26. Chapter 26
Queen Adanna
The rain was coming down heavy over Tulsa, slicking the cracked pavement outside the two-story trap house.
Dame had insisted on coming along, but I set him straight before we even stepped out of the car.
I told him straight up that if he got shot and died out here, I was going to beat his ass when we got home.
The play was supposed to be simple: Nyah was sitting on the block in the getaway car, ready to move. Kandi was positioned to take out any stragglers while Dame and I went inside to retrieve the stolen kids. But the moment we breached the back door and cleared the ground floor, something felt off.
No guards.
No noise.
Just static white noise coming from an old television set in the corner.
We moved up the rotting wooden staircase, checking room after room, but we couldn't find a child.
"They aren't up here," I muttered under my breath. My skin crawled with a bad gut feeling.
Before we could double back down the hall, a heavy metal drop-grate slammed down over the stairwell behind us, locking us into the upper corridor.
A pair of bright lights flashed through the dirty windows as armed men came out of the shadows.
Down below, through the floorboards, we heard the distinct sound of a struggle.
Kandi had been ambushed, pinned down at gunpoint, and now five heavy-set guards had us fully cornered against the sealed hallway wall with automatic rifles leveled straight at our chests.
A skinny, twitching thing lurched out from the bedroom.
He resembled a creature starved of daylight.
His spine was hunched, and his frame kept twitching under a grime-caked tank top.
Sunken, bloodshot eyes darted wildly in his skull, while his pale skin clung so tightly to his cheekbones he looked like a living corpse.
Yellowed, rotting teeth split into a grotesque, unnerving grin as his dirty, scabby fingers clawed at the air before settling onto the grip of his rifle.
"Drop the irons and strip," he rasped. "All of you."
Dame snapped, stepping in front of me with his jaw locked tight. "You got me fucked up—"
Before he could finish, the leader whipped the butt of his rifle sideways, cracking me across the cheekbone. The impact sent a sharp burst of red through my vision. When Dame shoved the man in pure rage, two guards slammed their gunstocks hard into his back, forcing him down to one knee.
Dame didn't stay down. He surged back up, throwing his elbows and taking blows, and kept swinging anyway. He was taking hit after hit, ignoring the gunstocks raining down on his shoulders. Something inside my chest lurched at the sight.
"Stop!" I yelled.
Kandi’s eyes were darting wildly around the tight hallway, desperately trying to find an angle or an escape route for us, but there was no room to move. Before she could find an opening, three heavyset guards tackled Dame, pinning him face-first onto the wooden floorboards.
Smeagol lurched closer, and his bloodshot eyes widened as he took me in. "You are so fucking pretty," he rasped. "Get naked. I wanna see some titties."
He was intentionally trying to get a rise out of Dame, and it was working. Dame was losing his mind beneath the three men sitting on his back. The veins bulging against his neck were about to burst. My mind seized, we were outnumbered. I knew I had to act defeated to buy us a second.
I smirked, stepping into my Kandi 2.0, putting on a compliant act.
"Okay," I said softly, wiping a trickle of blood from my lip. "I'll show you what you want to see."
Smeagol got hyped, and started bouncing on his toes. "I wanna see some ass before your man gets hurt!"
"Adanna, you better fucking not!" Dame fumed from the floor, roaring through his teeth as he tried to fight against the heavy bodies holding him down.
"Calm down," I said, looking down at Dame before turning my focus back to Smeagol. I started untucking my shirt, drawing every single pair of eyes in that hallway straight to me.
Fine," I breathed out, trembling and appearing helpless to hold their attention. "I'll do anything for you to let my friends go."
I put on a masterclass of a show. I let my shoulders drop before my eyes welled up with fake tears. I appeared to be a scared, hopeless woman backed into a corner.
Through the tiny earpiece concealed in my ear, Jade’s voice suddenly exploded in a panic. "Fuck! What is going on?! The coordinates said it was an easy shot! Chief didn't put any of this on the report!"
Jade started cursing up a storm, her keys clicking furiously over the comms line.
"Relax," I muttered out loud, letting my voice sound small and terrified so the guards thought I was begging them, but really I was telling Jade and the team to hold tight.
I unclipped my tactical vest, letting it drop to the floor. Slowly, trembling as if I was terrified out of my mind, I reached down and began pulling my shirt up over my stomach, exposing skin and playing the part until everyone’s eyes were locked onto me, practically drooling.
That split-second distraction was all Kandi needed. She snatched her sidearm and dropped two of the bodies.
I whipped out my waist knife, and shoved the blade into Smeagol's face, driving it deep through his jaw before he could scream.
I yanked my suppressed guns off my belt, and put a few slugs in the bodies sitting on top of Dame while Kandi handled the rest. Then, I kicked their limp weight off of him with my boot.
Dame exploded up off the floor, grabbing the last man by the throat and slammed him into the wall with enough force to rattle the plaster clean off the wall.
Kandi and I stepped back, lowering our weapons and standing by while Dame unleashed on that man.
He brought a right hook straight across the guy's jaw, following up with a barrage of bare-knuckle drives to his ribs and stomach.
The sound of cracking bone echoed down the narrow space.
The man dropped to his knees, coughing up blood, but Dame wasn't even close to done.
He hauled him up by his shirt and drove a heavy boot into the man's chest, sending him crashing backward through the drywall.
Dame hovered over his bloody body, stomping his heavy boot directly into the man's face. My man went off.
"You was looking at my wife, mothafucka?!" Dame roared, and his voice was booming off the walls. He slammed another heavy kick straight into the guard's ribs. "Nobody fucks with my baby! You ugly-ass, bitch-ass, pussy-ass sucka! Weak as a bitch when you ain’t got no help, huh?"
He stomped him out three more times for good measure until the guard stopped moving entirely, and his face was caved into the splintered floorboards.
Kandi and I eyed each other across the dim hallway, sharing a quiet nod of approval. We didn't even care to waste another bullet; Dame had the whole situation completely handled.
Okay, then handsome.
While Dame stood over the unconscious body, I reached up to tap my earpiece to check back in with Jade.
"Jade, where are the kids?!" I barked into the comms as I yanked my vest back on.
"Sub-basement!" Jade clicked through frantically. "Hidden access beneath the kitchen pantry!"
"Get the perimeter clear!" I yelled to Kandi and Dame.
I raced down the stairs, and kicked the pantry door completely off its hinges.
Two armed men turned toward the noise, but I took them both out with two rapid double-taps to the chest before they could raise their barrels.
I shot the lock off the heavy storm cellar door and kicked it open, stepping low into a crouch.
I squatted inside the dim space and flashed my light.
Dozens of young kids were huddled together against the concrete wall, crying and shivering in the damp dark.
I stepped low into the dark sub-basement, softening my posture and keeping my voice gentle.
"Hey, you guys," I said quietly. "We're here to send you back home. So, we gotta go."
The children huddled tight against the damp concrete wall, not moving out of their spots. Their wide, terrified eyes staring up at me were too scared to move a muscle.
I gave them a small, encouraging smile, keeping my tone light. "Now... I would love for us to take our time, but if you don't want your behinds spanked, I suggest y'all get upstairs."
That broke the freeze. The kids scrambled up off the floor and rushed forward, but I held up a gentle hand to keep them moving.
"Keep going," I urged softly. "Go on, hurry!"
hey sprinted past me, racing up the basement steps into the hallway, where Dame and Kandi guided them out just as Nyah pulled the getaway rig right up into the muddy front yard. The kids piled into the back doors, but the sound of heavy engines roaring down the road echoed in the distance.
"There's more cars coming," I reported into the comms as I made my way up the steps. "Jade, you got any heat sensors from them?"
Her keys clicked rapidly on the line. "I got six guns arriving in two SUVs," Jade replied instantly. "They're pulling up front right now!"
"Load the kids and get them out of here!" I ordered Nyah and Kandi.
I turned on my heel and sprinted straight up the stairwell all the way to the top floor. I opened the roof hatch and climbed out into the heavy rain. I scrambled to the edge of the flat roof, laying against the surface as two black SUVs screeched to a halt in the driveway below.
Six heavily armed enforcers stepped out of the vehicles, raising their weapons toward the getaway car.
I took a slow breath, aligned my sights through the downpour, and pulled the trigger.
Twhip. Twhip. Twhip.
Twhip. Twhip. Twhip.
Twhip. Twhip. Twhip.
I worked the recoil as I took them out one by one. Every man hitting that driveway dropped dead onto the mud before they realized the gunfire was raining down from above.
When the last body went completely still, I lowered the smoking barrel, wiped the rainwater off my face, and spoke into the comms.
"Perimeter clear. Get those babies on the plane."