CHAPTER ELEVEN
ROME
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It was almost time to act. I reached into my bag and retrieved my gloves, sliding them on. While putting on my gloves, I noticed the glass case in the duffel. Shit. I’d forgotten about the glasses.
I slid my work glasses off and set them in the bag, then opened the case and pulled on my shooting glasses. These moved less and wouldn't fall off in a fight. I placed my work glasses in the case and adjusted the strap at the back of my head.
They weren’t the most comfortable fit, but they got the job done. Gloves and shooting glasses on, I returned my gaze to my target. The guy guarding the west side of the house was standing still now, staring down at his phone.
He started texting, caught up in whatever he had going on in his life. Maybe it was woman problems. I hoped I never got so caught up in a woman that I put my life at risk by not paying attention to my surroundings.
My mind tried to drift to Juliet. I quickly shut that shit down. But ten pm was when we usually met for our nightly chat. However, she was too busy to meet me. She was the one distracted by life. Not me.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. No more thinking about her. I needed to focus. Opening my eyes, I adjusted my glasses and watched the guard continue to text, fingers flying over his device.
He turned my way, face down, still texting. I noticed the badge clipped to his shirt pocket. From here, I couldn’t read the name on it, but I knew I needed one of those if I wanted to get into the house without having to pick the lock and trigger the alarm.
From watching this estate, I knew the guards used their badges to enter the home and use the bathroom.
But they only used the back door. From the cam near the front gate, I’d heard a guard complain to another about having to use the downstairs bathroom and not venture anywhere else in the house because it was against the rules.
He stated that an old guard once did that, and the security guard inside killed him on the spot, no questions asked. Since then, they were limited to only three bathroom breaks a shift.
If they were found swiping their badge to enter more than that, they’d be fired. Raising my weapon, I aimed at the side of the West guard’s head. I had to get off a clean shot. If I missed, if the man cried out, that would ruin the entire plan, and I’d have to go with plan B.
And that was basically just shoot everything moving and hoped I got to Pasquale before the guard inside could evacuate him. I took another breath and exhaled slowly. I made sure my aim was accurate.
Then I fired, the silencer doing its job and muffling the sound. The guy’s head jerked to the side. The phone fell from his hands seconds before his body crumpled to the ground. Whoever he was texting wouldn’t get any more messages from him.
I immediately put my gun in my duffel, zipped it, then slung it over my shoulder.
I climbed the fence, thankful that it wasn’t electric or had barbed wire over the top of it.
I landed on the other side in a crouch and remained there, waiting, listening, making sure my presence was still undetected. It was.
I sprinted across the open area, rushing to the downed guard. Gripping him under his arms, I hauled him to the side of the house, aligning his body with the building. Reaching into my duffel, I pulled my weapon back out and continued toward the rear of the estate.
Leaving the body hidden in the shadows against the wall, I kept low as I moved along the side of the house. When I reached the corner, I stopped and slowly leaned forward, peering around it.
There he was.
The South guard.
Just like the cameras had shown earlier, the lazy bastard was still sitting in the chair with his head hung forward, his chin tucked into his chest. My gaze swept the area, making sure there was no one else nearby. There wasn’t.
I let my duffel slide from my shoulder, not wanting anything to mess up my aim. Raising my weapon, I settled my gaze on the sleeping guard. The man never moved. Never opened his eyes. Never realized he wasn't alone anymore.
He’d fallen asleep on the job and would wake up dead. R.I.P. I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and fired. A moment later, his body jerked. His head lolled to the side. But so did the rest of him.
The chair shifted beneath him. Shit. He was falling, about to topple over in the chair. I immediately lowered my weapon and sprinted from the shadows, jumping onto the porch. The chair tipped.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I caught him before he hit the ground. But damn it, he’d come close. For a second, I remained frozen there, listening, holding his dead body and the chair up. Damn, he was heavy... dead weight.
After a few seconds of waiting, I cautiously lowered him to the ground, chair and all. Fuck. That was close. I looked back to the side of the house where I’d left my duffel and sighed. This was some bullshit.
I sprinted to it, grabbed it, and slid it over my shoulder while scanning the area. This was taking too long. I had to speed up. I raced to the back door. Leaning over the dead guard, I removed his badge that was clipped to his shirt, not bothering to read his name.
I approached the panel next to the door and swiped the badge, watching the red light turn green. A lock clicked. It worked. I tossed the badge to the ground. With my gun in one hand, I gripped the doorknob and twisted, slowly opening the door.
My gaze swept the room, adjusting to the darkness as I eased the door shut behind me. I stood with my back against it, weapon raised, taking in the scene. To my right was a small door labeled Employee Bathroom.
The rest of the space looked like an employee area. A small table occupied one corner. A refrigerator sat against the wall. Nearby, a counter stretched beneath a row of cabinets. They also had a sink with a few dishes in it.
On the counter was a coffee pot with several mugs beside it. So, this was the space the employees were allowed to use three times a day. In front of me was a door that I assumed led to the main part of the house.
I needed to go through that door, but I had no idea what awaited me on the other side. The guard managing the cameras could be standing out there, making sure the perimeter guards didn’t venture into places they shouldn’t.
I knew he would shoot on sight, no questions asked, if any of them tried to go past this point. There was also the possibility that Pasquale could be on the other side of this door. I had no idea.
There were too many unknowns. And unknowns got people killed. I tightened my grip on my weapon and stared at the door. So far, everything had gone according to plan. That usually meant something was about to go wrong.
I remained where I was for several more seconds, listening. The house was quiet. Too quiet. The longer I stood there, the greater the chance that the guard managing the cameras would come looking for the perimeter guard whose card had been swiped.
I needed to move. I started forward. I’d only taken a couple of steps when movement sounded on the other side. The doorknob turned. I froze, heart racing. I raised my weapon and aimed at the door as it began to open. A voice drifted into the room before I could see who it belonged to.
"Hey, South, when you're done shitting, do a full perimeter check. Something's going on with the cams."
The door opened wider. Light spilled into the employee area, and I came face-to-face with the guard who managed the cams. The guard’s eyes widened when they landed on me. For a second, neither of us moved.
Then he reached for his weapon. I fired. The impact stopped him cold. His hand never made it to his gun. I was already moving, crossing the distance between us. I caught him before he hit the floor.
The last thing I needed was a loud noise echoing through the house. I eased him to the floor and glanced around me. The hallway beyond was empty. There was an open door to the left with light spilling out into the hall.
That had to be the security room. I started toward it only to pause when static sounded. I looked back just as a voice came through the walkie-talkie hooked to the dead guard’s waist.
What now?
It wasn’t time for the other guards to check in yet. However, the tremor in the speaker’s voice let me know my plan was going wrong even before he got his full sentence out.
“H-hey, Watchman. This is North Face. Uh, we have a problem. Perimeter breached. For real this time, man. I was heading to the back door to use the bathroom, and I found West Face on the side of the house, dead. He’s been shot. In the head. What do I do?”
Shit.
"Watchman? Watchman, you there? Fuck. East Face and Front Gate, I'm going inside. Meet me at the back.”
For a split second, I considered staying right where I was. North was coming inside. East and Front Gate would be right behind him. I could stay and take them out. But they weren't my target. Pasquale was.
Every second I wasted dealing with guards was another second my cousin had to realize something was wrong and disappear. I hadn't come this far to leave without killing him. Decision made, I lowered my duffle, opened it, and pulled out a canister of commercial-grade tear gas.
I didn’t have time to put a mask on. The radio continued crackling behind me. I overheard someone giving instructions to follow protocol. I had no fucking idea what their protocol was.
All I knew was that my protocol was to kill Pasquale and whoever got in my way. I opened the lever and placed the canister in the corner. Then I fled the room, closing the door behind me, hoping the gas had time to fill the air and slow down the other guards.
At the end of the hall, I stopped and placed another canister of gas in the corner before fleeing down the next hall. This fucking section of the house was like a maze. I tightened my grip on my weapon and continued moving.
The next door I opened led to a foyer. A massive chandelier hung overhead. Paintings of half-naked couples covered the walls. I didn’t have time to process why Pasquale had some shit like that in his house.
I turned left and kept running. I knew his bedroom was on the East side of the estate. At the end of the hall, I turned left and entered a dining area. My gaze swept the room. Long table. High-backed chairs. China cabinet. More half-naked artwork.
No Pasquale. No guards.
I continued moving, my eyes sweeping the area. The second I spotted the staircase against the wall to my left, relief hit me. I rushed forward, racing up the steps, determined to find and kill my cousin before the guards found both of us.
At the top of the stairs, I stared down another hallway and sighed. I started forward, moving carefully, listening for sound behind any of the doors I came to. Two doors down, I heard a phone ringing. I crept forward as a voice sounded from the other side.
“What? This better be important. I’m waiting on a call.”
Pasquale.
I’d found him.
“What the fuck do you mean West is dead?”
I moved forward and cautiously tested the doorknob. It was locked. Fuck. I would have to kick the door in, making my presence known, giving him a chance to get a weapon. I had no other choice.
I took a step back, thankful that I wouldn’t feel any pain. I lifted my leg and kicked the door as hard as I could. The entire door shook as the frame cracked and wood splintered around the lock.
The door flew inward from the force of my kick. I didn’t waste time waiting for the entire thing to hit the ground. I was already moving. Gun raised, I rushed into the room, knocking the door down and stepping onto it just as a shot rang out.
My body jolted.
Instinctively, I fired back. Pasquale dove behind the bed. The bullet struck the window, shattering it. I staggered a step and looked down. There was a hole in my shirt... just below my left shoulder. The fabric was dark and wet. I touched it. My fingers came away red.
The bastard had shot me.
And I’d felt absolutely nothing.