“Should’ve brought some dog treats in case.”
“How ‘bout we just move in and see what we find?”
They quickly moved through the spacious yard, heading toward the back of the house. There was an in-ground pool, which also had a small fence around it. It didn’t take long to reach the back of the house.
“Back door?” Thrower asked.
“As good a place as any.”
Jacobs stood guard as Thrower bent down and started working on the lock. Thrower had it open in less than a minute. He gently pushed the door open and immediately removed his gun as the two of them entered the house. As they started going through the house, which was about four thousand square feet, they heard a noise.
“What’s that?” Thrower asked, stopping in his tracks.
“I didn’t hear anything.”
“Sounded like something walking.”
“Maybe it’s the giant dogs coming toward us.”
“Stop, it isn’t even funny.”
Jacobs smiled. “If people could see the big Nate Thrower, afraid of running into a dog.”
“Hey, not all dogs are friendly, you know.”
“Believe me, I’m aware.”
“Sounds like something scurrying toward us.”
They didn’t move for a few seconds, but there was no doubt something was moving in their direction. It sounded like something scratching on the floors, not too far away from them. It was definitely getting closer with each passing second.
It didn’t take much longer to find out what it was. About twenty seconds later, they ran into it. Two small white dogs started hopping up on their back legs, their front paws on the legs of Jacobs and Thrower, wanting to be pet.
“Wow, these little guys sure are vicious,” Jacobs said. Thrower gave him a look, before he reached down to pet the little dogs. “Poodles are known for their bite, too. I figure we got maybe five, ten seconds before they start ripping our arms off.”
“OK, OK, so they’re not quite as big and fierce as I was expecting.” Thrower pet them a few more seconds. “OK, guys, run along now. We got work to do.”
The dogs instantly ran off again.
“Feel better now?” Jacobs asked.
“A little.”
“C’mon, let’s keep moving. Berry’s gotta be upstairs.”
They continued moving through the first floor, trying to find the stairs. Once they did, they started climbing. Once they reached the top step, something hit Thrower hard on the head. He slipped on the top step, sending him sprawling down the steps.
Jacobs hurried onto the top step to face the direction the blow came from, but he got hit on the back of the head as well, from the other direction. Jacobs instantly fell to his hands and knees. He then got hit with another blow on the back of his head, sending him the rest of the way to the floor.
Then, what seemed like all the lights in the entire house, came on. Multiple people appeared from the shadows now, including the big one. Mallette came out from one of the upstairs bedrooms, walking towards Jacobs’ lifeless body. He stood over him, as some of Mallette’s men on the first floor grabbed Thrower by the arms.
“What do you want to do with him?” Selby asked.
“Take him into the room,” Mallette asked. “I wanna know who he is.” Mallette continued looking down at Jacobs, contempt in his eyes. “Get this piece of trash out of here. Take him in with his friend. Make sure they’re both tied up and can’t escape.”
Then Andrew Berry came out from one of the bedrooms, standing next to his boss. Mallette’s men picked Jacobs up and dragged him down the steps, taking him to the same room they were taking Thrower.
“I told you they would come here sooner or later,” Mallette said. “It’s a Jacobs staple. He gets in close with my lawyers. Always. Pumps them for whatever information he can. I knew this day would come. It always does.”
“You were right,” Berry said.
“It looks like Mr. Jacobs went to the well once too often this time. This time it’s gonna cost him his life.”
“What are you going to do with them?”
“What do you think I’m going to do with them?” A wide smile spread over Mallette’s face. “I’m going to kill them.”
Mallette started walking down the steps, Berry right behind him. As they made it to the bottom floor, and Mallette made his way to the guest bedroom that Jacobs and Thrower had been taken to, Berry was hoping not to get the room too messy.
“Couldn’t you just throw them in a car and take them to a swamp or something? I mean, I just moved in, I’d hate to get the room all bloody.”
Mallette stopped and turned to face his attorney. “I’m not moving them and giving them the chance to escape. We have them. We have them now. And now is the time where we must do what must be done.”
“Yeah, I get all that, but… it’s… I just moved in.”
“I’ll pay for the cleanup.”
Berry sighed, knowing he had no chance of winning the argument or changing Mallette’s mind. Mallette finally reached the bedroom, and stood in the doorway, seeing Jacobs and Thrower sitting next to each other, both tied to their respective chairs. It was a pleasing sight for him.
“Anything else you need, boss?” Selby asked.
Mallette smiled again. “No. Let the killing begin.”
10
Jacobs and Thrower both picked their heads up as they saw Mallette in the frame of the door. Mallette had a smug look on his face, as was usually the case when he had that sweet smell of victory in the air. He didn’t move as he stared at his two captives, content in how everything had played out to this point. It was just as he predicted. Just as he’d told Berry, he thought Jacobs would get around to this. He always did.
Jacobs tried moving his arms to break free, but they were restrained pretty tight. He wasn’t going anywhere unless the ropes were cut. He looked around, seeing a few other men in the
