Page 5 of Lord of Debauchery

“It’ll be rebuilt. What else? We have insurance.” I was leaning my elbow against the door, rubbing my finger back and forth across my bottom lip, still bothered by what we’d experienced. Killing the men had been all too easy, just like finding them had been. As if we’d been lured to the location.

Yes, we had the best informants in the business, but my instinct was screaming.

That usually meant violence would follow.

And that wasn’t good for anyone.

I was rarely wrong, my father often chiding me for nagging him. I had since I’d been a kid. My mother had always called it my sixth sense. My sister said I had precognitive powers. Whatever the case, even my skin was itching tonight. I glanced into the side mirror, loathing the fact we weren’t on a main road just yet. We’d flown into a small private airport we’d never used instead of driving the three hours.

Time had seemed of the essence, the folks at the tiny terminal more than helpful. That should have bothered me as well.

However, everything had gone as planned. We’d enjoyed a couple of drinks without incident, not a single person even looking at us crossly.

“What’s wrong?” Jeff asked quietly, acting as if he didn’t want to alarm the two soldiers in back.

“I don’t know. Just a feeling.”

“Shit. I know what that means.” He glanced into the rearview mirror, even speeding up. The road was curvy and within seconds, the tires squealed.

“No need to get us killed. We’ll get there.”

“Yeah, well, I took a different route on purpose just to be certain we weren’t followed. The bartender told me about it. A shortcut to the remote POS airport anyway.”

Jeff was a cautious man, which I appreciated. He was also a racecar worthy driver, the kind of man you wanted at the wheel in this kind of situation. I could no longer count how many times he’d saved my life just by knowing every route, every odd turn. And he could drive any vehicle as if he could corner them on rails.

I tried to get more comfortable in the rental vehicle, but the nagging refused to leave. “When we get back, I want a wide web tossed over the city and beyond. Someone heard or noticed something and they’re either too stupid or too afraid to come forward.” Nothing usually happened in my family’s town without one of us being notified.

People were scared of us. They knew what we were capable of. In turn for them looking the other way and remaining obedient, we’d uplifted the economy significantly, providing jobs to thousands of people. That in turn had driven the tourist faction up by two hundred percent. New Hampshire had become a destination.

For everyone to go silent collectively meant they were terrified. Of what and whom? I’d taken a photo of the branding marks, but so far had yet to find anything useful. It could be a new cartel or another organization, but it continued to bug me. The enemy soldiers had all been dressed alike, carrying the same weapons. Hell, they even looked alike, as if they were clones. It was ridiculous but noteworthy. I’d even called one of my brothers to try to check into whether there was a new group we should be worried about.

“Why hit the recording studio, boss?” James asked from the back.

“To make a statement that they could get to us any time and any way they wanted.” Which was true in my mind.

“Who are they? Any idea?” Camden threw in, although my guess is he already knew the answer.

“I wish I did.” I took a deep breath, glancing at my watch. It was already twilight, full darkness only minutes away. I hated flying at night. It had to do with a plane crash into the Atlantic when I’d been ten. It had taken me six years to get over the nightmares.

Jeff sucked in his breath minutes later, making an unexpected turn.

“What are you doing?” I pushed. “And where are we going?”

“See the headlights? I’m ensuring we aren’t being followed.”

I glanced into the passenger mirror before turning around. The driver was currently keeping a respectable distance, but we’d seen so few people on this road, I knew why he was concerned.

When the two of us noticed the driver also made the turn, I immediately pulled out my weapon.

“Shit. I might need to head into Camden,” Jeff growled at the same time I noticed the sign indicating we were a couple of miles away.

“Hey, my namesake,” Camden laughed from behind. “Story has it my parents conceived me in a quaint bed and breakfast right at the shore. Beautiful story.”

“Yeah, well, maybe you can show us around your spawning place another time.” There was no doubt the vehicle behind us was speeding up. So was Jeff, now flying around the curves.

I threw open the side compartment between the driver and passenger seats, finding what I was looking for. A single flashlight. “Slow down a little bit. I want to see what they do,” I told him.

“You sure, boss?” he barked.

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