Cazzo
While everyone else was strategizing on how to make the Night Kings pay painfully and slowly, I was just itching to get my hands on them and slice them from ear to fucking ear. But I wanted Vanessa more than anything right now. So, I didn’t care if they died slow, painful deaths. I just wanted to wipe out as many of those fuckers as possible. I wanted them to know that you didn’t fuck with Reed Security and I wanted to be sure that there wasn’t another fucking person on the face of the planet that suffered because of them. As long as they were dead, I would sleep peacefully at night.
We had set them up perfectly, scared them all into gathering in one place. We had set the explosives hours earlier and now we were waiting for them all to arrive. They were running scared and they should be. They just didn’t realize they were running right where we wanted them.
“Looks like that’s all of them by my head count,” Burg said over coms.
“You sure you don’t want to press the button on this one?” Sinner asked.
“I don’t give a fuck who presses the button as long as they all burn in hell,” I grumbled.
“Fuck me, this is gonna be fun,” Sinner’s happy voice rang through the line. Sinner was always the fun one to be around. Never had I met a man who had more fun killing people than that man. Not that he liked to kill people, but he liked to play with new toys. So, if he wanted the honors, he could have it. I just wanted to watch the show.
“Alright, ladies and gentlemen,” Sinner said in an announcer’s voice. “Take your seats. The show will start in five, four, three, two, one, mark.”
I watched through my binoculars, but nothing happened. “Sinner, what the fuck? When you say mark, the building is supposed to explode.”
“I pressed the fucking button. I don’t know what happened,” he said in confusion.
“Did you press the right button?” Burg asked.
“Of course I did. What kind of moron do you think I-”
Bright flames burst into the sky as the building was ripped apart from the force of the explosives. The sound was deafening and there would most likely be cops and firemen crawling all over here within minutes.
“Our job’s done. Let’s hit the road.” I could hear Burg’s breath huffing through the mic, telling me he was already heading to the truck. I double timed it back and met up with Sinner and Burg, hopping in the van and taking off just as we heard the sirens in the distance.
“What happened?” Burg asked Sinner.
“Uh, well, you see there was this one button that was red and then the other was black.”
“You pressed the wrong fucking button.”
“Well, wouldn’t you think the red button would stand for fire? I mean, come on, red means danger.”
“Red also means stop,” I informed him.
“Whatever, the job’s done, the bad guys are dead, and now we can get back to our fucking lives,” Sinner grumbled.
“It’s a shame we didn’t get to personally take them all out,” Burg sighed. “I gotta say, I would have loved to have strangled every last fucking one of them.”
“I just want to get home to Vanessa,” I said grimly. “I don’t want to be in a fucking war where I have to worry about her being hurt. I’ve had enough of that for one lifetime.”
“Have you talked to her?” Burg asked.
I nodded, but didn’t elaborate. I didn’t want to go into details about how torn up I was every time I heard the sadness in her voice. I couldn’t make that pain go away and I couldn’t make her forget that she might still have her baby if it weren’t for the assholes that took her from our home. It would take her awhile to get past all that and for us to move on with our lives.
“I’m fucking glad that Meghan wasn’t around for all this. I was so pissed when she told me she was going on vacation with her mom for a couple of weeks. It was the best fucking thing she ever did.”
“I’m pretty sure that if Cara had been taken with Maggie, Kate, and Vanessa, that she would be catatonic by now,” Sinner said. “I don’t think she would have survived being taken again. I hate that I’m not there for her now. Alec told me that she’s been having panic attacks a lot since they’ve been at the safe house. She doesn’t have her medicine with her.”
“She has Kate with her. I’m sure Kate is doing everything she can to help her out,” I tried to reassure him. Although, I wasn’t sure how Kate was doing, so it was very possible that Kate was in just as bad shape. I hoped that wasn’t true though.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Chris
“I JUST HEARD from Sebastian,” Cash said as he walked in the room. We were holed up in the safe house, planning our last attack against Slasher. Once he was killed, it would all be over. “They finished off the Night Kings. They’re headed back to the safe house now.”
“They got away clean?” I asked.
“Not a trace left behind. We need to do the same. Let’s finish this so we can all get back to our lives.”
“The property is pretty isolated,” Jerrod Lockhart said, pointing to the map where we would be headed. His team was going in with us on this one. Ed Markinson, Brock Patton, and Scottie Thacker made up the four man team and would give us six men in total with Cash and I. It should be a pretty simple job. “It looks like he headed out there alone. We scoped out the property and there are two issues. First is the river. If we do this right, he won’t be able to get to the river. Second, the house is built into the side of a hill. We’ll have to position on person on top of the hill, but we have no idea if there’s an escape built into the hill. With him being a drug runner, I would bet that he chose that house specifically because of what it could offer for hiding. We scoped out the property for an escape hatch, but if there is one, it’s hidden well.”
“Alright, Ed, you’ll take the hilltop. Shout out any movements as you see them. Brock, you’ll cover the east side of the house. Scottie, you’ve got the west side,” Cash said, pointing at the map. “Jerrod, you’ll cover the river. Chris and I will take the front of the house. We’ll move out at dark. Gear up.”
✯✯✯✯✯
“We’ve got movement inside. He’s headed toward the southwest corner of the house,” Brock said over coms.
“Shit. He’s headed for the hill. Any chance he knows we’re here?” I asked.
“Anything’s possible. We came in clean. Don’t know how it would have happened, but I’m sure he’s prepared for a lot of shit as a drug runner,” Cash said next to me.
“Then let’s go take him out before he has a chance to escape,” I grumbled.
I needed to get this fucker. He was mine and everyone knew it. It was the reason that I came here with Cash’s team instead of heading to Pittsburgh with the rest of Reed Security.
“Moving in,” Cash said beside me as we crept through the darkness. He motioned for me to approach the east window as he looked in through the west. It was difficult to see in the dark, but one thing was very clear. Slasher knew that we were coming and he was fucking prepared. There were small boxes on the support beams of the house with wires leading out of them to the next box.
“Move out!” Cash shouted as we turned and ran from the house. Within seconds, the house exploded, sending pieces of the house flying into the night. Cash and I were thrown from the force of the explosion and when I landed, covering my head, I could see Ed being thrown from the hilltop, rolling down the side.
“Anyone hurt?” I could hear Jerrod’s ragged breathing as he ran toward us. He had been stationed at the river and was farthest from the blast.
“Just a bruised ego,” Scottie grumbled over the mic.
“All good here,” Brock answered.
“Fuckers coming out of the side of the hill,” Ed said forcefully. “Damn, I think I fucked up my ankle. He’s headed for the river.”
I was on my feet and running before I could think twice. The plan was simple. Kill. I had to finish this. There was nothing I wanted more than to take out that fucker. I pushe
d myself faster and faster as I ran across the property. I could see him in the distance running for a small boat. The sound of my own breath in my ears was accompanied by the other men that were running behind me.
He was in the boat now, starting the engine. It was now or never. I pulled my weapon from my leg holster and dropped to one knee, lining up my sights. “Come on, come on,” I whispered as he moved around. When he stood straight, I unloaded my clip into him. His body jerked and he fell from the boat into the water. Standing, I ran for the boat, hoping to see his body floating in the water. It was too dark to see anything, but one thing was clear, he was nowhere to be seen.
“Fuck!” I yelled as I flung my cowboy hat to the ground and ran my fingers through my hair. “He’s fucking gone,” I said as Cash ran up beside me.
“You got him. For all we know, he’s fucking drowning as we speak.”
“That’s not fucking good enough. I need to know that he’s dead.”
“We can’t stick around for long. That explosion is going to send at least a few departments out here. We can’t be here when they arrive.”
I swiped my cowboy hat off the ground and smashed it onto my head. “I know,” I grumbled. The rest of the guys joined us as we watched the water for any sign of Slasher emerging.
Brock held up a device and wiggled it in front of me. “This is how he knew we were coming. He probably saw us scoping out the property yesterday.”
“What is it?”
“Trophy Cam. Hunters use these all the time. It signals a phone whenever it takes a picture. He would have pictures from yesterday and we didn’t see them because they’re made to blend in with the trees.”
“Fuck. That’s why he was so prepared. He fucking knew we would be coming for him and he was trying to kill us off in the process.”
Sirens could be heard in the distance and I sighed.
“We have to go. Sorry, Chris, but we can’t wait any longer. We’ll reach out to our contacts and find out if any bodies wash up.”
He placed a hand on my shoulder in consolation, but it did little to make me feel better. How would Ali ever feel safe not knowing if Slasher was still out there? We all double timed it back to the trucks and tore out of there before we could be spotted. After packing up our shit and closing up the safe house, we hit the road for the long drive back to Iowa.
✯✯✯✯✯
Seeing Ali sleeping in bed was the most beautiful sight I had seen in a long time. It was all over. In the morning, we would be heading home and starting our lives all over again. Only this time, we would be together and things would be fucking perfect. I slipped into bed beside her and pulled her in close. God, I was hard just thinking about being next to her. I wanted her so bad.
“Hey,” she said sleepily, rolling over and snuggling into my chest. “Is it all done?”
“Yeah, baby. It’s all done.” I kissed her on the head and ignored the fact that I was lying to her. Until I knew whether or not Slasher was a threat, I wouldn’t be telling her anything. I didn’t want her worrying. I just wanted her to be able to move on with her life.
“Thank God. I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that. What do we do now?”
“Now, we go home and live life.”
“It just doesn’t seem real. I feel like I’m going to wake up in the morning and I’ll be back with the Blood Devils.”
“That’ll never happen again. We took them all out.”
She snuggled closer to me and ran her hand up and down my chest. I closed my eyes and let out a deep breath that I seemed to have been holding for the last seventeen years. I had thought my life was fantastic when I joined the military and afterwards, but that was all just fluff. Stuff that I had to go through to get back to the man I always wanted to be. The man that had Ali by my side. I realized now how foolish it was to think that I could walk away from her all those years ago. She was always meant to be mine.
“I talked to Kate. She said I could apply for a job at her clinic. Just think, I could have a job and it’ll be all mine.”
“I thought you had a job before?”
“I did, but it was tainted. It was never really mine. Slasher took all the money I had and I was never free to go on my own. Now I can get a car and drive myself to work. It’s just going to be so different.”
“Are you going to put Axel in school?”
“I don’t know. He’s never really gone to school, so I don’t know if he would want to after all these years. I know he’s really smart and he could get into a good school if he wanted.”
“I hate to say this, but part of me hopes he wants to stick around here. I just want to soak up all the time with him that I can.”
“I know, but he needs to have his own life now.”
“I know,” I said around the lump in my throat. I hated that she was right. I wasn’t mad at her. When I first found out that Axel was my kid, I didn’t want to believe her because that would mean that I had walked away and left her all alone. But I couldn’t go back and change the past. All I could do now was spend as much time with them as possible.
“I guess that Axel and I will need to find a place to stay when we get back,” she said hesitantly.
“Ali, I already told you that you were staying with me.”
“I know, but I…I think maybe I want to get my own place. I was with Slasher for so long, not living on my own. I kind of want to know what that’s like.”
I pulled back so I could look at her. “Ali, you can always come and go as you please with me. But I don’t want to miss out on any more time with the two of you. I want it to be our house and you can do anything you want to it. Make it your own, but please, don’t go stay somewhere else.”
“Okay,” she said quietly. “We’ll stay with you.”
I pulled her back into me and rested my chin against her head. I was damn lucky to have this woman and there wouldn’t be a day that I forgot that.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Alison
I WAS SO nervous as we pulled up to Chris’s house. It was strange to think that this was all over. Could we really just go home with Chris and pretend that we were one big happy family? I mean, I loved Chris more than anything, but it just seemed like this was all moving too fast.
“Hey, stop thinking so much. This is going to be good.”
He shut off the engine and stepped out of his truck. Axel and I followed with our meager belongings to the front door that was barely on its hinges.
“Oh, my gosh. Is this from the Night Kings?” I asked.
“Yeah, Sebastian hired his friend to come around and fix up all our houses, but it’s going to take time. I’ll board up what I need to and put up a new door.” He turned to Axel and did a chin lift thing. “Maybe you can help me with that, kid.”
“Sure,” Axel nodded, trying to hide his excitement. “I mean, I don’t really know how to fix anything.”
“That’s okay. There was a time I didn’t know either.”
He pushed the bullet-ridden door open and we walked inside. It looked like a war-zone. There were holes in the walls and broken glass on the floor. As much as he told me to stop worrying about it, I couldn’t help but feel terrible. Chris took my hand and squeezed it tightly in his. The last time I had been here, I was in so much pain and so out of it that I didn’t really get to take in the place.
“So, our room is upstairs,” he told Axel. “There is one more room, but there’s also the basement if you want.” The house was a split level with the living room and kitchen on the main level and a bathroom and two bedrooms upstairs. Off the kitchen, there were stairs to the lower level that had another bedroom and a family room. “We can make that into your own space. Look around and tell me where you’d like to stay.”
Axel eyes drifted to mine in confusion. “You mean, like choose a room?”
“Yeah. You’re almost a man. You need your own space. We haven’t talked about what you want to do when you get out of school, but if you stay here, I’m sure
you’ll want space of your own. Like I said, check it out and let me know.”
Axel swallowed hard and looked right at Chris. “Thank you. That’s means a lot to me.”
Chris nodded and then pulled me toward the kitchen. “So, this is where you’ll be most of the time. I like breakfast by six and lunch precisely at noon. Dinner no later than five-thirty.”
“Excuse me?” What the fuck was he getting at? “Chris, I didn’t come here to be your own personal chef.”
“I know,” he laughed. “I’m just fucking with you. Glad to see you still have that temper.” I narrowed my eyes at him just to be sure he was telling me the truth. He held up his hands as he walked backwards. “I swear. I was just messing around. Come on, let’s get your shit put in our room.”
I followed him up the stairs to the master bedroom. It was huge and there was a hallway with closet space on both sides for hanging clothes. He had exactly three things hanging up.
“As you can see, this comes with plenty of closet space. Feel free to fill it to the brim.”
“Sure. When I get a job,” I said morosely.
“Hey, what’s mine is yours. It doesn’t matter if we’re married or not. I will always provide for you and Axel.”
Whiskey: A Reed Security Romance (Reed Security Series Book 7) Page 20