Page 12 of Monsters in the Dark

“That’s one hell of a shot,” Noah remarked, referring to the perfect hole in the middle of Jacob’s forehead.

Carefully, we continued to make our way inside the small two-bedroom house, and when we rounded the kitchen counter, it was to see Ren dead, having bled out on the floor.

I could hear a low whistle coming from the other end of the living room. “Well, this is one hell of a surprise.”

I looked over at James’ voice. “Can you not be a dick?”

He shook his head. “Nah, it’s in my blood, laddie.”

“There’s no way that Kenneth Swanson did this,” Desmond remarked, echoing my same thoughts.

“Look around, but don’t touch anything,” I instructed, though we were all far from amateurs. “Don’t linger, either.” Though we were all dressed like we were about to rob a bank, I didn’t want to take any chances.

As we carefully looked around, all that seemed curious was the two empty wine glasses that’d been sitting out, a bottle of wine next to them. Apart from that, the house looked surprisingly clean and neat for such a degenerate. Granted, since he spent most of his time at the tables, I doubted that he was home enough to make any kind of mess.

“Did we ever find out if Kenneth had a girlfriend?” James asked as he walked out of the hallway. “I found a pair of earrings on the bathroom counter.”

“I can get Kevin on it,” Desmond said. “But as far as I know, he was single.”

“Maybe it was just a hookup, and she left some shit behind,” Noah suggested.

“Yeah, like a couple of dead bodies,” James snorted.

I looked over at my brother. “Do you honestly believe that a female took these two down?”

“Why not?” he asked.

“Are you serious?” I practically gawked, trying to understand his logic.

“If she didn’t take them down, then maybe she helped,” he replied. “Kenneth Swanson would never have been able to take Ren and Jacob down alone, Declan.” He shook his head. “It’s impossible. The man is a weasel on his best day.”

“He’s not wrong,” Noah chimed in. “Ren and Jacob aren’t rookies and never would have let Swanson get the upper hand on them.”

“Or maybe it was more than just some hookup,” James offered. “Maybe he was having a party, and they all helped take Jake and Ren down.”

“So, do we leave the bodies here, then let the police do the footwork of finding DNA and all that shit, or do we clean up the place ourselves?” I asked them.

“The bodies will be traced back to us,” Noah pointed out. “I say we clean up the mess ourselves, then put our feet to the pavement to find Swanson. Their guns are missing, and I don’t particularly feel comfortable with anyone that’s not an O’Brien walking around with our personal guns on them.”

“That ain’t no lie,” Desmond muttered.

“Tell Cathal that there’s a fifty-thousand-dollar bounty on Kenneth Swanson delivered to us alive, and if he can be found in the next twenty-four hours, I’ll double it to a hundred-grand,” I said, instructing Desmond. “Kenneth only, don’t mention any extras.”

Desmond gave me a terse nod as James asked, “What do you want to do about the earrings?”

“I want them,” I answered. “Also, we’re taking the wine and glasses. I want it to look like Kenneth hasn’t been here in days.”

James nodded before going to get the earrings, and James went to grab the wine and glasses. As they did their thing, I kept eyeing the house, looking for any kind of camera. For a man that gambled like Kenneth Swanson, a security system wouldn’t be a bad investment. Of course, the man had no money, so maybe it was just a sensible luxury that he couldn’t afford.

“I want him found.”

“We’ll find him,” Noah assured me. “Besides, someone has to answer for Ren and Jacob.”

“If he thought that he was in a world of hurt for a gambling debt, he has no idea what he’s in for now,” I replied. “He killed two of my best men, and if he didn’t kill them, then he got them killed.”

“It’s a clean shot, Declan,” Noah remarked seriously.

“I noticed,” I said before letting out a heavy sigh. “It was also a gutting, which tells me that we’re not dealing with an amateur or scared rabbit.”

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