Chapter 43
NERO
Iwas actually driving a bus.
With a goddamn gun in its holster strapped to my thigh.
This is insane.
“Slow down,” Dex said from his place, standing beside me like a human navigator app.
Only he didn’t really have a pinned location, and we’ve been driving around the more abandoned part of the forest near the beach for the past hour to find any sort of inconspicuous buildings that could be what we’re looking for.
Son of a bitch is way too good at this though, as I put the bus to a rolling stop, seeing the gray cement building on our two o’clock.
The structure was built like a cube, and from the size of it, it either has multiple floors inside, or fuckass high ceilings.
It was brutal. Simple. There wasn’t even a gate, or a barbed up chain-link fence around it. It was uninteresting enough not to draw attention, which was probably why it looked the way it did. To conceal the fucked-up things inside.
Dex grabbed mini binoculars from one pocket of his cargo pants, scoping the building, and his sharp intake of breath was a dead giveaway that this is The Nest.
“Two guards by the entrance, one roaming the back. All have weapons on them.”
Dex then handed me the binoculars, and he did it so casually that I didn’t have time to process how natural that felt until I was peeking through the holes, before handing them to Siege behind me like we’ve always been a team.
“Let me guess, there’s only three bad guys to neutralize, so I’m going to serve as the distraction,” Cosette said from her seat beside Siege.
“And your using ‘neutralize’ instead of ‘kill’ is enough for me to know that you really shouldn’t be doing anything but, sweetheart.”
Dex may sound like he’s teasing Cosette, but I know he’s worried sick just from the fact that she’s here.
Even without us three talking about it, I know we would all take on the more dangerous roles in this mission to avoid her being in the line if we could help it.
Cosette grabbed the binoculars from Siege, and she leaned forward, eyeing the place.
“You’ve noted the guys with the rifles, but you haven’t looked at the cameras, did you?” Cosette said, confidence dripping from her voice as she handed Dex back the binoculars.
At first, I thought he was angry that she had pointed out that he had missed such an important detail, with his clenched jaw and barely there growl.
Turns out, the sick fucker was just turned on, judging from C’s flushed cheeks and blown pupils.
“I taught you well,” he said, taking out his phone and getting to work.
It didn’t even take him five minutes, and a few clicks before he was saying, “I couldn’t access the camera feeds. That would’ve been helpful to get a feel of what’s inside, but the good news is I’ve got them looping. So, even if someone’s watching them, we’re safe to move.”
“What’s the plan then? Who gets who?” I asked.
“Dex is good with sneaky attacks. He can handle the guy at the back, and once he’s down, you and I will move through the back and get the guys by the front,” Siege said, standing up and opening the door to the bus.
“Distraction?” Cosette asked, hand raised by her face.
“No, little vixen. We don’t know if they’re ordered to shoot on sight. You can come inside, but always stay behind Dex or Combs.”
Combs? Since when did he start using C’s nickname for me?
With a nod, Cosette didn’t argue further. This may be the first time I’m joining them in their criminal shit, but she’s told me tales of why she believes she’s an honorary Azul by now.
It seems that while she knows she has us by our balls, when it’s a dangerous mission like this, she recognizes that she’s way out of her element and should listen to whatever the fuck Siege and Dex say that will keep her safe.
Heck, even I know that I should listen to the two if I want to come back home in one piece.
Dex led us in front, and it really helped that we’re doing this just as the sun was setting down because it provided us enough light, and at the same time, enough coverage that we can move through the shadows.
Siege picked up a rock from the ground, and when the guard was not looking, hurled it at a tree, until it caused some rustling that got the guy’s attention.
It was surreal seeing Dex work.
Up until this point, it was easy thinking about how we’re all doing this to help people by taking down the bad guys.
But once I’ve seen Dex sneak up to the guy while he was distracted, plunging his serrated knife into his neck and then pulling him towards the wall of the building and resting him there as blood continued to spurt out? I felt lightheaded.
C, the amazing woman that she is, caught my panic, and she immediately held my hand.
“Stay with me, for now,” she whispered to me before exchanging glances with Siege.
With a nod, I watch him silently run towards Dex, and they both round the building, simultaneously doing the knife-to-the-neck attack so easily to the two other guys.
My hand wrapped around C’s, squeezing, and I wanted to hold her, just drink some of her in to calm myself, but Dex was already making his signal for us to say that the coast is clear and we should head inside.
Hand in hand, embarrassingly feeling like Cosette was the one guiding me, we followed Siege and Dex to the entrance of the building.
“Combs, do you need a second?” Siege asked while Dex was holding a single cut-up finger, wiping the blood off it as he looked at the biometrics scanner on the side of the door.
I looked at Cosette’s worried face, and I thought about Callista. How scared and unhealthy she looked. Then I think about all the people that might be inside just like her, and I shake my head, taking my gun from its holster.
“No, I’m ready.”