Chapter 20 - Brooks #2
The only things not black were our masks.
As usual, Mav had wanted to go for standard balaclavas, but I’d surprisingly won the argument and we were rocking our Purge masks.
It was rare that Luca and Mav agreed to wear them—I would admit they were a little cumbersome and showy—but a little showy worked for us right now.
They’re way more intimidating and creepy than standard face coverings.
Gave off horror movie vibes that added to the terror.
Maybe Tanner would shit himself. That would be glorious.
“You two ready?” Maverick asked, all business. He had his mask pulled up so it was resting on the top of his head.
“Yup!” I bounced up on my toes, adrenaline pumping through me. “Let’s go kill someone!”
Skye snorted and wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “I knew we’d make you bloodthirsty eventually.”
I shrugged. I’d never be as casual about taking a life as Skye was, but some people deserved to be erased from this earth, and Tanner Belding was one of those people. I had no qualms about him eating a bullet.
“Our target is Tanner. It’s possible he’s holding someone here, so be careful and keep your eyes peeled.
Take out the guards and make sure they’re secure so they can’t cause problems, but only kill if necessary.
Ready?” We both nodded in response. “Good. Let’s get going before they notice something is off,” Maverick said, ushering us along.
I blew him a kiss and then flipped down my mask, ready to play.
There were three entrances, so three guards and three of us. We split with Maverick, and Skye crept to the side door and Mav to the back, while I took the front.
“Hé! Vous n’avez rien à faire ici!!” the guard called out, completely startled by my presence.
We had learned that these weren’t Tanner’s usual private security, but instead locals who’d been hired when he’d gone into hiding.
There was no indication that they knew what was happening or were qualified to handle the kind of detail a person like Belding would need.
Which was . . . interesting. After the events from almost two years ago, Tanner’s family had mostly cut ties with him.
It had meant a cut in his funds, but he still had plenty on his own, enough to pay professionals.
Not to mention, with his supposed connections to Crimson Rose, you’d think they’d make sure he had guards who knew what they were doing, but maybe there was trouble in paradise and they’d left him to his own devices.
Which . . . also didn’t make sense, since he was one hell of a loose end.
Maybe he was still useful enough for them to keep him alive. Who the fuck knew.
I shook away the thoughts. Didn’t fucking matter anymore. Tanner wasn’t surviving the night, and hopefully we’d have a better understanding of what was happening when we were done with him.
I waved as I came into the light so the guard could see me more clearly.
His eyes widened in fear and his hand reached for something at his side.
He never got a chance to get it. I was on him and slamming his head against the wall before he even looked up.
Unconscious, he fell to the ground with a thunk.
“Fuck,” I whispered. That was a little louder than I’d anticipated. I quickly used my zip ties to secure him and then dragged him over to the side so he wasn’t immediately in view.
“All clear,” I whispered once he was out of the way.
“Clear,” Maverick responded, followed shortly by Skye.
I got to work on the front door, picking the lock. It was pretty easy since Diego had already messed with their security system. Belding was clearly relying on that and not these old locks that were probably the originals. In no time, I was inside and meeting up with Skye and Mav.
“Good?” Mav asked. I couldn’t see his eyes through the mask, but I could feel them assessing me.
“Yes, sir. All good.”
Mav gave the same once-over to Sky, and then with a chin jut, he turned and we were off.
It was the middle of the night, so ideally the fucker would be in his room asleep, but since he had no cameras inside that Diego could access, we still had to clear the whole house.
It was three stories, so we each took a floor.
I was on the basement level, Maverick the main, and Skye upstairs.
The reasoning was Tanner was most likely to be on Skye’s level, and while any of us were willing to pull the trigger, or in my case run a knife across his throat, Skye was the most comfortable with it.
He also had ways of getting information quickly, so maybe this wouldn’t take long.
We couldn’t stay here forever, not with the men unconscious outside.
We had a plan in place to move Tanner if necessary, but Luca was sure the guy was a weasel that would spill easily.
It would be nice not to have to change locations with him.
Less chance of things going wrong that way.
Despite my tattoos and piercings, I was the least intimidating looking out of us, and for some reason, people tended to trust me in these situations, so I was usually on rescue duty.
We had no evidence that Tanner was holding anyone, but if he was, there was more of a chance that they were kept on the lowest level.
So that was my floor. Maverick was in the middle so he could easily get to either of us for backup if necessary.
Diego checked in with us, confirming he still had control of everything and nothing seemed amiss. Luca and Wes were with him, watching, but neither had said a thing. They were letting Mav and Diego take point.
With our unspoken signal, we all went our own ways.
The house was dark, but I didn’t use my flashlight, not yet.
There was enough light from electronics and lighting outside to see clearly.
I kept my blade in my hand and as I cautiously made my way to the door that led down to the bottom floor. It was locked.
“I have to pick the lock,” I whispered, updating the others on what was going on. D could see everything through my body cam, but while verbal communication was still possible, it made sense to do both.
No one responded; the only sound was Mav and Skye’s footsteps.
I hadn’t gotten to use my lock-picking skills this much in ages. It was kind of exciting. Most people had electronic locks these days that required Diego’s expertise. It was nice to see the stuff Pops had taught me not go to waste.
This one was more of a challenge than the one outside, but still not difficult. It wasn’t standard though, even for Europe. I made a mental note to tell Pops about it next time we spoke. That was his specialty.
“I’m all clear on this floor,” Maverick told us at the same time the lock finally clicked, allowing me entrance.
“Entering the bottom floor now.”
“About halfway through,” Skye added.
I carefully opened the door, but no one was there waiting for me. Not that I could see anyway because it was pitch fucking black. Damn. I pulled out my flashlight so I didn’t eat it.
Peering down the narrow, very European staircase, I didn’t see anything but cobwebs. I climbed down.
At first, there was only more darkness. I scanned the light through the room.
It looked like a storage area of some sort.
There was dust-covered furniture that was popular in the eighties.
Shelves lined the wall that were mostly empty, save an occasional box or unlabeled can. It was giving abandoned bunker.
Walking through, I noticed a light flickering around the corner. The downstairs level was huge—it seemed to span the entire house. But that flickering light was the only sign it hadn’t been completely abandoned.
“This is some horror-movie shit,” I muttered under my breath, but it was loud enough for the comms to pick up. Luca’s husky laugh came through, reminding me he was here, even if he was still in America.
I took a few silent steps in the direction of the flickering light, keeping my flashlight steady and fighting the instinct to flash it wildly throughout the space. Stay calm and focused but be alert to your surroundings. It was the best way to stay alive in these situations.
There was nothing but that freaky ass light. No other sounds, not even the normal creaking that was common in old houses. Nothing but deadly quiet. If it wasn’t for the guys in my ear, it would be unnerving.
“I’m at the bedroom,” Skye whispered. “Someone’s in there.”
A door opened and then . . . “Fuck me. Mav, I need help up here.”
“Coming! Belding?”
“No. Give me a second to clear the room.” More noises indicated Skye searching the space. “No Belding, but fucking hell, Mav. Oh shit, they’re still alive.”
My heart dropped. What the fuck had he found? Or whom? I could only imagine.
“Brooks, clear the basement and then get upstairs. Skye’s got captives . . . and it’s not good.” Luca sounded hollow as he issued orders, the first ones he had given since this had started.
I swallowed, my stomach doing backflips.
“Y-yeah, okay. Yes, sir. Give me a second.”
I was quick but thorough, confirming I was alone.
Confident no one was lurking in the shadows, I pulled my mask up on top of my head so I could see better.
At this point, we didn’t need them anymore anyway.
I took a breath and finished clearing all the nooks and crannies.
There were too many blind spots in this place.
I found a couple of cages, but they were empty.
They could’ve been heavy-duty dog cages, but I seriously doubted it.
There was nothing else. Some storage containers we’d have to go through, but it could wait.
I had all kinds of horror movie shit going through my head when I made it to the area where the light was flashing, but it was nothing but a bad bulb. Eww, so freaking creepy for no reason.
“All clear,” I told everyone. “I’m coming up now.”
I had been tuning Maverick and Skye out, focused on not missing anything, but I started to listen in, more to know what I was walking into than anything.
Still, I stayed on alert. We hadn’t found Tanner, and while it was possible our intel was wrong and he’d left before we’d gotten here, it didn’t feel right. He was here. I just didn’t know where.
I was nearly back to the stairs when I saw it out of the corner of my eye: a glint of metal reflecting from the beam of my flashlight.
It could’ve been anything, but as I turned my head to examine it, the glint moved.
It was mostly reflex that had me ducking out of the way just in time as a metal fucking bat came swinging toward my head.
It missed me by centimeters, but my attacker didn’t give me a second to gain my composure as he came barreling at me, bat high above his head. He swung it down with a grunt.
It missed my head, thank fuck, but slammed into my shoulder.
“Oww, motherfucker.” I was seeing stars and a little slow. The fucker took advantage of it and got another hit in on the same fucking arm. My bone cracked.
I dropped the flashlight, vaguely aware of it rolling away, illuminating the wall in front of me. My attacker came after me, panting heavily. I could see now it was Tanner Belding.
He swung again, but this one was much slower, easier to avoid. My shoulder hurt like a motherfucker, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to move my arm as well as I should. I quickly switched my knife to my other hand, happy that Skye had taught me how to be ambidextrous with my weapons.
It was time to get on the offensive.
“Easy, Tanner, you’re going to hurt yourself.”
I wondered why he had a bat and not a gun or any other weapon.
He certainly had the resources to get one.
Yet here he was, wildly swinging at me, his beady eyes glazed over.
Was he on drugs? I remembered he had drugged the girl he’d been holding captive at the gala last year, but I didn’t think he had an issue himself.
He swung at me again, but this time he stumbled, nearly falling on his face.
It was my opportunity. I charged at him, using the momentum from being off-balance to take him to the floor.
Of course as he went, he flailed, losing the bat and elbowing me in the fucking eye.
That one wasn’t intentional, but the next one was, before I finally managed to wrangle control of the situation.
“Fucking hell, asshole.” My head swam from the blows, but I pushed it aside, landing on top of Tanner, his body hitting the hard surface with a gnarly sound.
He cried out, his hands immediately reaching out to my face, unclipped nails digging into my cheeks as he clawed at them. He was trying to distract me, but I still had my knife firmly in my grip, and without hesitating, I slammed it into his side. And then again.
“Ahhh!” He had more grit than I expected, attempting to headbutt me. He didn’t have the strength for it to make much of a difference. I was already seeing two of him. Tanner’s hands fell from my face. I elbowed him in his, and fucking finally he fell limp.
With my head swimming and my shoulder hurting like hell, I slowly climbed off Tanner’s still body.
He wasn’t dead yet, but he’d probably bleed out without medical attention.
I blinked at his body, trying to work out what to do.
Should I stop the bleeding? We had questions, didn’t we?
But that would require moving, and I didn’t think I could do that now.
“Brooks!” The sound came from two places at once.
“Whoa . . .” That was neat. I felt kinda high, even though I hadn’t taken a thing. “I have voices in my head.” There was a snort and a more concerned, “He might have a concussion.” That sounded right, but I didn’t know why my brain was telling me that in Wes’s voice. Fucking weird.
Someone else yelled my name, but that wasn’t in my head. It was coming from somewhere else. Thundering footsteps had me looking up toward the direction of the stairs.
Then, like magic, Maverick was in front of me, gently cupping my chin while he examined my injuries. I smiled loopily at him. “‘M’fine.”
“Mm-hmm. I’ll be the judge of that, sweetheart.”
“He’s not dead yet,” I told Skye, who came skittering to a stop behind Maverick.
He gave me a sharp nod before turning to the unconscious body on the floor.
Pulling out a knife from his utility belt, Skye straddled Belding and gripped his hair, pulling his head up.
He slapped him hard enough that blood shot out of his mouth. I looked away.
“C’mon, Brooks. Let’s get you out of here. We need to get you looked at.” I nodded, all but falling into Maverick.
“Shoulder’s fucked up,” I slurred. “Room’s spinning.”
“Rest, brat. You did the hard work. We’ll take care of the rest.”
That sounded good, but I didn’t get to say anything before my eyes rolled into the back of my head and I collapsed.