room. Snowflakes wafting in through the
triangular window.
Lars watched.
Ashley Garver stepped back out and slammed the door
violently. “I’m so sick of that fucking window—”
* * *