Chapter 33
Killian
Asher stops the SUV and I pull my ski mask back down into place, and turn to see him smiling at me.
“This is just like old times, huh?” I mutter, slipping on my gloves.
“Yup. I knew it was only a matter of time before the guns would come back out,” Asher says, shaking his head. “If only we were better at pretending to be civilized men.”
I roll my shoulders, turning my head back to him. “No one is really completely civilized. The people who trick others into believing they are, are usually the worst that civilization has to offer.”
“That’s a damn fact,” Malakai agrees from the back seat.
“Stay here and tell Davi to start the loop,” I tell them, picking up my pack from the passenger seat floor. “This shouldn’t take long.”
I climb out of the SUV and motion to the other SUV parked behind us to wait. I move alone through the trees until I see the spot that I want. I find a good position and crouch down on a bed of wet, dead leaves.
I take out my night vision binoculars and look around the property below me. I spot each of the three men that Ivan disclosed are always stationed outside of the house.
There are also security cameras on the inside, and around the perimeter of the McMansion, but Davi has already hacked into them. He is setting them all on a 15-minute loop of the same sequence just in case Dimitri or his bodyguard check them while we are here.
I put away my binoculars and get on my knees to assemble my rifle, then check my ammunition and scope before laying down on my pack. None of the guards outside are together, which will make it easier for me to pick them off without alerting the others to what is going on.
Inside the house there is only one more man, Dimitri’s personal bodyguard. Taking down these men outside should be the most difficult task.
I close my eyes and inhale a steady breath, then look through my scope and see the guard at the rear of the house pacing behind the back doors. My eye follows him with my finger resting on my trigger until he stops pacing to go into his pocket for something.
I exhale the breath I was holding and let my bullet fly through the air. He collapses in a heap on the concrete, dropping the phone he took out of his pants onto the ground.
I quickly move to the next guard on the side of the house, and then get up to position myself where I can take out the front man. I send up a silent ‘thank you’ to the powers above that Dimitri wasn’t wise enough to station anyone up on the roof.
I crouch down and swiftly disassemble my rifle, then head back the way I came to the waiting SUV’s. Asher unlocks the door and Malakai climbs out while I put my pack back inside of the car.
Asher regards me with a tense expression. “Good luck, boss,” he says.
“Thanks man,” I respond, before shutting the door and joining Malakai.
The doors of the SUV behind us open and three men get out all dressed in black attire like Malakai and I are. We have all worked together on a few different assignments from Lucian, and I knew that I could trust them to have our back tonight.
I figured that Dimitri would be living in a house this size with some kind of guards and security, so I wanted to be prepared. Even though Malakai and I have dealt with some tough situations on our own, tonight I know it’s better to be safe than sorry.
I promised Celani that I would come back to her and I don’t intend to let her down.
“We’re ready when you are, Kill,” Boden, the largest of our companions announces.
I look at Malakai and I can tell he’s more than ready for what’s next too.
“We go in with five, we come out with five, gentleman,” I say.
Everyone nods in agreement, unholstering their guns, and I turn to lead them through the trees.