Page 21 of Ruthless

The three of us have been running jobs together for the last two years and run like a well-oiled machine, so he knows what we’re thinking. Plans have changed. This job is no longer a snatch and go. It’s become a recovery instead. Still, we have to be smart. If we rush in, we risk setting off any traps that may be hidden inside.

“Follow my lead.” Asher moves to the front and is the first to breach the threshold. He keeps his rifle out in front of him and sweeps the front room. “All clear in here.”

Axel gags and lifts his shirt over his nose and mouth. “Ugh. I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Suck it up, Ax. Don’t be a pussy.” Asher shakes his head and continues deeper into the house.

“You gonna suck it up. Or you gonna be a little bitch and stay out here.” My patience is running thinner than usual with him.

“Fuck off. I’ll be fine. Just give me a second.” He heaves a couple of times, but I’m not waiting around. Asher’s in the house already, and I don’t like that he’s in there alone.

“I’ll be inside when you manage to find your balls.”

“Whatever,” Axel growls behind me as I step through the door and into what I’m presuming is the formal living room. At least that’s what the blueprints we studied earlier said it is.

Asher’s long gone, but I still mimic his earlier movements with my MP5 out. He’s already cleared the room, but it never hurts to double-check and cover our asses. I grab the TAC light from my back pocket with my free hand and tense at what I find the second it lights up the room. The place is trashed. Empty of any personal belongings, but trashed nonetheless. Whoever beat us here caught up to Isaac and his woman before they could take the last of their shit.

“Aw, man. ” Axel sighs from behind me. He recovered faster than I thought he would if he’s already surveying the room.

“What is it?” I spin around and find him staring at the fish tank, his lips pressed into a tight line.

“Fuckers even killed the goldfish.” He shakes his head as a muscle in his jaw tics.

“Ax.” It takes everything in me not to lose my shit on my little brother. He has the attention span of a fucking gnat.

“What?” He cocks an eyebrow, unaware of how close I am to strangling him.

“Go that way and check out the front rooms.” I jerk my chin toward the front of the house.

“Fine.” He rolls his eyes and ignores my harsh tone as he steps to the side and heads off in the direction of the open doorway.

I scan the formal living room, making sure that I don’t miss a thing. Isaac’s a smart fucker, and the biggest clues can be hidden in the smallest places. Nothing of significant importance stands out, so I make my way through the kitchen.

The house is unusually silent. There’s no humming from a refrigerator or anything. Even the fish tank was unplugged. I’ve lost track of where Asher’s at. Since I don’t see him anywhere nearby, I’m assuming he made his way up to the house’s second floor. Axel is clearing the kitchen and the left side of the house.

I keep walking forward through what turns out to be a small hallway. The stench gets more potent, which means I’m heading in the right direction. I’m only a partial way down the small space when a trail of red catches my attention.

“I got blood,” I say into my earpiece. I follow it, careful where I step. The last thing I want to do is leave any evidence behind connecting me to this shit. My feet step sideways along the wall as I continue on the path to see where it leads me.

A few pictures line the wall of Isaac and who I’m presuming is Carly. At least her description matches the images Asher managed to find of her—blond hair, green eyes, tan skin, and petite. They’re both smiling with their arms around each other like they don’t have a care in the world. It only adds to the sinister feeling that’s shrouding this entire house.

The trail leads me to a door at the end of the hall. It’s only partially closed, but the smell is so strong it’s making my eyes burn. I’m definitely in the right place. I nudge it with the barrel of my rifle, but it doesn’t budge. Something or someone is blocking it. I lean the side of my body into the door and push it with a bit more of my weight, keeping my rifle up and at the ready as I do. It’s enough for the door to give, allowing me access into the room. The second it’s open, my suspicions are confirmed.

“I’ve got a body,” I say into my earpiece and creep farther into the room.

“Carly?” Asher asks.

My eyes take in the bloody matted-up mess of blond hair and sigh. “Yup. It’s her.” I squat down and shine my TAC light over her body. She’s covered in bruises and scrapes all over. Her dress is shoved up above her waist, and her ripped underwear is on the other side of the room. It’s pretty clear why they’re that far from her when I glance down and find a small amount of blood between her legs. One of her arms bends at an awkward angle, and the other is barely visible. Pink fingernails are all that poke out from underneath her lifeless form. A few are cracked, and one is completely gone. I find it on the other side of the room by her underwear. Whatever horror happened here, she put up one hell of a fucking fight. I make a silent vow to her right then and there that these pricks won’t get away with this.

“Shit.” Axel comes to stand next to me and squats down to get a better look at her body. His eyes take in every detail that I’ve already filed away in my head for later. They harden when he gets the pool of blood between her legs. “They—”

“Raped her.” I grit my teeth together so hard I feel my molars crack.

“Fucking pieces of shit,” Axel spits out as a muscle in his cheek jerks.

“Yeah.” My voice comes out rough like sandpaper as I do my best not to lose my shit.

“We’ll find whoever did this, and we’ll make them pay.” Axel’s staring down at Carly’s body and voicing the same exact promise I made to her seconds ago in my head.

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