Page 28 of Beast: Part Two

“I’m heading back out,” Phoenix says getting to his feet. “I’m more helpful to you out in the streets. I’ll keep my ear to the ground for any more information.”

Priest and Phoenix shake hands.

“Thanks for all the help.

Phoenix grins. “We’re family now. That’s what we do. Speaking of,” he winks at Priest. “Let me go speak to my daughters.”

Phoenix nods to all of us before exiting the room.

“Alright, the goal is to go out and get back in as quick as possible. Let’s go.”

We head out of Priest’s office. Hopefully, this outing turns out better than their last one.

chapter Eight

Disciples

Beast

Pulling the van up to the curb, I turn the car off. We all climbed out. I step onto the sidewalk beside Priest.

“I hate that fucking minivan,” he grumbles. “I have five other cars in my garage at home. We could take any of those.”

“We like the minivan,” Many says in his British voice. “We have a lot more room in the back.”

Priest glares at Many.

“Plus, we need transportation that isn’t traceable back to any of us and one we don’t mind losing,” I say.

“Yeah, because I highly doubt you want your Bentayga in a shootout,” Hawk chuckles.

“Damn right,” Priest says leading the way inside of the high-rise apartment.

The front doorman greets us as we enter. We take the elevator instead of the stairs this time since we’re going to the 20thfloor. As soon as the doors to the elevator close, we all pull out our weapons. Just in case that door opens, and someone is on the other side waiting for us.

The elevator stops at the top floor. Priest is the first person to walk out. I follow along with the others.

We pass a few doors until we arrive at the very last apartment. Priest stops in front of a red door that’s slightly ajar.

He turns and looks over his shoulder at us. Dipping his chin, he lets us know to be ready. We hold our guns down but alert. Hawk takes the lead. He pushes the door open with his gun out in front of him. He then steps into the house first.

As soon as we walk in, we can tell that someone has been here looking for something. The place has been tossed. The furniture is turned over and all cabinets and drawers are spilling out.

“Looks like someone beat us to the punch,” Many says, stating the obvious.

“Watch your step, Hawk,” Priest tells Hawk right before he nearly bumped into a turned over vase. “We’re still going to look,” he goes on to say. “Everyone spread out. Many, take Hawk with you.”

We all follow the directions Priest laid out. I head into the back of the apartment. The place looks thoroughly examined. I doubt we will find anything here. However, I don’t argue that point.

The bedroom I chose looks like it is the primary. The mattress and box spring have been flipped off the bed and sliced up. The nightstand has been emptied out and most of its content is on the floor at my feet. Same thing with the closet. Sifting through the mess, I don’t find anything that would help us.

Leaving the primary, I head into the hallway. I come face to face with Maksim.

“Any luck?” he asks.

I shake my head.

He runs a hand down his face. “This was thoroughly swept,” he says looking around at the mess on the ground. “Looks like something Corbyn orchestrated. My only question is, what were they looking for?”