Page 6 of One Rule

“Not me. I worked as a clerk of the courts.” A lie that ends with a hiss of pain. He worked in corrections along with Alfred, and that’s how they managed to get criminal connections. “After the business tanked, I became a Dade County employee. Was there for a few years before I was let go unjustly.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Yes. I’d never lie.”

“And what did you take?” I’m forcing back the need to slit his throat or maybe empty a clip inside his chest. Because if I was angry before, this incinerates any rationality I have left. No one touches her family: mother, brother—her politician father with self-righteous tendencies that often times leads down the wrong path. His greed formoreblinds him, but it’s her love for themallthat protects them. “Answer me.”

“A safety deposit box from the Allura condominium.” Struggling through each word, he pushes himself up and into a kneeling position, hands held up in supplication. They tremble, as does the rest of him. “That’s all I was hired to take. I swear it.”

“How long ago was this.”

“Two months ago. We made sure no one was inside.”

Before Liliana moved in.Thecould’ve beenin Herbert’s answer incinerates my blood—rationality—and my next question is grit out slowly. “Who ordered the hit?”

“I don’t know.”

“Now really isn’t the time to test my patience, Mr. Mullaney.” Before I’m done speaking, Isaac’s beside him, ready to strike again, but stops at the shake of my head. Instead, I quickly glance at Alfred, and he understands the silent request.

Between him and the other guard, they drag Alfred over—fighting and thrashing—and force him to stand a few feet from his beaten friend. That’s where he now cries, and with a gagged mouth, watches. Has a front-row view of what I will do to him at some point unless he can change my mind.

Because the name Celia Armas changed everything.

Liliana, her daughter, controls me.

One will die. One will live.

“Asking too many questions can get you killed in this business. I’m only given the target’s name, the item description for pickup, and then payment after it’s handed over.” As Herbert speaks, the scent of piss reaches my nostrils and I find a puddle growing beneath his body. It mixes with the blood already staining my floor while reaching his friend's feet, soaking the bare skin and bottom of his pants. “I’ll give you everything…the money, too, if that’s what you need. Just let me leave.”

“You didn’t deliver the safe?”

“No. The customer paid, but then told me to hold on to it.”

“Male or female?”

“Male.”

“Thank you for your cooperation.” Before his next inhale, I pull out my favorite butterfly knife from my back pocket and flick it, then my wrist. The sharp blade embeds into Herbert’s forehead. He falls back immediately; it doesn’t go in deep enough to kill, but I remedy that by walking over as he screams from his position on the floor and stomping on the pearl-finish handle.

There’s a quick squelch and a little resistance because of his skull, but then all struggling ceases. His chest no longer rises. His eyes stare blankly at me as I stand to my full height.

Herbert Mullaney was useless to me and untrustworthy, but his friend can be subjugated. Alfred’s a spineless cunt, but a good father from the intel I’ve gathered. If nothing else, he’ll do what I ask to protect his children and their mother from having to bury him.

Within the span of a heartbeat, a horror-filled sound fills the space and it’s raw, full of so much fear and pain that I smile. Even behind the gag, Alfred’s fighting to be heard. To plead with me.

“Remove the rag,” I say, not turning around to face them. There’s movement behind me as one of my two employees does what I ask, and a second later, I hear a low prayer. A pathetic sob. “Speak up.”

“Please don’t kill me. I-I’m sorry…I’ll do whatever you want.”

“What could you possibly do for me?” This is a question I already know the answer to, but I’d like to think the idiot before me understands what led him here. The dead body sold him out to save his own flesh. “Convince me.”

“I know where Herbert keeps the customer database.”

“And…?”

“Mrs. Armas's belongings will be returned.”

“Not enough, Mr. Castillo. Those are items I can retrieve myself.” Bending, I grip the handle of my knife and with one sharp tug, yank it from the deceased asshole dirtying my floor. Blood drips from the sharp blade, and I stare at it for a few seconds before sliding my finger through the remaining wetness. “But there is something you can do for me.”

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