“Got it, Boss,” Carlos says, wiping the blood from his star and re-pocketing it with a smirk. “See you around front.”
I just shake my head and move out, leading Ivan to the corner. A quick peek tells me this will be just as easy as last time, except there’s a window at the front corner of the building. We’ll have to draw these two fuckheads toward us, and a rock toss is all it takes.
I almost laugh at how easy it is.
These two go down, one with his throat slit from behind, and the other suffers a little longer because I grab a broken piece of chain from the ground and wrap it around him from behind. The struggle is enough to make the monster pace in his cage. When they’re both down, we drag them around the back corner so they’re out of view. As we get to the front, I crouch low and take a peek inside the window. It’s a small room with this window and another facing the front on the other side of the door. Looks like it was a reception area to a business in its original form.
It’s fucking empty, though, which is a plus for us.
By the time our group rounds the corner, the last two guards are meeting their ends. One with a slit throat, courtesy of Angelo, and the other is rendered immobile by Carlos’ steel wire. It’s a favorite for him, wrapping it around someone’s throat so quickly and with so much force they can’t form a defense before they fade to black. Once he’s passed out on the ground, Carlos nudges Alessio and insists he make the final kill.
Practice makes perfect and shit.
“Drag them around the corner and let’s fucking move,” I order, motioning for Matteo to keep an eye on the window. “Every second we spend out here is another where Madeline is subjected to whatever the fuck is going on in there.” I pause while the bodies are dragged away, and after my men return, we form a small huddle. “I’ll take the lead. As we pass doors, start splitting off from the back to clear each room. We’ll get separated as we go, so stay alert through your headsets. Ivan and I will be working our way to the other side of the building. I want our presence kept under wraps as long as possible, so use your knives, fists, whatever until you hear the gunfire break out.”
I close my eyes, shutting off Dante Simone and allowing the monster free rein. “Watch each other’s backs, and kill every motherfucker you encounter,” I say, opening my eyes and turning to lead my men into war.
The front door is locked, and instead of blowing it to smithereens, Carlos slips down to his knees and pulls a nifty little kit from his pocket, picking the lock in no fucking time. Miami’s incompetence is staggering, and I begin to wonder if we’ll face any resistance at all. I mean, I know they have no fucking idea we’ve located them, thanks to my genius brother, but the basics of keeping guard are seriously fucking lacking here.
Just as we step inside, a single black car creeps up the long dirt drive. I point to Angelo and Luca. “Take care of them.”
I pause and watch through the window as Angelo swaggers his way across the lot. He’s acting like he owns the goddamn place as he directs the car to a stop. I chuckle under my breath and lead my men into the empty hallway. There are two doors on the right, presumably old offices, and a long rectangular glass window, about head high, running along the left.
As I crouch, my men follow my lead. This fucking complicates matters. One of the closed doors is in direct line of the window, and not knowing what’s on the other side of the window puts us in a predicament. But no sooner than I think that shit, does Cary step up. He whips one of his handy little handheld gadgets from his waist and moves to the door. In a matter of seconds, he has an antenna-looking thing extended and shoved under the crack.
After a tense minute, he withdraws it and mouths, “Clear.”
The next door is farther down the hall, past the window’s viewpoint, and Matteo moves to it immediately while the rest of us gather toward the end of the hall. There’re two thumps and a gurgle before Matteo rejoins us.
“Two down,” he says with an eyeroll. “Playing fucking cards.”
I nod, focusing on the hum of voices just around the corner. Cary once again moves forward with a different gadget in his hand. The seconds tick by as he does his thing, and the monster feeds on the anticipation that’s bubbling in my veins.
Cary finishes whatever the fuck he was doing and turns. “Looks like twenty-two armed men, Boss.”
“Madeline?”
He shakes his head, glancing apologetically to my brother. “She’s not in the next room.”
“Angelo,” I call through the headset. “You and Luca guard the building. It’s fucking on.”
“I got ya back, Boss.”
Without a word, I lift my MK 23 from its holster and attach the silencer, prompting my men who have silenced weapons to do the same. It won’t be enough to kill them all, but the delayed reaction will give us time to take down at least ten of those fuckers before they’re able to return fire. Ivan and Cary are only equipped with fully automatic Uzis, so I direct them to take up
