Chapter 36 #2
They’re both dressed in all black, carrying different weapons as they stalk toward the house.
There’s no denying Cormac looks far more comfortable with a knife in his hand than Skyler does, but they’re both terrifying in their own way.
I almost think Skyler would probably have better luck with his bare hands than with a weapon.
Skyler walks up to the front door, but Cormac slinks off into the shadows to the side of the building, probably to get a better vantage point. His leaving my line of sight makes terror bubble up in my stomach.
Skyler opens the door, walks inside, and disappears from that camera view, only to reappear on another as he slowly walks through the front entrance, crouching slightly and pausing to listen for something.
Movement on an upstairs cam draws my attention as Cormac appears at the window to his bedroom, sliding it open and landing lightly on the carpet just inside, stopping to do the same as Skyler.
And there’s Steele, tearing through the kitchen, leaving destruction in his wake.
Skyler gets his eyes on him first, and Cormac slowly stalks through the bedroom, moving like an apparition through the hallway, pausing at the top of the stairs.
Skyler calmly walks into the kitchen, waiting for Steele to notice him.
When he does, he places his hands on his hips, narrowing his eyes and stopping his search.
I wish I had audio.
Not knowing what they’re saying is driving me insane.
All I know is that Skyler is keeping the same attitude he always does. Nonchalant to the point of coming across completely arrogant, leaning against the wall and pretending like he wasn’t terrified, yelling at me to hide 20 minutes ago.
And Cormac is at the top of the stairs, waiting for something.
I don’t know what drives me to do it, but I shoot off a text to him, alerting him of their location.
He probably knows.
He’s better at this shit than anyone.
Why would I do anything to help him?
But the text is off anyway.
He glances down at his phone, and his response comes seconds later.
Are you worried about me, Bunny?
No.
I just need you guys to get out of this alive so I can kill you myself.
I don’t bother texting him back. I gave him the info I wanted to, now I can just… I’ll just sit here and see how it all plays out.
Why are Skyler and Steele just standing there talking? What are they talking about?
Why isn’t anyone doing anything?
What are they all waiting for?
I know they’re armed. All three of them have to be.
Is it just a metaphorical standoff to see who breaks and pulls the trigger first?
Another man suddenly appears at the front door. One I don’t recognize.
Without a second's pause, I warn Cormac.
Man. Front door.
Armed?
Not that I can see.
After a few seconds, the front door opens, and the man sneaks in quietly, likely trying to get the drop on Skyler with no idea that Cormac is also in the house.
Cormac leaves the view I have, the absence of him in my sight leaving my skin prickling with fear.
The man creeping towards an unsuspecting Skyler also disappears from the camera angles, and I wait for him to reappear in the next one. After three full seconds, he doesn’t, even though there's almost no space left unsurveilled by cameras. Where the hell did he go?
Rather than him ever showing up, Cormac reappears upstairs, looking far more fearsome than I’ve ever seen him.
His hands and face are splattered with blood that definitely wasn’t there a second ago.
He looks every bit the killer they claim him to be, and he did it all so silently that neither Skyler nor Steele even noticed anything was amiss.
With his blood-soaked fingers, Cormac wiggles his fingers at the hidden camera in a playful wave.
I’m both terrified of him and completely, utterly enraptured. He’s unnervingly hot, even soaked in blood.
Fuck, he might even be hotter with a layer of crimson staining his fingers and splattered across his beautiful face.
Asshole.
Skyler and Steele remain in the kitchen, but something has changed. The energy between them has grown, leaving Skyler’s posture tense and furious. Even when he’s in the ring fighting, he isn’t this rigid, almost shaking with the intensity of his anger.
Steele throws a glass mug that Skyler barely dodges, letting it crash against the wall behind him.
In the few seconds his focus is no longer on him, the officer pulls his gun from his belt, pointing it directly at Skyler.
On instinct, he puts his hands up in surrender. Skyler might be a hell of a fighter, but a pair of fists isn’t gonna do much against a man with a gun that has no qualms about getting his hands dirty.
I can’t hear it go off, but the bright spark and blood splattering through Skyler’s shoulder onto the wall behind him are enough to know Steele isn’t hesitating or holding back.
It shouldn’t be a kill shot, but the next one could very well be.
Cormac abandons all hope of being subtle or sneaky, running down the stairs and into the kitchen.
He finds the scene unfolding, and again, I wish I could hear any of what they’re saying to understand what the hell is happening.
The only thing I can understand is that Benjamin Steele is standing there, pointing a gun at Cormac, yelling something at him, and Skyler is in agonizing pain, using the wall to support himself as he holds onto his shoulder with his other hand, blood pouring from the wound in sickening spurts.
Looking at the situation before me, my stomach fills with knots.
Skyler is going to be completely useless with a bullet wound in his shoulder. Cormac might be insanely talented with a knife, but he’s way too far from his target to be able to use it. There's no way for them to get out of this alone.
If I open the door, there’s a slight chance I’m giving a dirty cop the keys to everything Cormac and Skyler have ever done.
But if I don’t, there’s not a doubt in my mind he’s going to kill them.
Texting either one of them right now to let them in on my plan would be foolish. Distracting either one of them with a text would be the absolute dumbest thing I could do.
Well, second dumbest. Behind what I’m actually about to do.
Before I can make a decision, I watch another shot spark out of Steele’s gun and abandon all rational thought, readying to flee from the safe room as Cormac collapses and Steele approaches him.