27. Dax
DAX
Ahand wrapped around my mouth and pulled me against their chest. My first instinct was to attack the person seeing as I was surrounded by the enemy, but two words set me at ease.
“Little rebel,” Sprocket breathed in my ear. “I’m going to lift you so you can get to the vent. We’ll distract Bane while you do what you need to do.”
Twisting in his hold, I slammed my mouth to his for a moment before starting to climb up his body. I just needed him to know I never doubted they would come for me. He nipped my bottom lip before sinking to his knees for me to climb on his back.
“The thing about lines, Bane, is that they can always be moved or wiped away entirely,” I shot back, making sure to be a little louder to help cover up any noise.
“You know there was a time when I drew the line at gutting a man to get what I wanted from him… let’s just say Toad wasn’t the first person I’ve done that to.
Boundaries are meant to be pushed and tested because sometimes they’re there just because we’re too scared to cross them.
Now our little game has been fun, but this cat is getting bored.
Sure you don’t want to come play with me before I make the next move? ”
Cognac stood behind Sprocket, watching the room Bane and four other men were hiding out in after I’d slaughtered three of them with an axe.
Let me tell you, that’s one messy way to kill people.
I’d always thought they made it super gory for the movies, but nope, that for sure is one method that isn’t for the faint of heart.
Using the panic from the lights going off after I’d recovered from getting electrocuted was simple as was getting back into the vents on the second floor through the bathrooms. I got to play pop goes the weasel, killing off one guy here or there, making sure they never knew where the next attack might come.
Why Bane came to the conclusion I was trying to keep them from the third floor, I don’t know, but that man took a heavy metal stool and bashed the fucking doors in.
He must have had a key for the rooms because when I finally got to the third floor, he had the door open and Abby with a gun to her head trying to get me to back down.
Unfortunately, for him, that wasn’t really in my nature to back down, and I was trying not to kill the women I spent time trying to save—it just seemed like such a waste.
Having spent quite some time in the air vents, I now got the feel for how they were woven throughout the building, so I knew this would connect me to the room they were hiding in.
If it hadn’t been for the sirens, I might have had a blood bath on my hands of Bane killing all the women to cover his tracks, but I think his hope was to use them as a bargaining chip.
That was until I threw a wrench in his plans and chased him out of the room with all the other women.
“You think I’m that fucking stupid to just walk out there for you to kill me?
” Bane growled. “I haven’t survived this world as long as I have pulling a stunt like that.
No, I think I’m going to stay safe and sound in here until the FBI breach the building, and then you have to leave since you’re on their ten most wanted list, yah crazy bitch. ”
I paused in the vent just before the opening to the room, gritting my teeth at the number of times I’ve been called a crazy bitch today.
Is it that men were just so stupid they couldn’t come up with something more interesting to call me?
I mean, come on, they could put all sorts of things together—cunt nugget, twatopotomus, cunt muffin, twatsical, bitch tits, and my personal favorite, thunder cunt.
Not that calling me any of these things would stop me from killing them, but it would at least show they made an effort to insult me rather than going with something so mundane.
Shifting myself so my feet were first, I checked to make sure the safety was off on the MP5 I had and my handgun had a fresh mag in it so I could easily clean up the stragglers.
“Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!” I yelled before kicking out the vent covering and dropping to the floor in a crouch already with my finger on the trigger, mowing down the idiots gapping at me.
Rolling to the left, I moved to where a few dead bodies were, using them as a shield to get a better angle on the ones still alive.
Dropping the machine gun, I pulled my 9mm from my thigh holster and picked off one more trying to run out the door, leaving me with dear old buddy, Bane.
His gun was up against Abby’s head making her cry even harder than she’d already been.
It really wasn’t a good look for her, but I had to appreciate she probably didn’t sign up for any of this.
“We meet again, Bane-boo,” I greeted with a saucy wink just to throw the guy off. “Let’s take bets… do you think I’ll be able to shoot you before you shoot me?”
“You might be good, but I don’t think you’re good enough not to hit her in the process, so I’ll take that bet and see you in—”
Bane never got to finish that statement as I pulled the trigger.
Abby screamed, clutching her shoulder as Bane released her, causing her to drop to the floor.
I let off two more shots—one to the heart and the last to the head—I really wanted to make sure he was dead.
Walking over to him, I peered down, his face still in a state of shock.
“You’re right, I was never going to make that shot without shooting her as well.
Good thing I know the best places to shoot people that won’t kill them or cause permanent damage. ”
Sprocket and Cognac rushed into the room, guns at the ready but dropped them when they saw I was the only one standing. Cognac let out a whistle as he took in the site. “Damn, loba, you made a mess.”
Shrugging, I stepped up to Abby and bent down in front of her. “Hey, I know your shoulder hurts like a bitch, but it will heal, and they’ll give you all the good painkillers for it. Who knows, you might meet some hot guy at physical therapy and make it all worth it.”
“He’s right, you know,” Abby sniffed, turning her gaze to me. “You’re one crazy badass bitch.”
Now the thing is when a woman says it that way to another woman, it’s absolutely the highest compliment that can be given. “What do you say about getting you out of here?”
Nodding her head, she let me pull her up and secure her arm around my shoulders as we headed for the hallway.
I didn’t think she’d like the idea of one of the guys touching her just yet, and I felt like it would give me protection against the FBI to have another victim with me.
I wanted so badly to ask them about Eagle, but I knew if they told me he was dead, I wouldn’t be able to hold myself back from heading right for Marco without a plan.
We still needed to take out the rest of the Mad Dogs, get back to the compound in case Toad wasn’t lying, and then deal with the De León Cartel.
First things first, though—get these women out of here because I still wasn’t sure I’d disabled the bomb, but I knew I cut off any power to the room along with their eyes on the place.
“Hey,” I paused, turning to the two of my men with me. “In this room, there are a bunch of drugged-out women we need to get out of here.”
Without even questioning me, they went to the room in question, helping me to relax, knowing they would do what they could.
On the second floor, I found Wes talking to Cam and another woman who I didn’t know dressed in an FBI windbreaker.
The moment they heard me, they snapped to attention with guns drawn.
“Whoa there, guys, it’s just little old me and my friend Abby,” I blurted, raising a hand to hold them off. “Any chance we might be able to get a hand with the other women up there? They’ve been drugged up so they can’t leave by themselves.”
“Of course, beautiful,” Cam assured me as he called for backup on the radio.
Wes tried to step in and take Abby from me, but she flinched away and curled herself against me like I was a shield. “I got this, Wes. I’ll be back once I get her out of the building.”
“I made sure we had a few ambulances diverted here,” the FBI lady shared. “Make sure you get yourself checked out before you drop dead losing that much blood.”
“Oh this… yeah, it’s not mine. At least I don’t remember getting shot. My head could have bled, but the majority of this is definitely not mine. Gutting someone isn’t really something you can’t do neatly, and I was in a hurry,” I rambled as the woman’s eyes got larger and larger as I spoke.
She turned to Cam, blinking a few times. “She’s not kidding, is she?”
“No, Egger, she’s dead serious,” Cam assured. “Dax didn’t become the queen of the Hidden Empire keeping her hands clean. Quite the opposite actually, but isn’t it a lucky thing she’s an asset for us in the FBI?”
I took that as my cue to leave, so I tugged Abby into motion as we wove our way around the dead bodies and blood pools on the floor making it slippery.
The glaze of being in shock coated Abby’s eyes, but I was just fine with that.
She’s going to have enough nightmares as it is after all this.
Just as we got to the ground floor, I found Void with his arms crossed, looking me up and down with a questioning eyebrow.
With a shake of my head, I told him it wasn’t mine and that I was fine, to which he narrowed his eyes but didn’t push.
FBI agents and S.W.A.T. were everywhere, cuffing those of the Mad Dogs that somehow slipped through our fingers, but I knew my hunt was far from over.
There was no more sneaking around. I’d cut the head off the snake, now it was time to burn the body and take out what was left.