Trouble in Paradise by Eric Walters Page B

looked as though he was trying to peer through a window. Was that where the old man had gone? Was he in that building?
    Almost in answer to my questions, the door opened and the old man appeared. He walked slowly, and he no longer carried the satchel. Had he left it in the building? What if he wanted to come back this way? We were right in the alley—there was no way he could pass without seeing us.
    “Hands up!” yelled a voice.
    Suddenly men rushed out of that building and ran across the courtyard, flashlights flaring, the beams converging onthe man we’d been following who was hiding by the side of the building. With one hand he shielded his eyes—and a gun was in his other hand! There was a flash from the gun and a shot rang out … and then there was gunfire from everywhere. The man was hit repeatedly and sprawled forward, collapsing to the ground, the whole show captured in the beams of the flashlights!

CHAPTER EIGHT
    I GASPED and went weak in the knees. My legs almost buckled under me. Jack grabbed my arm to steady me, and then I staggered forward as he half-dragged me down the alley. We slipped into the darkness, Jack still holding on to me and—
    “Stop right there!” a voice called out. “You in the alley, stop! Now!”
    I hesitated slightly but Jack’s strong hand kept pulling me forward, and then beams of light came bouncing up the alleyway, hitting the walls and ground!
    “Run!” Jack screamed. I didn’t need any encouragement. I was keeping up with him, step for step and— Lights appeared at the end of the alley. We skidded to a stop. Two dark figures holding flashlights were blocking our way out! The beams of their lights came toward us. Behind us were loud footsteps, echoing off the walls, filling my ears. We were trapped!
    “Stay where you are. Hands up, or we’ll shoot!” shouted a voice from behind.
    I started to raise my hands but Jack grabbed me by the arm and nearly pulled me off my feet. “This way!”
    I stumbled forward and a bullet whizzed past our heads! I jumped in shock and then staggered sideways, falling to my knees, but Jack’s grip hauled me back to my feet and we almost fell into a little walkway running off the alley. Jack was still dragging me along as we ran down the passage.
    “In here,” Jack said, and we tripped through a doorway, landing on the wooden floor.
    “Go over there,” Jack whispered. “Hide in the corner.”
    I crawled until I banged into a wall, then turned. Jack had run to a door at the other side of the building. He threw it open. He was leaving me! Wait, he couldn’t leave me here … for them! Then he ran back across the room and practically threw himself on top of me, pinning me to the ground. I let out a tiny gasp.
    “Shut up!” he whispered. “Not a sound.”
    No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the door we’d entered through was kicked in with a thunderous smash and the sound of splintering wood. Flashlight beams preceded the men—two, then another and another and another—and they were all holding guns.
    “They’ve gone out this way!” one of the men screamed.
    The men rushed to the other door, beams of light bouncing and their bodies bumping together as they scrambled out.
    That was why Jack had opened the door! That was genius!
    “Jack, that was—”
    He put a hand over my mouth. So much for my compliments.
    Two more flashlight beams entered through the first door, then another. One of the beams played around the room, searching. If it fell on us, we’d be caught.
    “The door. They’ve all gone that way!”
    Three more lights followed by three more men went out the second door, leaving us alone again.
    “We have to get out of here,” Jack said. He started to get up, but I held him back.
    “No. We have to stay still. They didn’t see us.”
    “They didn’t see us the first time, but when they can’t find us out there, they’ll double back and really search.”
    Unfortunately, what he said made sense. They