Page 62 of Face

“I’m coming with,” she said.

I released her and looked down at her, gently gripping both her biceps. “No, you’re not.”

The stubborn set of her lips and the look in her eyes I’d already come to learn colored her features. “Yes, I am. I’m not gonna sit here and chew off all my fingernails while I wait for you to get back. All of this crap is because of me. My bad decisions to work for criminals and not care about anything but money. I want to help.”

“No,” I said. “It’s safer for you here.”

“I can take care of myself, and I want in on the revenge.”

I gritted my teeth. “Then you’ll wait in the van.”

Devon lifted her chin. “The hell I will.” She wandered into the bathroom and closed the door.

Shaking my head, I went into my closet and pulled out the tactical clothing and boots. She will wait in the van.

I powered up the burner phone and read the twelve text messages. There were two voicemails, each threatening her using voice-altering technology. I saved them and then set the phone down.

Devon came out of the bathroom smelling like toothpaste and still looking angry. I reached down, tore the T-shirt off over her head, and gripped her upper arms. “Get your ass into the shower. Now. Or no Dick for you.” I looked down at my raging hard-on. We just called him Dick now. So original.

With wide green eyes, she nodded and turned around, obeying like a good little girl. I could only hope she’d be that compliant later when she wasn’t threatened with not getting any D.

“She may be the stubbornest of all the old ladies,” Viper said, shaking his head.

“You’re telling me,” I muttered. “I can’t believe she agreed to wait in the van.”

Viper and I stood in Devon’s living room, armed to the teeth and dressed in our tactical gear. We’d been here three hours. Shadow and Venom were outside the building hiding in the shadows. Phoenix had a pre-arranged vacation planned with Jemini. He’d wanted to cancel it to help us out, but we told him it wasn’t necessary. This should be an easy enough job.

“I told Andy to text us if she leaves or tries to leave.” Viper walked over to the computer and shook the mouse.

I already had my hand covering my face because I knew what he was going to see. He laughed. “Someone’s a fangirl.”

“Trust me, I asked her to change it. She won’t.” I walked over to the workstation. “Do you need to look something up?”

“Nah, was just bored. Wanted to see what kind of stuff she had on here. So far, I can see she likes guys with six-packs and long walks on the beach.” He pointed to the monitor above it depicting a Hawaiian shoreline.

“Something like that,” I said, trying not to smile.

A noise from the back of the apartment caught out attention. Viper put his finger to his lips and raised his face covering. I raised mine and followed him. With our backs flat against the hallway wall right outside Devon’s bedroom, we could hear the window opening. I peeked quickly around the doorframe and saw a man jump inside from the fire escape and land on Devon’s bed. With his gloved fingers, Viper counted down from three. When he reached one, we stormed into the room. The man, who was just about to look in Devon’s closet with his gun drawn, was taken by surprise when I kicked the pistol out of his hand and it went clattering to the ground. He grunted in pain and then tried to scurry past us. Viper tackled him to the ground.

I pushed the com on my earpiece. “We’ve got one inside the bedroom.”

“He’s human,” Viper said, holding him down with his forearm across his neck.

“Human,” I added into the mic.

“We’ve got two sitting in a van on a side street. They’re wearing some kind of white masks,” Shadow said. “Devon says those are the masks they wear.”

“Apprehend them and bring them up here,” I said into the earpiece.

Viper stood and said, “On your belly, now. Hands behind your head.”

The man complied.

Viper activated his earpiece. “Bring Devon up with you.”

“Roger that,” Venom replied.

A few seconds later, we heard a gunshot. Within seconds, the front door opened, and we went into the living room, Viper grappled with the human before tossing him into a chair. Shadow and Venom walked in with two men in handcuffs Bloome had spelled so they were unbreakable. They wore clownish white theatrical masks, one with a frown, one with a smile. One had a long blond ponytail tied at the back of his head.

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