Page 43 of Static

"Took care of like six of them at once, though," he argued, lifting a gloved hand to point at the destruction he'd caused. There was still a pleased look on his face.

I shook my head hard, trying to dislodge the ringing so I could hear the rest of the fucking conversation. Someone's hand landed on my shoulder and I looked over at Rip. He wasn't screaming so I was only catching every third word. "...the...we...find..." He must have noticed as I squinted at his mouth, because he just started shoving me toward the barn.

Toxic, Hush, and Smoke were heading around to the back of the house to clear back there. Anyone inside the house was going to present themselves as a target for Priest's watchful eye, or burn to death.

Now was as good a time as any to search for the drugs. I just hoped they weren't inside the burning building.

CHAPTER 17

Static

Igripped my rifle with one hand and used the small knuckle on my pointer finger to dig at my ear while I flexed my jaw. It wasn't like I needed the damn thing to pop, but I couldn't hear shit. If I lost my hearing because of this I was going to beat the fuck out of Butcher. Sure, those assholes had piled out of the house at an alarming rate. Two had broken through windows on the lower floor, while another two squeezed through the door. I wasn't sure where the remaining two had come from, but I was the closest, as my damn near bleeding ear drums would indicate, and though I was a fucking sharpshooter, even I would have had a hard time nailing all six fast enough.

Butcher's grenade had saved me a bullet hole, or two. Didn't mean I wasn't going to bitch about the fact that he'd lobbed a grenade over my head. Anyone who's ever thrown one knows that unless you know the technique, the fuckers had a tendency to land directly in front of you. He could have blown my ass sky high. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised to find out he'd tossed more grenades than the rest of us combined.

We entered the barn, rifles raised, but only saw one guy, tied up in the corner, courtesy of Priest.

"That's it?" Toxic asked, walking in from behind us. The others followed him in. "Figured there'd be way more than that."

"Oh, thank fuck," I said, letting my rifle hang from its sling and resting my hands on my knees. My ears finally started working properly.

"What's wrong with you?" Butcher asked, a grin on his face.

"You stupid dick-"

"Not now," Lock barked. "We need to find the drugs and get out of here before the cops and the firefighters show up." He pointed toward the house, which was like a torch lighting up the night. "That's going to bring everyone here in a hurry."

"He was the only one in the barn," Priest called out as he climbed down from the loft.

"I'll question him," Butcher said, starting forward.

"How about someone who isn't going to just kill him rather than listen to his answers," Idaho suggested as he moved over toward the man. He yanked the cloth Priest had shoved in the man's mouth out. "Where are the drugs?"

"Over there."

We all glanced over. Lock picked up one of the bricks of cocaine and gave a disgusted grunt. "No way this is it." His eyes met mine. "Right?"

"Right," I answered, "Jerry would have told us if this was all there was. Besides, he got busted with more than is in this fucking barn right now." He'd been transporting a load across the city. In his car. Fucking stupid.

A cop had driven past, done a double take, and pulled him over. The cocaine bricks were just lying on the seats and floorboards in plain view. The only reason the little weasel was out after only a few months served was because he'd rolled over on the guy traveling with him before his partner could do the same. Since he had no priors, I'd managed to work a deal with the DA. With Fremont. We'd been on the same side three years ago. Or so I thought.

Idaho sighed. "Look. You can tell us where it is, or I can set this guy loose on you," Idaho motioned to Butcher.

The man eyed Butcher as our brother sat there, practically vibrating with the chance to wreak some havoc on the fucker. His eyes darted away from us and toward the back rolling doors on the barn. Then he looked down at the ground again, but every so often his eyes slid back to those doors.

We all exchanged looks and Lock nodded to Toxic, who started whistling as he strolled toward them. With every step the man got more and more tense.

"I'm not telling you assholes anything," he snapped as Toxic opened the doors.

Shouting caught my attention as Hellfire grabbed Butcher by the back of the cut, hauling him away from the guy on the ground. "Not yet," Hell said, cool as a cucumber despite the murderous look Butcher was giving him over his shoulder.

"Toxic?" Lock called out.

Hush was walking that way, and they were speaking together while Toxic motioned toward something. Hush looked over. "I think we have an idea of where it is, Prez."

Lock studied them for a minute then nodded. "Hell."

"Yeah."

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