Chapter 33 #2
Jace grins at me over his shoulder, his smile bright. I snort before settling my attention squarely on the remaining man. Mercer’s brown eyes—or at least the one he can see out of—narrowed, and it’s evident that he doesn’t trust us. That feeling is mutual.
“Want to tell us why you look like you escaped a horror movie?”
“No.” He pins me with a look so dark that it could make flowers wither, but not me. I shoot an equally menacing glare right back.
“Are you planning to kill us if we leave you unattended?” I ask bluntly.
“If I hurt you, Louhi will make me look far worse than I already do.” Good enough for me. I turn and stalk from the room with Jace on my heels. The more distance I can put between myself and Mercer, the better.
My shoulder throbs as I peel off the sling I’ve had my arm cradled in.
It’s abundantly clear that the file we were given at Exile Island that listed Mercer Koskinen as a notorious assassin is false.
That’s my girl. Which means the crimes attributed to Lou are his.
I’ll be damned if I’m going to be locked in this house with a known terrorist and not have full mobility.
The sling has been irritating me anyway.
The nurse is lucky I’ve worn it for almost a week.
My best friend follows me from the den that’s coated in dust, but the stale air has begun to clear out by the door having been open.
The wallpaper is outdated and peeling, and cobwebs haunt the small crystal chandelier.
The bones are good, though. The house has a cozy, warm energy, despite the neglect.
“Hey, man. You’ve got to see this,” Jace asserts.
I follow him down the hallway, bypassing the bedrooms I poked my head into earlier.
He swings open the door to the closet by the back terrace entrance.
He would find a hidden entrance to what I’m estimating to be a basement or possibly a tunnel to be interesting rather than creepy as fuck.
“Are you coming? Or is that too much for the big, bad Sean Diggory?”
I shoot him a glare that would melt anyone else’s skin from their bones. He simply chuckles as he flips the old switch on the wall. I’m halfway surprised to find that it’s operational.
I trail after him as we descend the old wooden steps. When I reach the bottom, I scan the massive space, and my eyebrows shoot to my forehead.
One half of the space is an impressive armory. The other is a fully outfitted gym with weights, huge mirrors, a sparring mat, and a heavy bag.”
“It’s so like Lou to have something like this.”
I snort. He has a point.
“And here I was, thinking I’d have to survive on pushups and crunches,” he adds, wandering over to the free weights.
I find myself approaching the limited armory.
While there’s space for additional weapons, there’s only a handful displayed on the wall now, each locked behind an individual glass case.
An AK-19 rests on pegs in the upper lefthand corner, but it’s the .
338 Lapua Magnum that catches my eye, knowing it’s Lou’s weapon of choice.
Below it are three handguns: a Glock 29, a SIG P320, and a Ruger Mark IV.
Unlike the other two, the Ruger is outfitted with a silencer and a scope.
It’s even sporting a barrel sleeve, which would make the weapon lighter.
It’s badass and I’m dying to try it out. I wonder if Lou would mind.
Unfortunately, I don’t have the keys to unlock the glass enclosures or the huge safe built into the wall. It’s clear Mercer didn’t bust into this stash himself, since the firearms are all still locked up tightly.
“This is the best room in this house,” Jace remarks as he appears at my side.
Pulling open a drawer that’s beneath the counter that sits below the rack of weapons, I smirk. “Easily.”
We’re both quiet as we take in the impressive display until Jace speaks, keeping his voice low, “Mercer’s missing ear…” he trails off, but he doesn’t need to continue for me to understand.
There was a portion of our interrogation training that included removing less significant, auxiliary body parts. Toes, fingers, arms, ears…
“I clocked that, too.” The state he’s in looks a bit too familiar for my taste. If he escaped the Fifth Special Forces Group, there’s a good chance they’re looking for him.
“I was so fucking relieved when we discovered him here, but seeing that wall made my stomach bottom out all over again. Think we’re safe here?”
I rub my jaw. “For now, probably.”
By the looks of it, Mercer’s been here for days, and if they haven’t caught up to him by now, that’s a good sign.
Desperate to think about anything other than the man upstairs, even if only for a minute or two, I lift the thermal rifle scope from its home in the drawer and hold it up to my eye. The army would kill to have this technology. This shit is sick.
He opens the drawer to the left and reveals a stash of tactical knives. “Damn, I think I’m in love with your girl.”
I force myself to chuckle, but it sounds strained and more of a growl than I intended as the pang of irrational possessiveness burns through my chest. I need to get a hold of myself. He was obviously kidding…right?
“Fucking chill, man,” Jace snickers, his palms in the air like a man pleading for mercy. “I’ll keep my hands on these toys while you keep your hands on her.”
I don’t comment and drag a hand over my face instead.
“By the way she’s got you all torn up, I think I’ll stick to casual sex. I wonder if I can bust out of here and check out the Russian girls in town.”
I laugh for real this time. “You may want to learn more words than the soap operas are teaching us first.”
The left side of his mouth quirks, his eyes brimming with the potential for mischief. “Are you kidding? Whatever the hell those guys are saying always gets them laid. I’m probably better off just memorizing those scripts.”
“I doubt whatever they’re saying is going to get you the version of sex you’re interested in having.”
“You’re right. I should probably start with memorizing how to say, ‘Will you scream and bleed for me?’ in Russian.” He adopts a shitty excuse for an Eastern European accent and waggles his eyebrows.
I throw my head back and laugh. “Do you think we were both born this fucked in the head?”
“Odd time for a nature versus nurture conversation, Digs.”
I clasp his shoulder. “I hear you on that. Let’s try to finish cleaning up before Lou gets home. Then we can figure out what’s going on with the dead man walking upstairs and get some much-needed rest.”