Page 165 of Gunner

Gunner carefully made his way to the back door. I peered through the darkness for anything that moved. Rustling came from the other side of the car. Somebody was coming. I raised my gun, my heart racing as a dark figure emerged from the shadows.

A fucking cat.

Momentary relief flooded me. I let out my breath, and my heart rate slowed down. The cat meowed once, then sauntered off, uninterested in my presence.

I returned my attention to Gunner. He’d opened the door and was waiting impatiently for me. Mimicking the stealth of the cat, I hurried over to him, and we slipped into the dark hallway. We carefully checked the downstairs, but it was as empty as it had appeared from the outside. I followed Gurner quietly up the quarter-turn staircase. He seemed to know the place, but I shoved aside the thought. Now was hardly the time to be jealous that other people had had access to my man before me.

Something crashed above us. Gunner withdrew his gun. I did too. The urge to protect him was strong. I let my years of trainingchip in, taking in the sounds coming from upstairs. The last thing we needed was a surprise when we had the upper hand.

We crossed the landing, bypassed a door on the left, and crept farther down the hall toward a half-opened door. Gunner braced himself on the wall next to the door and made eye contact with me. I nodded, understanding his silent communication, and mouthed for him to be careful.

Gunner counted down with his fingers, and on three, he kicked the door open wider and burst into the room. I was right at his heel. Thoms, his pants down to his thighs and his pale, saggy ass showing, leaned over the woman lying on the floor. Blood oozed from the gaping wound in her neck. He cut away her clothes with the same knife he must have used to slit her throat.

Thoms startled and turned, but he tripped over his pants and went down hard on top of the woman, his knife piercing his shoulder.

“You ain’t going anywhere, scumbag.” Gunner kicked Thoms off the dying woman and stepped on the knife, pushing it deeper into his flesh.

“Jesus.” I dropped to my knee beside Candace. She raised her bloody hand, but blood spewed from the slash in her neck. “Don’t move. Don’t try to speak.”

“Leave her,” Gunner said.

I sucked in a deep breath. She’d betrayed him, but how could I just leave her to die?

“Gu—”

She gasped, and her hand fell. Her eyes turned on a vacant look, all the panic and desperation in them gone.

“She’s dead.”

Thoms was grimacing and moaning from the knife Gunner kept embedded in him. He’d gone pale and was panting.

“You really thought you could get away with all of this?” I asked. “Do you even have a clue what you’ve done?”

“I haven’t done anything. Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Get him up,” I said to Gunner.

Gunner forced Thoms to his feet. I grabbed the knife and yanked it out of his arm. Blood spewed out. He cried out, clutching his arm, and would have keeled over if Gunner hadn’t been holding him up.

“Give it a rest, Thoms. We’ve figured out everything. How you used that woman to steal Gunner’s cut so you could plant it. You must have really been desperate to do something so stupid.”

“You can’t prove anything. I only murdered that bitch. That’s all. Don’t know anything else. You can’t prove anything else in court.”

“Do you hear that, Ben?” Gunner asked. “This motherfucker actually thinks he’ll make it to court. Get what you need out of him so I can have my turn with him.”

“Thoms, I can make this easier for you if you come clean,” I said. “Tell us where you’ve been holding the babies and where we can find records of who bought them.”

Thoms grinned. “I think you’ll do more than make this easier for me. You’re going to let me go.”

“Why on earth would I do that?”

“Because if you don’t, you’ll never see your sister again.”

I inhaled sharply. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I’m surprised you haven’t gotten the call already that your sister was kidnapped. About an hour ago.”

Bile rushed into my throat. “You’re bluffing.”

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