Page 73 of With This Ring

Putting his hands behind his head, Carter looks at me with a soft expression that threatens to blow away my anger like so many leaves in the breeze. “Let’s get started then.”

CHAPTER 24

CARTER

My combat boots crunch leaves underfoot as I run across the lawn of Anthony Fenster’s safe house. The weather is turning, cold air breezing past me as I duck behind a car to avoid being seen, but I don’t feel the chill. Today is the day of reckoning for the Fenster family.

Declan worked for days, trying to find where the Fenster’s could be hiding. He checked every business and alias for everyone in their inner circle and got a hit with Gabbi’s. There was an LLC placed under her middle name, with only this property as a holding. Declan flew a drone over the house and saw it swarming with guards and caught a glimpse of Sam walking the grounds.

A shout rents the air, followed by screams and guns being discharged. The sound of shooting echoes around me, but we have the element of surprise. None of the Fensters expected us to bring the fight to them, especially in broad daylight. After pulling in a deep breath, I move from behind one of the cars, Declan, Hendrix, and Gavin hot on my heels.

Our men got to the door already and kicked it in, the bodies of the men guarding it littering the floor. I step over them and raise my AR, aiming at the chest of a man that rounds the cornerthat leads to the kitchen. I pump him full of lead and continue to move through the house before his body drops.

“I’m going left,” Declan says, and he and Hendrix split off from me and Gavin. I take the stairs two at a time, heading to Anthony’s office.

Declan found the floor plans for this house, so we’re not going in blind.

Gunfire reaches my ears from the floor below. I hope it’s not someone shooting at Kai. We agreed to split up to cover more ground and lessen the chances of both of us being killed today. I wish I had eyes on him, but I know it’s smart for us not to be together. If he has any injuries at all, I will fucking?—

A bullet whizzes past my head and embeds itself in the wall behind me. I drop to the floor, rolling behind a stone pillar. I curse myself for not paying attention. I need to keep my eyes open and my head in the game if I want to return to Kai. With more force than I thought I needed, I push thoughts of him from my mind for now.

Popping my head out, I bring up my gun and fire off several rounds. The person that shot at me drops to the floor, a high-pitched scream leaving her mouth.

Gabbi.

I swore when I saw her, I’d kill her myself.

Getting to my feet, I shout at Gavin, “Find Sam and Anthony if you can. But don’t kill them. They’re for me and Kai.”

He nods and takes off down a hallway, dodging bullets that Gabbi is still firing. When she curses and I hear the sound of her gun clicking, I dodge out from the pillar, firing at the men that come out of a room behind her. A bullet grazes my arm, but I ignore the sting and put them both down with bullets to their foreheads. Blood and brain matter paint the wall behind them as their bodies drop with a thud.

She tries to scramble away, rolling to the side to grab one of their weapons, but I’m on her before she can, kicking the gun out of her reach. She shouts a curse at me, holding on to her arm. It’s the one I shot, wrapped in bandages and bleeding profusely. She must have ripped her stitches. It probably hurts like a bitch.

Grinning down at her, I step on the wound, listening to her cries. “Not much fun when you’re on the receiving end of bullets huh?”

She glares up at me, anger flashing in her eyes. “Fuck you, Whitlock. We’re not done with you yet. You haven’t won. We’ll?—”

I put a bullet between her eyes before she can issue her next threat.

With one Fenster dispatched, I hurry back down the stairs, jumping back into the fray of the gun fight.

Bodies litter the ground, some ours, but most the Fensters. I step over them, looking down to make sure none of them are Kai. I do a double take when I see Hendrix laying by what was labeled as the sitting room, a wound in his chest and one in his forehead. I search around frantically for Declan, but don’t spot him.

Most of the shooting sounds as if it’s coming from the garage and mudroom, so I jog in that direction.

A bullet grazes my leg, and I hiss. I turn around and drop to one knee and fire at the man who shot at me. His head explodes and he drops against the wall, leaving a trail of blood and brains behind as he slides down to the floor.

My left arm and right thigh sting, but they’re flea bites. Now that I got my kill, I want to find Kai so we can take care of the rest.

When I step into the garage, it’s fucking chaos. Men are hiding behind any kind of coverage they can get, and bodies are everywhere. From my vantage point, I can see both Sam and Anthony taking cover behind a mid-sized sedan, bulletpinging off the surface—it must be bulletproof. But even with my position, I can’t get a good shot of them.

Gazing around, I see Kai kneeling behind another sedan, firing off round after round of bullets in the direction of Anthony and his men. He’s holding his own, but how long can that last?

One of my guys rushes down the hallway and I whistle to him. He jogs over. “Count to thirty, then open the garage door.” I point to the garage door opener. He nods, standing against the wall to take cover.

I rush to the front door, shooting any man I encounter. I take a slug to the calf that sends me to the floor, but I recover quickly. Before I can fire at the man that shot me, blood gushes from his neck and he twirls around before falling to the floor. Covered in blood practically from head to toe, Declan walks up to the man and plugs two more bullets into his face.

A sigh of relief leaves me when I see my little brother. He looks a little worse for wear, but he’s alive. I pull him in for a quick hug, exhaling roughly. “Glad you’re good. Sorry about Hendrix.”

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