Page 87 of Butcher

He was right. Randal had guards everywhere on this complex. And they were armed to the teeth and wearing bullet proof vests.

“Gonna be a mess getting past them,” I told our group as we huddled behind one of the stone walls.

“All we need is a distraction,” Butcher told me with a grin. Excitement was stamped all over his face.

I understood it. There wasn’t anything quite like the thrill and adrenaline of doing this kind of thing.

I followed his gaze and my eyes landed on an old truck sitting in an alley. “Not much of a distraction.”

“Oh, it will be. You three wait here for the signal. Come on Toxic.”

We watched as they ran, keeping low, toward the truck.

“What’s the signal?” Warrant asked us. We both shrugged.

It only took about ten minutes to find out that the signal was a flaming pickup being driven through the front gates of the compound.

“Subtle,” Scythe commented.

“It’s a distraction, remember,” I said with a laugh.

Men were pouring out of the compound, heading toward the vehicle. They were shouting, holding their rifles pointed at Butcher and Toxic, but hadn’t started shooting yet.

“My truck! You asshole, you ruined my truck!” Toxic’s voice floated through the balmy air.

“I ruined it?” Butcher bellowed back.

“Let’s go,” I whispered. Grabbing the top of the wall, I peeked over it in time to see Randal’s men pulling Butcher and Toxic apart as they argued and fought. “There,” I said, motioning with my chin to the upper part of the house. “That’ll be a good spot for me.”

“We’ll stay down here and help those two,” Scythe told me. “Make sure we don’t get fucking killed.”

I didn’t mind that I was often used as one of the snipers. It was one of my better skills and as long as it helped the group as a whole, that was all I needed. It was strange to suddenly be so concerned with a group of people and what suited all of us best, rather than just thinking about myself. Weird, but I liked it. It was somehow comforting knowing other people had your back.

Ducking low, I made my way across the courtyard, following the wall until I hit the stairs. The shouting was making for great cover for me as I went. No one was paying attention to anything other than Butcher and Toxic. Of course, what was new? I’d only been with the Vikings for a short time, but it seemed like those two were at the center of everything. Keeping a low profile wasn’t in their wheelhouse. For once it was helping.

I looked over my shoulder and saw Scythe and Warrant taking their places, blending in behind some brush and trees. The white house was blindingly bright in the morning sunshine as I dashed up the steps and toward the side. If you could call it a house. It was one ofthose estates where the house had multiple sections meant for staff and guests. But it was all connected into one huge building by outdoor hallways.

The last thing I wanted was to be caught up here by any guards who weren’t dealing with the shitshow of a distraction Butcher and Toxic were causing below. I didn’t need to look to know they were keeping tabs on my progress. As soon as I was in position it was all going to kick off. I needed to be ready. There was no time to stroll to my position because they could only hold these men off for so long. I sprinted along, praying someone didn’t open one of these doors.

One more flight of stairs and I found myself up on the roof in a lookout spot. Perfect. I hit my knees, pulling Donna off my back, and prepared to rain down hell on those below. Learning from the last time, I had a second rifle resting on my back and pistol on my hip. I set the rifle to the side so it would be ready when needed. I wasn’t about to let her temperamental ways fuck this up for us. Those men down below were counting on me to have their sixes. I wasn’t about to let them down and get them killed.

No sooner had I gotten my sights on the group of people below than Butcher started. His fist flew out, striking an unsuspecting guard right in the face. Gone was their ire at each other and they worked together as a team to move toward the back of the truck. Scythe and Warrant stepped out of their hiding spots to give them cover.

Blowing out a breath, I gave a slow, methodical pull of the trigger and the man closest to Toxic dropped at his feet. His eyes shot up to where I was and I could see the grin on his face from my scope. I shifted Donna and found my next mark. One by one, we took out the men guarding Randal. There was no doubt the man hiding inside the house heard the commotion, but there was nowhere for him to go.

Butcher and Toxic were a blur of movement as they used their handguns and ground tactics to take down the men around them. There wasn’t time to stop and watch Butcher work, but he was like fucking art in motion as he moved. Later, much later, I was going to need to watch him fight someone. I wanted to be able to watch the flex of his muscles and the death in his eyes as he took out his targets.I wasn’t super hopeful that I’d ever find a situation where I’d be able to sit back and watch, but you never knew.

Everything was moving fast, and I kept searching for new targets, pulling the trigger, and moving on as soon as they were dead. It was going well. Then I heard something from behind me. I didn’t hesitate, grabbing my Glock as I turned, but pain exploded across my face as I was hit.

“You stupid bitch!” Randal snapped from where he was standing back, far enough away that he wasn’t within my grasp.

Coward.

One of his thugs hit me again before I could pull myself to my feet. There were three of them and they were built like damn rhinos. Worse still, they knew how to throw a punch. I was already seeing double. Scurrying backward on my elbows and knees I managed to avoid what would have been a devastating kick to the ribs. I jumped to my feet, pulling out Stabby. The first hit had sent my Glock flying and I had no idea where the gun had landed.

“All you had to do was kill that motherfucker and you could have avoided all of this,” Randal continued.

I glared at him. At least he was so busy with ranting at me he hadn’t just had his men shoot me in the back of the head. That would have been the smarter option for him. But no, his ego demanded he rant at me first. I was grateful he had a giant ego because it kept me alive. “You could have dropped the contract,” I pointed out, trying to buy time. I was hoping the others down below would look up and notice I was in deep shit. I was also hoping my head would stop spinning.

---