Page 77 of Smoke and Mirrors

KACE

Pulling the Ford Mustang GT down the street of my prey, I know Lily won’t like what’s about to go down, but it’s necessary to retrieve the missing pieces of this puzzle and have them fall into place. It’s the only thing I can think of, and after driving for a couple of hours from Philadelphia back into Washington DC, it’s now night-time.

As the moon shines brightly through the velvety sky, I think about my tasks at hand. My most important one—keeping Lily safe. The second—getting the right information to free her and bring down the people who want her dead, no matter who they are.

Lily is my priority. I need to clear her name, but my gut is telling me that in reality, this has nothing to do with her.

I drive up the quiet suburban street, streetlights light the way, and the roar of the engine alerts me that stealth is not an option when belting around in a V8 sports car. So I’m going to park a couple of houses back, and we’ll walk quietly up to the house in question.

I will get my answers. Even if I have to use any type of force necessary to get them.

Pulling the car over, Lily looks at me, raising her eyebrow. I can sense the tension rippling off her in waves. I hate that she’s scared, but I don’t blame her. We had a close call today, and I can’t let that happen again.

I won’t!

Breaking apart the wires to turn off the ignition, I twist to her and look into her beautiful crystal- clear eyes. “Okay, so whatever goes down in here, I want you to know I’m doing it to protect you. To protect us.”

She nods and chews on her bottom lip in apprehension. “I’m with you, Kace. Let’s put this puzzle back together.”

Smiling, I nod and turn to get out of the car. I only have my Glock with me, everything else was left in the van when we had to run. It’s loaded, but I only have six bullets in the clip. Hopefully, I won’t need to use them. I quietly close my door, and Lily notices doing the same. I walk around grabbing her hand and take a deep breath. “Follow my lead, okay?”

She nods and walks behind me as we step alongside the bushes up to the house. Glancing around, I notice the driveway leads down the back of the house. I calculate this as being the best point of action. So I pull Lily with me, and we slide down the side of the house along the bush line keeping out of the light and hiding in the shadows.

“I feel like a ninja,” Lily whispers.

I smile and bring my finger to my lips in a gesture to tell her to be quiet. We don’t need to be found before we make our surprise entrance. We round the back of the house and head up the back porch. The decking boards creak, and we both stop moving and stiffen our posture flattening our backs up against the house wall. The eerily silent night with only cicadas chirping to break the silence, is annoying as I take a deep breath.

There’s no movement in the house, and I nod to Lily to let her know I think we’re okay. I turn toward the back door and bend down, twisting the knob. I know it won’t be unlocked, but there’s no harm in trying. To my surprise, it turns, and I stand up straight as all my muscles tense, and the door squeaks as it opens slowly to a darkened house.

I place my hand up to Lily for her to stay where she is—this is completely abnormal. My senses are on high alert, and if I didn’t know better, I’d think someone has beaten me here. Taking a small step forward, suddenly an arm flashes out, I duck weaving out of the way of the punch as he steps out of the shadows and comes right at me full force. His shoulder hitting me in the stomach as he pushes me backward off the porch. I stumble but don’t fall as I bring my knee up into his groin, making him “oomph” out in pain as I wrap my arm around his neck, twisting his body so he flips over, his stomach now facing the sky. I wrap my forearm tightly around his neck cutting off his circulation. He tries to flip me over him, but he’s too fat and old to get in a good swing.

He might have been an excellent Operative in his heyday, but now he’s only good as a boss. He’s shit in the field. I tighten my hold on his neck and start marching him back up the porch and inside the house as he grips onto my forearm gasping for air. Lily closes the door behind us as I walk him up to the dining table and let him go, turning him, and sitting him down on the seat. He collapses, begging for breath as he sits down in his boxers and tank top. Lily stands in the corner holding herself as I look down at the man who ordered the kill on my girl.

Mark Luthendale.

Director of The Agency.

Creator of SO7.

Apparently, the man banging my mom.

This is so many levels of fucked-up, I’m not sure there’s a number that’s appropriate.

He looks up at me as I stare down at him with anger seeping from my pores. He goes to get up, and I slam my hand into his chest pushing him back down into the chair.

“Sit. Down. Mark. Lily, can you find me something to tie him up with?”

She nods and starts opening the kitchen drawers as Mark snarls at me. “Kace, we’ve been looking for you.”

I can’t help but chuckle. “And yet here I am, right in front of you.”

“What about this?” Lily asks jogging over to me and holds up some duct tape.

“Perfect.” I take the tape from Lily and pull some from the roll.

“You know if you tie me up, your job at The Agency is done, boy. You know that, right?” he spits out, and I huff while wrapping his wrists together as tight as humanly possible, and with more tape than used in a bad bondage movie. I watch as his hands turn red, then instantly white with the cut off of circulation.

“You think that with some of the stuff I’ve found out that I think The Agency is above board?”

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