by Izzy Sweet
Looking up ahead of me, Andrew is driving at a near reckless pace, but he keeps control of the wheel as we race to where they are holding Lily.
“Simon. Where are we with all our guys?” I ask.
“Word is completely out to all men, converge on location. Snipers will be in position within five minutes.” Tilting his head to the side, he holds his phone tight to his ear. Then smiling, he looks over at me. “Fake officer down call has just been put out across the city. All police districts will be busy soon, the one we will be in will have a riot started at its outer edge.
Nodding, I pull my pistol from the thigh holster. “I want this location locked down tight. I don’t give a fuck if the national guard is called in, no one comes into the district until we are finished.”
“One sec,” says Simon into his phone as he switches to the other line. “Marco, it’s good to speak with…”
“Two minutes from location,” Andrew says over his shoulder.
“Where are we coming in at?”
“Straight from the front,” Andrew says and looks over to Simon who nods.
Putting his phone down, Simon disconnects the call to look at me. “Everything’s a go on our side. Marco has heard of our issue. The fucking Japs are spreading it all over the city that they are fucking around with you. They think they have the edge. Marco has decided to push at every single place he can. He is taking on the Yakuza in a big way, no paybacks expected.”
“Good, he can have every single fucking business or front they have as soon as this is over. We will assist in every way, have them fully removed.”
“This should cut the head off of the snake, Lucifer. Anything that’s left won’t be much.”
“They will more than likely go to the Russians for a refuge…” Simon says.
“Call Vladimir. One million to them if they bring me fifteen heads from the Yakuza.”
“Jesus… Lucifer…”
Turning my gaze from the road ahead, I say, “Is there a problem, Simon?”
Looking at me for a very long time, I don’t doubt he is questioning my thoroughness. “Are you sure you want to go this far?”
“They took something that is mine, Simon.”
“Fuck, do you love her?”
“Of course.”
“Alright, I’ll tell them, but you know how fucking crazy the Russians are. They are going to most likely bring you the heads to you. Like literally.”
Grinning, I say, “Good, I’ll fucking send them on to the bosses back in Japan.”
We slow down as we roll through the Japanese section of the city. It looks like the streets have cleared themselves after they’ve seen all the cars of my men rolling through. I doubt any of my guys have bothered to hide all the weaponry they are bringing to the fight.
“Snipers in place. Back, front and sides are all covered. We have men down the street as well in all directions, looking for hidden exfiltration sites.”
Stopping in front of the building, I wait until Andrew hops out with his AK aimed at the front of the small grocery store. Stepping from the vehicle, I pull my M4 to my front and begin to stalk into the store directly behind Andrew.
I’ve never served in the military, never been in the police. All my training and expertise has come from the men I have employed. They are who keep me alive, and I them. Andrew, though, was former special teams, and so were most of the men I have surrounding me.
Walking through the doors we are instantly on the offensive as a long burst of machine gun fire erupts from the back of the store, exploding glass and dry goods all around us. The man shooting at us, though, is obviously untrained in any form of shooting discipline as he wasted a whole clip of bullets to hit nothing but shit.
Sticking up from his crouch, Andrew fires three rapid shots. No doubt the thump I hear is the body of the guy shooting at us hitting the floor.
“Moving!” Andrew shouts over his shoulder as he advances.
I’m directly behind him, watching his angles.
I hear Simon bitch loudly from behind. “Fucking hell. They put a hole through my fucking coat.”
A man pops up from the back and I put a bullet through his throat before one from a man behind me makes his head explode.
“Snipers reporting from the back, we have them pinned down. Sending group D to bring heavy fire on them,” Simon yells to me.
Nodding my head, I yell, “Move forward!”
It’s a slow, steady march towards the back of the store. Sending groups up and to the sides to eliminate any surprises takes more time than I am comfortable with, but it’s unavoidable. Bodies are beginning to stack up from all the men they have sent to defend against us.
Once we reach the main door to the back, I look back to Simon. “How are we on a police presence?”
“Not on the radar, for the moment, but I don’t know if that can hold forever. We need to quiet this down quickly.”
Putting my gun to work as we make it through their small dock station, I watch as the men trying to escape through the back are gunned down immediately. A lone old man stands completely still, thrusting his hands in the air.
“Where is the girl?” I yell at him in Japanese. Raising my hand, I backhand him as hard as I can. Flying to the ground, he sputters as he points to a door off to the side. It has a small sign reading Basement on it.
Throughout all the gunfire my earpiece has been bursting with men yelling in Japanese as they tried to muster a defense against our onslaught. They only begin to panic as they figure out that they are now surrounded from above. From what I can hear, the men speaking in rapid fire sentences don’t have an exit.
Walking to the door, I kick it in as I yell, “Drop your weapons. All of you.”
Screaming out my name, I hear Lily, “Lucifer!”
There is a loud rattle of metal weapons hitting the bottom of the stairs, but from the earpiece I hear them say, “Drop a bunch, but as soon as they come down start shooting. We can try and get Lucifer.”
“Start coming up one by one. If I have to come get you, you die.”
“Fuck.” Men mutter in Japanese and English.
“No way guys, kill this fucker!” Marshal starts to plead with the men around him. He sounds like he is on the verge of tears.
“Shut the fuck up, pussy! This is all your fault!” Bart yells at him.
My smile is slowly growing wider. The stupid fucks aren’t even going to put up a fight with us when they come up. It’s my turn to play.
Each man slowly comes up the stairs. Quickly frisked, they are lined up.
Looking over to Simon, I say, “Pull all teams back except those watching out for the police. Any Yakuza wandering around the city are to be rounded up. Ten-thousand-dollar reward per one, but they must be proven Yakuza.”
Bart and Marshall are the last two left down in the room. Motioning Andrew to follow me, I stop the train of men on the stairs and head down. I hear Simon moving the guys once we are past to keep the prisoners in check.
Bart is against the wall in the basement, his hands down, hanging empty at his sides. Marshall is standing next to Lily with a gun to her temple.
“Hello, love,” I say looking into her eyes. She is so beautiful even now, beaten and bruised, her eyes shine to me.
“Shu…Shut the fuck …Up.” Marshall stutters. “I want… I want out of here or she… dies.”
Andrew looks from me to Marshall. “You want me to kill him, sir? Or do you?”
“I have him.”
“Good, I want Bart all to myself then.” He grins as he motions to Bart to turn around.
Looking at Marshall, I walk toward him and Lily. “Give me the pistol, Marshall.”
His hand is shaking as he tells me, “No!”
I take the last step before I strike out for him with the side of my pistol. Connecting with his temple, I watch as his body crumples to the ground.
Leaning down, I untie her ropes as I pull her up to my chest. Her head rests on me as she sobs
quietly.
I hear Andrew in the background using a zip tie. Turning us to face them, I watch Andrew pull Bart away from the wall then escort him up the stairs.
Andrew is a rare breed of man. His loyalty is absolute, as is his desire to seek vengeance on any who touch those he works for.
I shout up the stairs, “James, come down to bring Marshall up.”
Lifting Lily up into a threshold carry, I take her up the stairs and out of the store to the waiting SUV.
Pulling the door closed on us, I wait as Simon comes up to the window. “What should we do with them all?”
“I want all survivors brought to the warehouse. Have men there to set it up for us.”
“Yes, sir.”
Thaddeus climbs into the front seat and looks back. “Andrew has requested to be the one to deal with Bart.”
Thinking for a moment, I frown. Bart should truly be punished by me. But as I said, Andrew doesn’t take kindly to traitors.
“That’s fine, let’s move.”
* * *
I can’t let her away from me again. Not any time soon. My arm is wrapped around Lily’s shoulders as I lead her into the warehouse. First through the front office, then through the workshop. Finally, we come to the backroom.
“What are we doing, Lucifer?” she asks quietly as she sees all our captives standing in a lineup with my men surrounding them.
“Point out each man that touched you, Lily,” I say as I hold her firmly next to me.
“Wha… Why?”
“They can’t touch you and get away with it. No one can.”
She doesn’t stop looking up into my eyes for a long time. Hers are so deep and so vulnerable right now that it makes me even more angry that someone has put her in such a position.
Slowly, she looks from me to each man. Ten are standing there. Pointing to five of them she says, “That’s them…. But Bart… he’s not here.”
I explain, “Andrew is taking care of him.”
“Oh, okay.”
Nodding to James, I say, “You saw which ones, take the rest outside and shoot the fucks. Leave the old fuckhead.”
Lily gasps beside me. “But…”
“This is war Lily; it was them or us.”
Pulling away from her, I walk over to the four men who dared touch my wife. “Every single male member of your family in America will be dead before the week is out. Every woman will be sold into slavery in Africa. Your children will be sent to their deaths. I promise you your families in Japan will die soon as well. Your bloodlines are going to be erased from the planet. Fuck shaming them, I will erase you all.”
Pulling my pistol out from my holster, I motion for my men to get to work. It’s a quick affair as the four men die instantly from multiple bullet wounds.
Behind me I hear Lily gasp. “Lucifer!”
Turning to her, I shake my head. “They will learn to fear my name even in Japan now.”
I point to Marshall who is pulled over to a wooden chair that once had a wicker seat attached to it. Now it’s only a frame of a chair, just enough left to keep his fat ass from falling through it. “Strip him and strap him down.”
Removing my coat, I walk over to a small table. Pulling off my holster, I set it and the coat down. The pistol right on top of it.
Turning back to my men as they finish up, I say, “Leave us.”
Lily watches in shocked silence as everyone leaves the room except for her, Marshall and I.
Smiling at her, I walk over to kiss her brow. “It’s almost over my dear, Lily. He is the last one to die now.”
Grabbing the long length of metal chain from the table, I grin at Marshall. He is gagged and screaming violently into the cloth but I can’t make out his words. No matter. “It’s time for pain, Marshall.”
Swinging the chain, I swing the it up, under seat where it connects with the exposed dangling parts of his small anatomy. Fucker has some big balls for such a tiny little prick.
The scream is audible through the gag though unlike earlier. I must have hit a testicle on that one.
Laughing, I say, “I haven’t done this before. I wasn’t sure I’d have the aim down…”
I swing again and feel a solid connection to his body. I don’t think I hit the right spot though.
I do it twice more before I say, “I heard what you said in the room to her, Marshall. I heard about your plans of selling her to slavery. I heard your plans to sell my unborn child. I heard it all.”
Dropping the chain, I head back to the table. Pulling a blowtorch down I start to strike it up. I want to melt something badly right now.
“You said you would sell her, Marshall, as if she was yours to do with as you liked. She’s mine!”
Walking over to him, I position myself behind his chair and aim the torch at his fingers.
The smell is enough to make me heave, but his screams help settle my stomach.
24
Lily
Four unarmed men were just gunned down in front of me and no one batted an eye. Not a single one of Lucifer’s men seemed to blink. It was all carried out so efficiently, so quickly, like they’ve done this numerous times before…
That thought alone is enough to make my blood run cold. I know Lucifer is a ‘bad man’ but I didn’t quite comprehend the scope of it until now. Automatic weapons. A full tactical outfit. His own personal army to carry out his will. How many have died today? How many still will?
Every woman will be sold into slavery in Africa. Your children will be sent to their deaths. I promise you your families in Japan will die soon as well.
Was he telling the truth or was that all for show?
I feel like I’ve been ripped from one nightmare only to be thrust into another. My world has been flipped upside down.
Is this real? Is this really happening? Or have I died and gone to hell?
The smell.
If it wasn’t for the smell of Marshall’s flesh burning I could perhaps convince myself none of this is real.
I’d like nothing more than to curl up into a little ball and crawl back in my comfortable shell. Pretend I didn’t see this. Pretend it was all some kind of nightmare. Just a bad dream…
But I can’t.
The smell. Oh, god, the smell.
Marshall is screaming, and Lucifer’s eyes are laughing. I’ve never seen someone take so much pleasure in another’s suffering. It’s as if he’s actually enjoying this, he’s getting off on what he’s doing to Marshall somehow.
“Stop!” I’m screaming. I can’t actually see what Lucifer is doing behind Marshall’s chair but I know it must be awful.
How? How can he do it? Doesn’t he have a fucking soul?
“No, my love, I will not stop. He must pay for what he did to you and our unborn child.”
Lucifer’s arms move and I imagine him swiping the blowtorch in a swath across Marshall’s back.
There’s this wild panic welling up inside me. I can’t stop shaking. I can’t stop the floor from shifting beneath my feet. The world is spinning out of control.
Still, I manage to take one step forward then another.
I have to stop this. I have to.
Hand covering my nose, it’s not enough to block out the smell but it helps. Heaving, I gag and somehow keep what little is in my stomach down.
I can’t afford to be sick. My head hurts so bad it actually helps to keep the nausea back.
It takes so much effort to move, gravity itself is fighting against me. Walking right now is like trying to run underwater.
Stumbling forward, I grab onto the edge of a small table and steady myself.
Marshall keeps screaming and begging behind his gag. As much as I personally detest the man I can’t just stand here and watch him suffer like this. It’s unthinkable.
It’s completely unbearable.
My entire being is in turmoil. I can’t think straight. My eyes can’t focus. There’s this cold horror rattling my bones.
With a shak
y hand, I pick up the pistol Lucifer left lying on the table.
“Stop,” I cry out but my voice sounds so small, so uncertain.
Lucifer looks up at me and makes a tsking sound of disapproval. “Put the gun down, Lily.”
Lifting my chin into the air, the gun is shaking in my hand and I’m trying to be brave but then it goes off.
Lucifer’s eyes go as wide as mine.
Shit, I totally didn’t mean to do that, but I don’t let him know that. I ease my finger away from the trigger as he switches the blowtorch off.
Marshall slumps forward in his bonds, dead or passed out.
Is it over? That horrible panicked thing inside me begins to settle down.
Lucifer stares at me for the longest time.
“Fine. You don’t like the blowtorch,” he finally shrugs and sets the blowtorch down on the table next to Marshall. “It’s not my favorite either. The smell is fucking horrible.”
Now that the blowtorch is out of the picture, I begin to relax. I point the gun down, towards the floor.
“I’ll have to call Rosa and tell her to take the bacon off tomorrow’s menu,” he says before grabbing something on the other side of Marshall’s chair by the handle.
Before I can fully process what’s about to happen, Lucifer walks around the front of Marshall’s chair and heaves up a sledgehammer. Leaning back, he takes aim then swings it forward. The sledgehammer collides with Marshall’s knees with a loud crack.
Marshall comes to, screaming out in agony.
Lucifer’s eyes gleam with pure, unadulterated pleasure.
“What the fuck,” I gasp, lifting the gun and pointing it at Lucifer’s head. “What the actual fuck?”
The pleasure dims in Lucifer’s eyes as he glances over at me and more pointedly the gun aimed at his head. “What? Too much?”
I shake my head in disbelief. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
He looks me dead in the eyes as he says, “He touched you.”
I don’t even know what to say to that.