Chapter 56
CHAPTER 56
Heath
We park the car outside the gate and look around.
Several guards are stationed out front, and who knows how many more will be inside the mansion. I’m sure a drug lord like him doesn’t go anywhere without proper security. But we came prepared.
“You ready?” Silas asks.
I nod, and Max throws us the bags. “Ready.”
“Meow. Mrrp.”
We all turn our heads to see Bagel casually washing his ass on the shelf in the back behind the passenger’s seats.
“What the fuck?” I mutter. “Why is Bagel here?”
“Shit,” Silas says, sighing out loud. “I forgot he was in here.”
“Why the hell did you bring a cat to a shoot-out?” I groan.
“Because I was trying to train him to hiss at people trying to break into the car, okay?” Silas explains. “And then I forgot.”
“Wow, you forgot about her cat? This isn’t going to end well for you,” I joke.
“How long has he been in here?” Max asks.
Silas shrugs. “A few hours, maybe.”
“Well shit, what are we gonna do with him?” I ask.
“Just leave him here. He’ll be fine,” Silas opens the compartment in front of him and takes out some kibbles.
“You’re keeping cat kibbles in my car?” I growl.
“What else do you want me to use? Wet food?” Silas responds, like it’s not at all fucking weird he did this. He throws some of the kibbles to Bagel, who happily chomps on them.
Max scratches his little head. “Who’s a good kitty?”
“All right, stop. Enough with the cat. Can we focus on our task?” I say.
“He’ll be fine. We’ll take care of business. In and out. Done and over.” Silas grabs a couple of smaller, quicker blades from the bag, along with some guns. “Let’s go get them.”
“Fine, but if that cat pisses all over my car, you pay for it,” I growl, and I grab a couple of thick blades as well as a few guns.
Max takes back the bag and throws it over his shoulder. “Yell if you need more.”
“Got it.”
We get out, and Max whispers at Bagel before closing the door, “You stay and watch the car like a good boy.”
Some of the guards near the gate approach us.
“You think we can convince them to let us in quietly?” I ask.
They’re already clutching their weapons.
Silas tilts his head. “Not a chance.”
I casually pull a screaming Ivan out of the trunk and hold him up as bait. “Surprise! I brought your lil’ friend back.”
They raise their guns, and so do we.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I use his body as a shield, and he flops around a few times before dying on me.
Three shots, two down. One of them hides in the bushes and aims.
BANG! BANG!
Silas and I duck for cover just in time.
A voice-over can be heard coming from the bushes.
“Incoming. Front gate. I need backup!”
THWACK!
Silas knocks the walkie-talkie from his hands with a knife and then chucks another one right at his throat, and blood squirts everywhere.
I march up to the gate and flop Ivan’s body down in front of it to use him as a step-up. Then I prop up my hands so Silas can use it as a step to jump over. He holds out his hand to pull Max up too. I go last as I’m the biggest, with Max and Silas both grabbing my wrists to drag me over the gate.
More guards pour out from the front door, but we came prepared. I aim and shoot, but suddenly, Max sets down a sniper rifle on the ground and goes to town.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
One by one, they go down like flies.
“Wow, I’m impressed,” I mutter.
He winks at me. “You thought I didn’t know how to shoot?”
“You should do it more often,” Silas says. “Let’s go.”
“I’ll give you guys cover.” Max aims at the door and waits for more to come out.
Silas and I run to the mansion. The garage door opens, and a driver steps out from behind several expensive-looking vehicles with an automatic rifle, but Max shoots him down from a distance before he’s able to even take one shot, so I stick up my thumbs in thanks.
We can use two windows on each side of the mansion for a surprise attack. I throw Silas a glance and say, “You seeing what I’m seeing?”
He nods. “You take the left. I’ll take the right. Meet up in the hallway.”
Behind us, Max approaches steadfast, pausing every other second to take aim.
“Max, front door! We’ll flank,” I yell.
Silas disappears from view as we each go to our side of the mansion, and I start searching for the way in. There’s a half-open window on the second floor that I can reach by climbing up the vines. No problem.
I grasp the ledge and swing myself up, taking hold on the vines with my feet to keep myself steady as I pull myself up on the balcony. I drop down, pull out my knives, and kick in the window, jumping inside.
There’s no one here, it seems, but the moment I step one foot inside, the door slams open, and three dudes with guns open fire.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
I roll to the side and hide behind a bed, waiting for them to waste their ammo before I chuck one of the knives at the first fucker, piercing his skull.
The two others reload, and I throw another knife at the right guy’s chest, knocking him backward. He tumbles down on the floor, bleeding profusely, right when the third one finishes.
I swiftly pull out my gun, and we fire at the same time.
BANG, BANG!
The guy drops to the floor, and I move ahead. In the hallway, Silas is fighting with two guards. One of them has him in a dead-lock, while the other attempts to cut his throat, so I aim and shoot.
BANG!
The knife falls out of his hand before he drops like a sack of potatoes, and Silas elbows the guy holding him in the stomach. The fucker releases him, and Silas rams his knife straight into his eye, twisting and turning until the guard flops down, dead.
“Thanks,” Silas says, pulling his knife from the guard’s skull.
“Don’t mention it.”
BANG!
More gunshots downstairs draw our attention as the front door is slammed open by two bodies dropping down to the floor. Max steps inside and waves. “I’m here!”
I lean over the banister and yell down, “Max, have you seen Ivy yet?”
He shrugs, but then something is thrown at him and explodes.
“MAX!” I scream and jump down the stairs to get to him.
He’s coughing wildly, and I pull him out of the smoke.
“Do I have my fingers? Please, Heath, you gotta tell me. Do I have all my toes? I can’t feel them,” he says, but when I look him up and down, he seems perfectly okay.
“You’re fine,” I reply.
He breathes out a sigh of relief. “Phew. Anxiety got the best of me there.”
I roll my eyes. What a drama queen.
BANG!
Max drops from my arms and immediately reaches for my knife in my pocket, then chucks it at the guy who shot at me.
“Nice throw, twink,” I muse.
He blushes. “I learned from the best.”
“Who, me?” Silas says smugly as he rushes down the stairs only to jump on a guard I didn’t even notice hiding out in a crevice beside the stairs. Silas climbs on top of his shoulders and slits his throat from the top. The body drops to the floor while Silas is still on top of him, and he uses it as a stair to get off.
“No, my mother,” Max replies. “But thanks for the save.”
“Where the fuck is Ivy?” Silas growls.
“If you’re looking for us … we’re in here.”
We all look up at the sound of that ominous, low voice.
That came from the kitchen.
Silas immediately raises his knives at eye level, so I do the same with my gun, while Max clutches his sniper rifle close as we home in on the room.
Only two entryways lead into the kitchen, at least from this hallway, and no more guards appear to be blocking our way through either door. But it feels like a trap. Still, we move forward, determined to save Ivy and Cora.
Even if she is a liar and a thief.
Even if she felt betrayed because I knew Ivan.
Even if the girl is not her kid.
I want them to be safe … no matter the cost.
Silas
We head inside the kitchen, where Ivy lies passed out on the floor near the gas stove with bruises all over her skin and some blinking object tightly strapped to her chest. Rage takes hold of my savage heart.
“Ivy!” Max yells with pain in his voice as he steps forward.
I hold him back from getting closer because we’re definitely not alone.
A man steps out from the kitchen, casually chewing on half a piece of apple while holding a pocket knife. The other half he holds between his fingers, and he hands it to someone out of sight behind a wall.
Cora.
“What have you done with them? Why is she out cold?” I grit. “Tell me, right now.” I clutch my knife so tightly I can feel it etch into my skin. “Did you fucking hurt her?”
“After the stunt she pulled, she should be happy she still lives,” he replies, swallowing down the apple in the most aggressive way I’ve ever seen.
That’s it. I’ll fucking kill him.
Suddenly, Heath grips my shoulder right as I was about to move.
“Not so fast,” Stefano says, holding up a phone with a button on the screen. “If you so much as touch me, her life will be forfeited.”
I glance at Ivy and the object tied to her chest.
A bomb.
“You strapped a fucking bomb to her chest?!” I say through gritted teeth.
“I knew you lot would be coming, so I made sure to prepare.”
“She doesn’t deserve this,” Max says.
Stefano approaches. “She is a thief who needed to be taught a lesson, so I gave her one. And you don’t have the slightest idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
When he gets too close, I point a knife right at his skull. “Take one more step and I will flay your fucking skin off your living body.”
The man merely smiles like he’s enjoying this.
Groaning in the back makes me instantly look up and lose sight of the man in front of me.
She’s awake.
“You know, I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot,” Stefano says, stepping back a little to avoid the pointy end of my blade.
“I doubt that,” I reply. “You fucking destroyed our house.”
“That was an unfortunate necessity,” he says, still twirling that damn knife of his. “After I finally learned where Ivy was keeping …” His eyes darken. “ My daughter.”