Chapter Thirty-One #2
Dominic nodded, but Ash was still focused on the map. “May I see this?” he asked Carson, reaching for the tablet. Once it was in his hands, he paced back and forth, the tablet resting on his hand while he scratched his short beard with the other.
“What is it, Doss?” I asked, moving to him.
“Location A is a trap.”
Grayson and I shared a look. “How do you know?”
“This building is empty.” He looked at Agent Carson. “How long has Maxwell owned this property?”
Before she could answer, Gray had the folder open, his eyes scanning the pages. “Address?”
“It’s 378 Morgan Dr.”
“He purchased the building three years ago, but it’s been unoccupied since 1998.”
I looked up at the ceiling, pieces finally clicking. “Gordon didn’t take her for revenge,” I said, my voice growing darker with each word, “he took her because he wants her.”
Something hot stabbed me in the chest then, searing my heart as a primal feeling stirred.
He can’t have her.
Ash nodded. “He wouldn’t waste his time taking her to an empty building.”
“His main goal isn’t to scare her,” Dominic added, looking at his shoes. “He wants to woo her.”
I ran a hand over my face. “I’m gonna have to kill him.”
“The two pieces of gum you shoved into your mouth told us that already, Mitchell,” Ash drawled.
A throat cleared and we all looked over to the agent. Her eyes were wide and all the color had drained from her face. “Uh, Mitchell, you can’t do that.”
I said nothing, staring at her.
When it came to Margo, I would do whatever I had to, including taking another life.
Ash clapped his hands. “Well! Let’s get this show on the road, kids! The playground isn’t going to be open all night, and we have some ass to beat.”
“What did I just say?” she snapped, folding her arms over her chest. Her eyes shot to mine. “If you find Gordon Samson, he is to be brought in. Arrested, not executed.”
Ash waved his hand over his shoulder and Dominic stepped up to her, his dark eyes shining with anger. “We don’t take orders from you.”
“Easy,” Grayson murmured.
I said nothing and pulled down my mask. “Let’s go.”
Twenty minutes later, we watched Ash pull the pin from the grenade he “borrowed” from the field office and launch it into Gordon’s driveway.
Fucking hell.
“That wasn’t part of the fucking plan,” Dominic clipped, shutting his vehicle door.
Gray had parked across the street—per Ash’s request. The neighborhood was isolated, on one of the many islands surrounding the city, and Maxwell owned five acres on either side of the house.
The local police department had sent out evacuation phone calls to the two other homeowners on the island when we were en route.
I rolled my neck, keeping my eyes on the explosive as it flew through the air, my AR against my chest. It landed between a few SUVs and rolled under a vintage white Lamborghini parked by the front doors.
The men standing guard at said doors of the mansion scrambled, screaming and running in all directions. We all looked over to Ash in silence.
“Huh,” he grunted, tilting his head to the side. “That’s never happened before.”
Grayson looked at the dark sky, sighing behind his mask. “At least twice a year, I regret hiring this motherfucker.”
I let out a sigh, scanning the area, narrowing my eyes behind the mask.
“What the fuck kind of knock-off grenade was that?” Ash bellowed, throwing his hand out. “Government issued, my ass. I can find better shit on the black market.”
“Why haven’t we been shot at yet?” I asked, ignoring him.
I’m coming, Temper. Stay angry and fight for me.
Dominic was checking his pistol, lifting it close to his masked face. “The two men at the door weren’t armed, but now we can’t enter from the front because of this dipshit.”
Ash turned to him, and I could see his irritation through his mask. “I was trying to create a diversion.”
“No, you were trying to blow shit up.”
“Same thing.”
“Would both of you shut the fuck up?” Grayson growled.
Dominic sheathed his weapon and gestured to the side yard. “We enter from the back; they’ll be expecting that. We could enter from the roof, but that takes time we don’t have.”
“They’ll be expecting anything now because our presence was announced by a retired Navy SEAL launching a dud grenade into the driveway without prior approval,” I explained, voice distant as I checked out the windows. “None of the lights are on upstairs.”
Grayson clicked his tongue. “He most likely has her underground and is making plans to move her.”
“All right. Well, they’re going to start shooting at us soon. So what’s the plan?” Dominic pressed.
Grayson turned his head to me, waiting.
“My plan was to drop every single body on my way to Margo and then drop whoever gets in my way on the way out,” I told them.
“Who doesn’t love a mass murder on a Tuesday?” Ash mumbled, shaking his head at the driveway.
“I’m seconds away from firing you,” Grayson threatened.
“Fire me after we get Margo back.”
“I’ll lead,” I stated. Just as I lifted a foot off the ground, the grenade finally went off.
All four of us snapped our heads in that direction, the boom hitting our ears.
The Lamborghini shot into the air and landed on its side.
The three front windows of the house exploded.
The left column by the door was on fire, the flames rising higher by the second.
Ash chuckled. “Back to plan A.” He jerked his chin to me. “Got your six. Let’s move.”