Chapter Twenty
C row was in place when Rebel and Angel walked along the path that led to the back wall.
Dressed all in black with a hooded mask, Crow was all but invisible. He thought back over the conversation with Real. He would bide his time and wait, and someday he was going to come back and put an end to Lincoln.
But not tonight.
Tonight, he had to get Rebel and Angel out of there and to the safety of the hotel.
“Psst.” Crow made sure the sound traveled the distance between them.
Rebel’s eyes landed on him, even though he was hidden. The young assassin was that good and pride filled Crow.
Rebel and Angel kept moving toward where he was perched on the top of the wall. Crow had had to cut away the barbed wire that ran along the top of the wall and dismantle two cameras, but that had been child’s play.
“Hey, you made it.” Rebel smiled up at him.
“Of course,” he said roughly and leaned over the wall, reaching both hands down.
Rebel lifted Angel up and Crow snagged the girl beneath her arms. He hoisted her up to the top of the wall.
“What’s going on over there!” a voice shouted from down the path.
They were out of luck and time.
“Go!” Rebel hissed and ducked back into the bushes.
Crow lifted Angel onto his back and forced the girl’s arm around his neck. She did one better and wrapped her legs around his waist, clinging like a spider monkey on his back. Crow was down the other side of the concrete wall in seconds. He jumped the last few feet and took off running.
Reaching a storm drain he had scoped out earlier, he lowered her to her feet.
“Stay here.”
She was scared and soft sobs came from behind the hands she had pressed to her mouth.
When he stepped away, she grabbed ahold of him.
“I have to go back for Rebel. We’ll be right back.” He promised her with a slight squeeze on her shoulder.
Melting into the dark, Crow returned to the wall, just as one of Lincoln’s men dropped over.
Crow swung the knife and jabbed it three times into the side of the man’s throat. He stepped on the body and used it as a launching pad to quickly leap back up the wall.
The pathway below into Lincoln’s property was empty.
Rebel had vanished.
Don’t panic, he reasoned to himself. Rebel could have wrapped back around to shake someone off his tail.
All Crow could do was wait, but that lasted for about sixty seconds.
Fuck this.
Crow slipped over the side of the wall and dropped soundlessly to the path below. He followed that around the property until he drew near the house.
Two men stood on guard. They came at him simultaneously but it was too late, Crow was too close for them to do much but deflect.
Crow slapped the first gun away with a move that loosened the man’s grip and the weapon went flying. The other man’s gun lifted and fired with the soft snick of a silencer.
The bullet missed because Crow was already moving. He snapped out and disarmed the man.
“You fuck,” the guard said with a snarl and launched at him just as the other one charged.
Crow withdrew his blade and moved methodically.
A dance of death.
Every movement was precise. Every strike of his knife was done with cold precision.
Delivering three quick jabs to one man’s kidneys, Crow dropped low and sliced the back of the other man’s knee. The open artery sprayed the cobblestone. Crow moved and jabbed upward. Avoiding their fists, Crow shoved his blade beneath the one guard’s chin, pulled it out, and spun away. The second guard’s throat was slit before Crow moved to the dead bodies.
It had taken him too fucking long to neutralize the threat.
Of course, he could have used his gun with its twisted on suppressor, but in close combat, he preferred his blade. What he really favored were his short swords, but he hadn’t been able to bring them on this trip.
Dragging the two men off the path and into the dirt, Crow left them piled on top of one another. He slipped through the garden shrubs and stayed off the pathway as he headed toward the house.
The thirteen-million-dollar home that sat in the Hollywood Hills was a modernist mansion with panoramic views that included the Pacific Ocean. The place was fucking huge with three levels above ground and fuck knew how many below.
If he had to, he would kill them one at a time until he found Rebel.
That was when he heard Rebel talking.
“So, Angel just ran up to change into something warmer,” Rebel said.
Crow slipped closer and caught sight of another guard. He palmed his knife but waited.
“Tell Angel to meet me by the fountain, she wants to throw pennies again,” Rebel said and gave the guy a wave.
Crow eased back and spun, then he backtracked the way he’d come, keeping his eyes on Rebel, who walked along the path.
As soon as Rebel rounded the far bend of the path and was out of sight of the house and guard, Crow yanked the younger man into his arms.
Rebel threw his arms around his neck and held on tightly.
“Let’s get out of here,” Crow said, his voice gruff and hoarse.
“Music to my ears,” Rebel whispered.