24. Wynn #2
Ryu and Cas were immediately behind me, moving toward the next set of Clan members. They took out two more. Then Ciel got one with his garrote. I punched another in the throat, collapsing his windpipe so he couldn’t scream. My next punch dented his skull, and he fell.
One by one, like lions picking off their prey, we took them down. Orik focused on organizing the women into groups of three to four, unaware that we were destroying his men right behind him.
Finally, confused and concerned shouts filled the dock. Orik and his men looked around, wondering where seven of their men had gone in less than five minutes.
If Ciel’s count was correct, there were still eight of them left.
“I’ll cover the women,” Leona said. “You guys take out the rest.”
“I’m with Leona,” Obi added. “Fan out and engage.”
We repositioned, taking out one more man, as Obi and Leona snuck around the other side of the cars.
“Ciel,” I murmured as I came up behind another.
“Got your back,” he answered.
I was just about to fire into the back of the man’s head when a gunshot rang out, and the man collapsed at my feet. I frowned, looking up in confusion.
“Who took my kill?”
My eyes went to Ciel, only two pallets away from me, and he shook his head.
“Fuck,” Ryuji said. “Someone else is here.”
The slight movement on the other side of the semi was my only warning before a gunshot whizzed right past my face and thunked into the metal cargo container behind me.
“Wynn!” Ciel shouted just as I dove to the side to avoid an onslaught of bullets. My ears echoed with the pop, pop, pop followed by the dings of metal reflecting bullets.
“What the fuck is this!” Ryu said. “Returning fire!”
Ciel yanked me to my feet, and the two of us ducked behind more cover. Over by the waiting cars, the women started screaming.
“Get down!” Leona shouted at them. “Under the cars! Hide!”
Chaos broke out. A firefight between us, the Albanians, and this unknown force. Ciel and I stood back to back as we aimed at the new intruders, picking off a few.
“Jesus fucking Christ. It’s Daniele,” Cas yelled. “Max’s men.”
Daniele was Max Volpe’s second-in-command. What the hell were they doing here?
I caught sight of a Vokshi man leaning over the railing of the ship, shouting something in Albanian.
I followed his line of sight to see Orik Vokshi creeping behind a container only a few down the line from me and Ciel.
He looked like he was trying to decide if he was going to bolt toward the Iron Ghost or away from it while his men died around him one by one.
No. He would not escape.
I didn’t have an immediate shot at Orik Vokshi, but I had a clear shot at the man on the ship. I aimed my gun and fired, and the man tumbled off the railing and into the water below. When I looked back at Orik Vokshi, he was gone.
“Shit,” I hissed. “Vokshi is on the run.”
“Daniele, stop!” Cas called out.
Seconds later, the bullets ceased. I searched around for Orik Vokshi, but he was nowhere to be seen.
“What the fuck are you assholes doing here?” Daniele shouted back.
I darted around the containers and pallets in a frantic search.
“Wynn!” Ciel called as he tried to keep up behind me, but I didn’t respond.
“This is our mission,” Leona shouted from somewhere near the commuter cars and the victims. “Leave!”
“Put your weapon down immediately,” Obi said, voice dark.
“You’re outnumbered,” Daniele responded, taunting. “I have twenty men with me.”
“Is Max with you?” Cas called from somewhere by the gangplank.
“None of your business!” Daniele answered .
“So that’s a no,” Leona said. “Good. We can deal with you on our own!”
“The rest of the Albanians are dead,” Ryu said in our comms. “I just took out the last one.”
“Except for Orik Vokshi,” I returned. “I can’t find him. Does anyone see him?”
They ignored my question and argued with Daniele. It didn’t matter. Max’s men were only a distraction. We had to find Orik Vokshi before he disappeared.
Frantically, with Ciel hot on my heels trying to catch up, I ran through the rows of pallets. My stomach screamed in pain, but I couldn’t stop. We had to find him.
The arguing continued, but the sound of my heavy breaths and singular focus drowned it out.
The engine of a car turned over behind me, closer to the ship. My eyes went wide. No.
“The cars!” I shouted into the comms.
I ran back toward the ship, dodging around the cargo. A sedan peeled out, gunning it down the street. I raised my weapon and fired, the bullets spraying against the doors. Pain reverberated down my stomach, throwing off my aim. The car didn’t stop.
I sprinted after it.
“Wynn!” Ciel called behind me. My lungs burned. I tasted copper.
I watched the taillights bust through the marina’s fence and disappear.
Just out of my reach.
I couldn’t stop him.
I turned on my heel and headed back toward the ship. My brothers still faced down against Max’s men. Leona had her gun pointed at Daniele while Obi blocked her body with his own.
“We don’t have time for this!” I shouted, hand pressed to my stomach. My legs were about to give out, but I didn’t have a choice. I couldn’t stop. “We have to go after him!”
Daniele gave one more seething glare in Leona’s direction before ordering his men back. “We’re finding him first.”
“Fuck off, Daniele!” Leona shouted back. “He’s ours!”
We couldn’t follow him. We had to handle the twelve survivors first.
I quickly called Willow’s crew, who were waiting on standby, and they provided triage care. When it was clear they had a handle on the situation, we couldn’t wait any longer. We left.
No one said a word as we backtracked our way through the marina and piled into one of the SUVs—leaving the other behind for now.
Leona fumed at Max’s interference. Ryuji argued we should have just killed Daniele and been done with it, even though we were outnumbered. Cas and Obi tried to calm everyone down so that we could chase after Vokshi and think through a plan, but we had no idea where the car had gone.
While I sat in the backseat, trying to breathe my way through the pain in my stomach and keep everyone else from finding out.
If I were at my best, I could have captured Vokshi. I could have shot out the tires, or caught up to him, or something . But I’d let them all down again and slipped further away from earning my redemption.
Ciel stared at me, concern softening his icy blue eyes, and it only made the guilt a thousand times worse.