by Tiya Rayne
I take my phone out once again to lock in their locations. The door to her special place, as she calls it, is hard to find if you’re not looking for it. As long as no one sees me come out the door, she’s safely tucked away.
“Do you have any weapons?” Seth asks once we reach the bottom of the stairs.
“Of course not. Why would I bring weapons on a date?”
He sighs and shakes his head in disappointment. “We’ll have to make do.”
“Nothing too bloody,” I warn. “It will be hard to clean it up without the Church service.”
I slip out the door with Seth along with me. Keeping my steps light like I’ve been trained to do, I slip around the first section of books. Two aisles over is one of the intruders.
“What now?” I whisper.
“Grab one of those books,” Seth directs matching my low tone.
“Does it matter which one?”
“You’re not going to fucking read it, Lucien. Pick a damn book.”
I reach for the nearest book. We’re in the self-help section and thankfully the closest book is a hardcover copy.
“All right, little brother. The first ones yours. Let’s see what you can do.”
I take a deep breath, remembering all the lessons Priest taught us.
I slip over to the other side of the aisle. Quickly, I make it right on top of intruder without him even turning toward me. I tap him on the back, causing him to swing round.
I slam the edge of the book into his throat. He chokes and grabs his neck. I then slam the spine of the book into his masked nose and shove it up.
The gun in his hands slips out. I grab it with my free hand and bring the butt down over his temple, knocking him out cold.
“That wasn’t so bad,” I say, until Seth pushes me aside lifts his foot and stomps it down on the man’s throat. I cringe at the resounding crunch.
“No survivors tonight, little brother,” he says while taking the shoestring out of the man’s shoe. “Now where’s our next guy?”
Pulling out my phone, I breath while moving the cameras to find the next intruder.
“Last row near the bathroom,” I whisper.
“Cool, this one is mine.” I step back, allowing Seth to take the lead.
Heading to the second section, we stop in the next aisle over from the intruder. Seth quietly squats down, moving a book from the shelf, he knocks it to the floor. We both watch between the openings between the books. The gunman turns around and heads back down his aisle toward the sound with his gun aimed.
Seth slips around the other side of the aisle to creep up behind him and I follow. The guy stops at the book. He leans down as if he’s trying to get a better view.
When he stands back up, Seth slips the shoestring around his neck, then places his foot in the man’s back and tugs. The man fights against the pressure, pushing back he knocks Seth into the wall, but Seth doesn’t let go. The intruder stills.
“Now that’s how you take down a motherfucker,” Seth gloats.
I roll my eyes before pulling out my phone to check where our next would be attacker is.
“We’re heading to the second floor,” I whisper.
I look up and point to the literature section. We move on, taking the return route back up the stairs. Seth takes this guy down easily by twisting his neck with his bare hands.
We stop again to find the location of the next gunman when we get blindsided. My phone is kicked out of my hand, and I barely have time to dodge the gun aimed at my head.
“Get your ass in this fight,” my brother grunts.
The gunman aims again and this time I strike out, grabbing his gun arm and slamming it into the bookshelf. At the same time, I punch him in the nose.
“Behind you,” Seth warns at the same time the sound of shuffling feet comes around the corner.
I spin around using the man I’ve been fighting as a shield. The new guy fires three rapid shots before he realizes he’s killed his partner. That’s at least one mess we’re going to have to clean up.
I shove the fallen intruder into his friend, catching him off guard. The distraction allows me to barrel into him. Using my shoulder, I knock the man to the ground.
We wrestle a little, until I get him in a reverse guillotine choke hold. He actually taps my leg as if we’re in a real MMA match. However, I don’t stop until he’s no longer breathing.
Winded and out of breath, I stand.
“Took you long enough.”
“Shut up, Seth.”
I pull out my phone to find the last one. My heart stops when I notice he’s headed to the door upstairs. I take off in his direction, only to have Seth push me out of the way. He grabs a ballpoint pen off the study table and slips quietly up behind the man.
I watch the intruder reach for the doorknob in slow motion. However, with deadly fast precision, my brother pops the top off the pen then jabs it so hard into the man’s throat, the entire pen is nearly lodged there. Seth covers the attacker’s muffled cry with his hand as he takes the pen out and stabs him two more times in rapid succession.
The stairs to the attic creek, giving me enough notice before the door starts to open. Seth drops the attacker and I rush to the door in time to block him from her eyes.
She startles when I appear before her. She’s wearing nothing but my sports coat.
“Hey, what’s going on?” she asks, tugging the jacket close.
“Nothing. I had to take a whiz.”
“Well, what was that noise?”
I run a hand through my hair as I think quickly. “It’s dark, I wasn’t watching where I was going and I knocked over your children’s Halloween display.”
She grins, and I feel bad for lying to her. “Come on, I’ll help you get it up.” She goes to walk around me and I step in front of her, causing her eyes to narrow.
“You will do no such thing. You’re going back upstairs to get some rest because I’m going to need you again and I don’t plan on stopping for a while.” Her face flushes and her eyes go from narrowed with suspicion to lazy with desire. Her teeth sink into her bottom lip.
“Okay, don’t keep me waiting too long.” I watch as she turns around and heads back up the steps. Once she’s out of sight, I close the door and sigh.
“Where the hell are you going?” I ask my brother when I notice him leaving.
“You got this. Zel and Many will be here soon to help you.”
“Seth.”
“Relax, little brother. You did good tonight.”
I look over to the body lying not far from my feet. I usually let Seth handle the killing. It’s never been my favorite part of the job.
However, this time was different. I glance up at the door to the attic where the woman I love is safe and peacefully, resting because I was able to protect her.
“We did it, brother,” I say, correcting him. “By working together.”
“Exactly, and if you want to keep her, we’re going to have to do it again. That means you can’t hide behind your computer screens while I get my hands dirty. Takar isn’t going to stop.”
“You think this was Takar?”
“Who else could it be? She didn’t start having these problems until we got that case. We need to handle him.”
“What about Priest?”
“Priest is wrong on this. Takar is going to try again and what happens if we aren’t there? Are you willing to lose her?”
“No,” I answer immediately.
“Then we go after him, again. This time we go together.”
I nod my head. I understand that.
“I’ll catch you later,” Seth says before leaving.
Several minutes later, I open the back door for Zel, Many, and a heavyset bald guy.
“Who is this?” I ask, pointing to the new guy.
Leaning on his cane, Zel replies, “This is Steven. He’s a friend of mine.”
“Nice to meet you, sir,” Steven says, reaching out for a handshake. I shake his hand
briefly.
“I figured with my leg still a little busted, you were going to need a little more help,” Zel says.
“Thanks, brother. How much longer you got on that?” I notice that the cast is off, but he’s still not putting much weight on the leg.
“I just started physical therapy, so not much longer.”
I nod. “I pulled most of the bodies together over there.” I point to where the non-bloody bodies lay.
“This should be an easy clean up,” Zel says, looking over my shoulder at the bodies.
“I got two bleeders that may require a little more work.”
“We will take those,” Many says in his British accent. He carries a duffle bag off in the direction I pointed.
“How much time can you give us?” Zel asks.
A smile breaks across my face. “Time isn’t a problem.”
I set them to work before heading back upstairs. I plan on distracting Malia for the rest of night and into the morning. She won’t be able to hear anything over her screams of pleasure.
Chapter 37
No Dead Bodies
Seth
* * *
“You sure I can’t get in at least one game of Blackjack?” I say to my brother.
Today’s the day we’ve been waiting for. It took Lucien a month to track down Takar and another two weeks to set up this situation. After attacking Malia’s store, it seems Takar took off, but now he’s back stateside for business.
“Focus, Seth.”
I head away from the Blackjack table and toward the swinging doors I watched Takar and his henchmen go through. We’re on a Casino boat. The fancy ones you have to dress up for. I’m in a fucking tuxedo feeling like James Bond.
Thankfully, I’m off suspension with the Church, but I still can’t take advantage of their resources. I don’t want it getting back to Priest, it’s been a month since he last spoke with Lucien.
That’s another reason I want this Takar shit taking care off. The faster we do it, the sooner Lucien and I can mend this stuff with Priest.
Glancing through the doors, I realize there’s a long white hallway with more of those private rooms I saw when I boarded. The rooms are for high stakes poker games, and they’re invitation only. They are heavily guarded, unless you have a special black card. And I’ve noticed only the ones with those special cards also have a purple wrist band. Guess what I don’t have?
“We need one of those cards.”
I turn away from the door back to the main deck of the boat. Walking through the crowd, I spot an old couple. The woman is draped in diamonds with a whole damn fox thrown over her shoulders. The older man is balding and wears a smug look on his face.
“I think I found our victims.”
“No bodies. We don’t have to kill them to get the card,” Lucien whines.
I smirk. “I got this, little brother.”
With my head held high, I walk with purpose toward the bald guy. I stand behind him and call over a waiter carrying a tray of hors d’oeuvres. The moment he gets close enough, I reach for the tray and knock it into my victim.
The waiter immediately starts to wipe off the stain, successfully distracting the old man. I slip my hand into his pocket and swipe his wallet. I walk away from the commotion before pulling the card out and then toss the wallet on the floor.
“See, no dead bodies,” I say jokingly.
“Yet,” Lucien adds. “Wait, we don’t need the bracelet?”
“Nope, they don’t check for the bracelets. Long as I got a black card, I can get myself and a guest in. Now shut up and let me work.”
We head down the white hallway lined by bodyguards. I go to the first door I see, needing to get a layout of the rooms.
“Card?” the meat head at the door asks.
I hand over my card and he looks up at me, handing the card back. I slide it in my pocket. The guard opens the door and we walk in.
“Three exits out of here,” I point out.
“Two, the other window doesn’t open to the balcony, you’ll drop straight into the water,” Lucien points out.
“Good to know.”
We make our way further into the crowded room. I spot Takar at the back table, his back is to me as he holds a conversation with another man. The plan is simple, I need to get close enough to him.
My bowie will do the rest. In a dimly lit crowded room like this, no one would be the wiser.
“Stay out of sight,” I tell Lucien.
He nods his head and disappears.
I head toward Takar, being careful not to come up directly behind him. The mirror over his head would put me right in the line of his sight. The closer I draw to him, the more I realize something is a little off.
I’ve only spotted two guards with Takar all night. And he definitely isn’t a two-guard man. That’s when movement to my right catches my eye.
I spot the gun just in time. Rearing back, the bullet misses me by an inch. Thankfully, I spotted him when I did. At that close a range, he would’ve blown my brains out.
Chaos ensues after. I lose sight of Takar in the madness. Without thought, I yank my bowie out of my hip holster and slice at the guy who shot at me, slitting his throat.
I grab his collar and sling him at the other man that’s heading toward me, knocking him down. Spotting Takar at the door, heading out with the other bystanders, I grab my gun out of the holster at my back and aim. Firing, but missing when I’m tackled from behind.
My gun flies out of my hands and I hit the ground hard. Rolling to my back, I pop back up, coming face to face with another one of Takar’s guards. Apparently, he lost his gun somewhere in the scuffle too, because he puts up his fist.
“You want to do this old school?” I ask.
“Yeah, motherfucker,” he snarls.
“Okay.”
He charges at me. I pull the other gun I brought with me and shoot him in the dick, causing him to scream like a bitch as he drops to his knees.
“My ribs aren’t doing this shit with y’all again.” I put a bullet in his forehead and walk away.
More guards come through the doors with their guns raised. I’m able to turn and run, heading for a different exit before the bullets start flying. Thank goodness I checked for exits when I first came in.
I barrel through one of the open windows coming out on the balcony. I spot Takar heading up the stairs, instead of down like everyone else. That’s when I hear the distant sound of a chopper.
I can’t let him get on that helicopter. If Takar gets in the wind again, Lucien may never find him. This is my chance.
I race up the stairs, fighting through the herd of people trying to go down them. I give up and look for the nearest maintenance ladder. After finding one, I climb up, making it in record time. As soon as I reach the top, Takar opens fire. I have only a few seconds to duck behind a big metal barrel.
“Will you ever learn, Seth?” he calls out over the noise of his chopper whirling. “I’m not your enemy.”
“Sure feels that way when you’re shooting at me,” I shout back.
I peek around the side of the barrel. The chopper is over us and Takar is climbing up. I rush from around the barrel and fire, three shots, only one hits Takar in the leg.
Before I can take another shot, a man with an automatic gun appears in the open door. He aims right at me. I run faster than I’ve ever run before as he opens fire on me.
Once I get to the edge of the deck, I leap, having only a few seconds to brace myself for impact as I hit the cold murky waters below. I fight the current to come back up for air. When I do, I see the helicopter speed off, taking Takar with it.
Once again, he gets away.
Chapter 38
Gone Too Far
Lucien
* * *
Feeling like a failure, I climb out of the shower. Seth disappeared as soon as we got home. I know this is eating him up worse than me.
Twice Rasheed has gotten away. I don’t think Seth has
ever met an opponent he hasn’t been able to defeat. This menu has truly proven a challenge for him.
I dress quickly and pad downstairs to the kitchen. Grabbing my phone, I realize I have a text from Malia.
Malia: Are you okay? I haven’t heard from you today.
I lean against my fridge with my shoulder.
Me: Another bad day at work. I’m sorry, beautiful.
Hearing from Malia rubs in how fucked-up losing Rasheed again is. Not only does he know of Malia, but he has threatened her more than once. Every day I keep her in my life, I risk her safety.
I know I should let her go, set her free from my messed-up world, but I no longer think I can. I’m too far gone to be the voice of reason now. I want her more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life, but I can’t have her.
Not with Rasheed hanging over my head. Even if I succeed in killing Rasheed, the Church will still be my biggest obstacle. Again, I remember the eight-year-old boy I was before all this started.
Malia: I’m so sorry your day was bad, is there anything I can do?
I hold the phone in my hand, trying to figure out a way to let her go, yet the words won’t come.
“You keep staring at it, maybe it will do a trick.”
“Fuck, Priest,” I shout, turning around to see an enraged Priest standing in my kitchen.
“You’re not going to learn, are you? I asked you to chill the fuck out on this Takar menu, but you can’t seem to follow one simple damn order.”
Pushing away from my fridge, I place my phone on the counter. I’m not in the mood for Priest or this bullshit conversation.
“I’m only doing the job you recruited me for.”
He looks me over, reading me closely with his silver eyes. “What has gotten into you?”
“Nothing,” I lie, storming out of the kitchen and into the living room.
He follows behind me. “Stop with this nothing bullshit, Lucien. Tell me what’s going on?”
Spinning around on the balls of my feet, I come face to face with him. I start to deny it again. To tell him there’s nothing going on, but I’m tired.