4. Chapter 4
The weather wasn’t ideal, sleeting down on me as I inched my way toward the large, well-lit house. It wasn’t as massive as the house I grew up in, but it was big enough that it could cause problems finding everyone I needed to kill.
Even with a jacket and beanie, I felt the cold penetrate straight to my bones, making it hard to control the shivering. I couldn’t afford to have shaky hands. The sleet also made visibility difficult. I hoped Maverick could see well enough. Regardless, I had to stay on top of it if he couldn’t.
Sid Virgil, my adopted father, taught me to prepare for any and all outcomes, so I had to make do. But even he made mistakes sometimes.
As I pushed my way forward, staying out of sight, hiding behind bushes and trees, I flipped the small dagger between my fingers. It was something I frequently did out of habit, but it was calming, too. It helped me focus.
My breath ghosted in a cloud in front of me as the sleet pelted the ground like sand sprinkling on glass. I kept slowly inching my way forward, eyeing every shadow and listening for every sound.
There was movement out of the corner of my eye. A man was smoking near the windows to the basement with a semiautomatic strapped to his shoulder.
Suddenly, he dropped to the ground, dead. Maverick was right on cue. I rushed toward him and pulled him into some bushes to buy me some time. My heart rate only accelerated from the exertion of moving the guard. I then dug into his pants and found a key card to get into the house.
I blanked out my mind and kept moving and moving. Around the corner of the house, I planned to use the basement door to get in.
Another guard stood sentry in front of the door, but then he, too, dropped dead. I dragged him away and dumped him out of sight.
“You’re all clear. The guards have been taken care of on the outside. If I see any on the inside through the windows, I’ll take them out, but it will be noisy and may pinpoint your location,” said Maverick in my ear. “For now, we have surprise on our side.”
“Copy,” I replied.
The door had a keypad and a card scanner. I pressed the card against the scanner, and the door clicked open to a waft of heat .
There was a guard right there, and when he turned to face me, he caught a knife in his eye. The dagger was too small to kill him outright, so when he fell, I jumped on him and slit his jugular before he could cry out.
I quickly yanked out my knife and took a step back to keep the blood from splattering on me. Then I wiped it on my black combat pants and tucked it in its sheath, pulling out a larger knife.
After scanning the basement, there were no other men, so I headed up the carpeted stairs and opened the basement door to the rest of the house. It opened into the kitchen where a man had his back to me, making something to eat at the counter.
I was a ghost, moving closer and closer behind him, scanning my surroundings, so I wasn’t caught by surprise, and then I quickly grabbed him by the neck with one arm, holding him tightly enough to slide my knife into the side of his throat.
He fell to the ground, rolling around to keep from bleeding out, but it was too late for him.
After being in the cold and dressed for it, I started sweating with the heaters on, but I kept my jacket and hat on to hide in the shadows better.
I recalled from the floor plans that the steps to the upstairs were on my left, just past the dining room.
While I wanted to take my time, I couldn’t go too slowly before the guards realized they had men missing.
And right on cue…
“Roberto, responder. Respóndeme,” said a man in Spanish, holding his rifle, and talking into his communications device in his ear. “?Maldita sea! Luis! Respóndeme.”
I had to hurry and take him out before he notified the others.
I pulled out my gun from my holster, which had a silencer attached, and quickly shot him in the head.
Guns were not my weapon of choice, but they were perfect when time was limited.
I would rather feel my blade dig into flesh and tendons.
I loved death when it was close and personal.
Their weakening bodies against me as I killed them was gratifying.
Once he was down, I moved him out of the direct line of sight from anyone who walked into the room and pressed forward. I bypassed the stairs on my right and headed toward the security room. I quickly opened the door and shot the guard in the head. He slumped forward as I rushed in.
“I’m in,” I said to Layla.
“Give me a moment.”
I waited as she hacked their system.
A minute later, she said in my ear, “Done. You now have access to their security system.”
I said nothing as I deleted all recordings of Maverick and me. Maverick was in hiding, but you couldn’t be too careful. Once the men were dead, the police would investigate.
Then I scrolled through each camera until I found Juan in his bedroom, pacing and talking on his phone. While I was terrible at reading body language, it was easy to tell the man was agitated.
I kept scrolling, counting how many men I had left to kill.
Two more besides Juan Ruiz.
I carefully stepped outside of the small room and scanned my surroundings. It was all clear, so I continued with my mission.
While I’d always been good with knives, it was Khai who trained me to be a stealth ghost in combat, while Sid taught me how to defend myself and shoot guns.
“Are you still clear?” Maverick said in my ear.
“Yes,” I whispered as I made my way up the stairs, twirling the small dagger in my fingers again.
“I see you.”
My feet made no sound as I slowly climbed, keeping my eyes peeled for any threat while maintaining steady breathing and heart rate.
A guard was patrolling the upstairs corridor with his back to me.
I quickly jumped him, putting my hand over his mouth, and dragged him down as I slipped the knife in his ear, penetrating his brain before he could throw me off.
I pulled him into an empty room and closed the door.
Regardless, there was blood all over the cream-colored carpeting.
But it wouldn’t matter. They’d all be dead soon enough.
The last man was in a bedroom resting. I eased the door open to find him sleeping, with his rifle leaning against the nightstand.
I walked up to him and stood next to the bed, looking down. The guard was completely oblivious to my presence, reminding me of the night I killed the staff who’d let me be abused for so long. The anger tried to rise from the memory, but I swallowed it back. They were dead now.
I covered his mouth, and his eyes popped open before I slowly dragged the dagger across his throat, completely opening it.
He struggled and gurgled as he asphyxiated on his own blood.
I held him down and let him thrash, but his life quickly leeched out of him.
After a couple of minutes, his eyes eventually rolled up into his head, and his body sagged.
Watching someone die because of me sent a thrilling wave through my body. It was one of those rare moments where I felt true pleasure and joy, and one reason I continued to work as an assassin—that and Sid belonged to me.
I left the room and headed toward the upstairs office. The door was closed, but I could clearly hear Juan on the phone, yelling in Spanish. I spoke very little of it, so I couldn’t tell what he was angry about, nor did I care.
I tested the door, and it easily opened. When he looked at me, his eyes turned wide before I simply shot him in the head. There was no drama or excitement. As much as I wanted to slaughter him like I did the other man before him, I needed to focus on the job.
“I’m in,” I said out loud to Maverick and Layla, who’d been listening in.
“Are all targets eliminated?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Dante and Khai have eliminated everyone at the warehouse and ended up rescuing four women and three girls, all of whom were terrified. They called the local authorities to come claim the victims before they headed out of there.”
“I’m finished, right?” I asked Layla.
“Yes. Now it’s my turn. I’ll hit his computer to find anything we may have missed. Dalton wants all these people completely eliminated, along with confiscating their financials and weapons for us to use. ”
I quickly wiped down doorknobs, the only thing I touched, since I didn’t wear gloves, needing to feel the knives in my hands. Then I made my way out of the house and off the property.
I climbed into my nondescript silver minivan, hating the thing, but I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. Then I drove to The District to report in.
The Maryland suburbs gave way to the city streets of DC. I drove past the coffee shop, suddenly thinking about my date with Thomas tomorrow night and having sex for the first time… consensually. My mother didn’t fucking count.
I pulled into the parking garage, parked, and headed up to the offices. Instead of going straight to the meeting room, I went into the locker room, where I kept a stash of clothes.
After stripping naked, I tossed the combat clothes into a bag to bring home to be washed later. Then I took a quick shower, cleaning all the blood off and scrubbing my fingernails until they were nearly raw. While blood didn’t bother me, I hated it drying and crusting around and under my nails.
Once I was dried off and dressed in a thermal shirt and joggers, I headed straight to the small meeting room. Dante, Khai, Maverick, Layla, and Dalton were already there, waiting for me. No one said a word when I entered and took a seat.
“Great, we’re all here,” Dalton said. “First, I’d like to point out that you all pulled off an amazing op tonight. Flawless. No witnesses, no one was injured, and all the bad guys were eliminated.”
While I wasn’t fazed by much, it still surprised me a little that this former FBI agent came to work with a bunch of killers, but he’d flourished here, able to do jobs without the hindrance of bureaucratic red tape. Then again, our own government betrayed him. I would’ve done the same.
“And a special thanks to Dante and Khai for saving the lives of those women and girls. I can’t even imagine the fear they must have felt,” he continued.
Dante just shrugged, his straight, black bangs falling in his face.
He fingered them back, exposing his intense, pale green eyes.
He’d saved a sex slave over a year ago. He and Luca eventually became lovers.
I didn’t understand the pairing, but I didn’t really care either. People could do what they wanted.
I also liked Dante well enough. He was Sid’s ally, so he was also mine.
Khai always had long hair until he finally chopped it off last year, showing off his dark almond-shaped eyes. He had escaped his Vietnamese gang years ago when they learned of his bisexuality. Why did people care so much about who you fucked? It was weird.
Dalton then turned his attention to Layla. “What did you find?”
She shoved her large glasses up her nose and tucked her short strands of dark brown hair behind her ears.
“Nothing we didn’t already know. The only thing we learned was that they had no other warehouses or secret criminal cells.
So, this mission was a success. No more Los Inquebrantables.
At least, here in the U.S. Back in Venezuela is another story. ”
“That’s what I like to hear. Damn, it feels good to accomplish something like this. Root out the evil and eliminate them for good.”
“Don’t rest yet. One falls, another rises,” Khai said.
Dalton smiled. “And we will be there to stop them. ”
He closed the file and clapped. “Excellent! I guess we’re finished here. Have a good night, everyone.”
I had to admit that I was impressed with Dalton’s leadership skills. He was too nice and friendly, but people listened to him easily. He adapted to our darker world. And I liked him because Sid loved him.
When I stood to leave, Dalton called out to me.
“Wait, East. Sid will be back in town on Saturday. Do you want to join us for dinner? We’ve missed having you around since you got your own place.”
“Why?”
He smirked and shook his head. “Why, what? Why have you over for dinner, or why do we miss you?”
“Why do you miss me?”
“Don’t you miss us?”
I thought about his question, and then I shook my head. “No, because you’re all still mine, even if I’m not in your house.”
Dalton chuckled and tucked the file under his arm. “Well put, East. Well put. But Sid, Owen, and I do miss having you around more, and we would like to see you for dinner on Saturday, if you can make it.”
“Okay. I’ll be there.”
“Good.” He gently patted my back and brushed past me to leave.
It took me almost a year to let him touch me like that. He’d always been careful, but I could tell he worked up to it. Eventually, I stopped caring, so he did it more freely, but there were still no hugs. Only Sid and Owen had that right.