Page 96 of Skin Deep

I shook my head. He’d said he’d see us at the climax, and I had assumed that meant he’d be back when the operation got started. So far, there’d been no sign of him. He was the sort who came and went as he pleased, though, so it wasn’t particularly concerning that we hadn’t heard from him. I wouldn’t worry unless he disappeared for more than a few days. Then I’d have to go looking.

“You know Shepherd,” I said with a shrug. “He’s probably playing with his food.”

A loud shot rang out and my back stiffened. It was followed by several more loud gunshots. They were so far away, though, that it sounded more like popcorn popping than gunshots. The firing lasted about two minutes before it all died down. There was one final shot that was even louder than all the rest before noise came over the intercom in the van.

I rolled the door open in time to hear Church say, “All clear.”

Pax climbed out, shouldering his bat, with Leo behind him.

“Stay,” Leo said to Xavier as if my brother were a puppy. “And don’t touchanything.”

Xavier gave Leo a grin and a salute.

Leo sighed and closed the van door, muttering to himself in Spanish. “The rest of you stay behind me and keep your heads down.”

Crickets chirped in the tall grass as Leo led us through the trees. The gun in my hand felt strangely light, almost as if I’d been handed a toy gun, but I knew it was real. Despite my distaste for firearms, I’d handled plenty of them. It wasn’t just the gun that didn’t feel real, though. Everything was off, even the sound of my own heart beating in my ears.

We came to a small rise and Leo lifted a fist, indicating we should halt. I straightened to glance over Leo’s shoulder, getting my first look at the carnage below.

Nestled in the small clearing was a little hunting cabin, probably barely big enough to house three men. Bodies lay strewn all around it. Red splattered the green leaves and the walls. There were bodies lying in twisted, unnatural positions and bodies slumped over in tree stands all around. Boone’s men were picking up corpses and dragging them onto a black tarp that’d been laid out and staked to the ground, but Boone himself must’ve been inside. I didn’t spot him anywhere outside.

After pausing a minute, Leo lowered his hand and we moved on, winding down the small hillside into the clearing.

“Any trouble?” I asked as we came closer to Church, who was overseeing the bodies.

He shrugged. “A particularly feisty squirrel spooked one of Ragnar’s hounds, but not from these knobs, no. Commander has your package inside. All tied up in a nice pretty bow.” He smirked and waved us on.

Leo nodded and went to push open the door. He checked right and left, acknowledging whoever was inside before stepping back to hold the door for us.

The air inside of the cabin was musty and laced with the acrid stench of viscera. I saw why almost as soon as we were inside. There was a body propped against the wall next to a window, his head missing a sizeable chunk.

Sergei sat in the center of the room, tied expertly to a wooden chair. Blood dripped down the front of him from a broken nose that was rapidly swelling. True to Church’s word, Boone stood beside Sergei, a gun pointed at his head, which was now home to a large, pink satin bow.

“One mafia motherfucker, gift wrapped, as agreed,” Boone said with a small dip, mimicking a curtsey. “He’s all yours.”

“Warrick,” Sergei spat, panting. “Still too much of a coward to come for me yourself?”

I crossed the floor to come stand in front of Sergei. He didn’t look so intimidating now. He looked like nothing. It was hard to believe such a small man was capable of terrorizing so many. Every pull of oxygen into his lungs was a waste. “Says the coward who went to ground the moment there was trouble.”

He spat blood on my Kevlar vest. “You always did think you were better than me.”

I backhanded him so hard my knuckles throbbed. “Iambetter than you. I have everything you ever wanted, Sergei. Money. Power. Status. Family. Love.”

“Love?” He laughed, showing bloody teeth. “Oh, War. You’re not better than me. Deep down, we’re the same, you and me. The only difference is you cut up entitled bitches for money and I do it for fun.”

“That why you killed your mother?” I spat.

Sergei’s laughter cut short, his smile twisting into a sneer. “That stupid whore deserved what she got. They all did.”

I squeezed my hands into fists. The fucker was proud of what he’d done. He was going to sit there, minutes from death, and brag about it? I’d done a lot of twisted things, but I wasn’t like Sergei.

Sergei grinned. “Come on, War. Kill me. Cut me up. You know you want to. I deserve it.”

Pax’s hand came down on my shoulder and I instantly relaxed.

I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “You do. You deserve to have your face peeled off and for the rest of you to get an acid bath. If it were up to me, that’s exactly what you’d get. Unfortunately for you, it’s not up to me.” I turned away.

“You’re not even man enough to kill me yourself?” Sergei shouted as I walked away. “Fucking pussy.”

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