Page 40 of Hacker Revelation

I slid the drawer open and pulled out the brown leather ledger. The leader grunted in approval.

“We got what we needed, men. Let’s kill them and head out.”

The sound of Bridget’s scream broke my heart. It was one of the last things I remembered before the sound of a gun and then the sheer pain in my side. “I love you, Antonio,” I whispered before the world went dark.

16

Antonio

Juan and his men had entered the dilapidated bar five minutes ago. A neon light hung on the side of the bar flashed “Wild Hounds,” half of the letters burnt out.

The red paint on the building had lost its shine. What used to be a window next to the front door was boarded up with a piece of plywood. The sound of broken glass crunched under my boots with each step across the parking lot.

I didn’t need to look to my right to know Zane was in step with me. Over the past couple months, we had become synced with each other.

In the back, I could see the Florida sun setting over the building. It was in direct contrast to our location. The impending night was a reminder we needed to hurry this along before the bar opened. I glanced down at my watch and calculated how much time we had. In one hour, the bar patrons would start to arrive.

“I have eyes and audio inside,” came Neal’s voice over the com.

“Brock, are you in place?” Brock and his employee John took the back door.

Neal gave us an update. Juan seemed to be in an argument with his men. He was under the impression they had captured Sophie and Kat. Neal checked the feed to my house and informed me Kat and Sophie were fine.

I had second-guessed myself all day about Kat being on this op. She was one of the best sharpshooters we had. But if she were here, it would distract me. When Kat had agreed to stay with Ant while Zane and I worked the op, I worried she would find a way here. Yet Neal had confirmed that she didn’t leave the house. Knowing Kat was still safe settled me.

“They look distracted. Time to move in,” Neal’s voice echoed in my ear.

The remaining members of the team checked in. They were good to go.

I reached for the door handle. Wild Hound’s door opened with no resistance. When the door had cracked the first inch, I could hear Juan’s raised voice.

Everyone in the room seemed to be distracted by Juan. Zane and I entered the room and stood to watch the scene in front of us. The smell of cheap whiskey and stale cigarettes hit me like a ton of bricks. The inside of the bar was not much better than the outside. Dirt and empty bottles lined the floor. I could see one chair that was broken. The tables leaned to the side and still had the bottles from last night on them. Behind the bar, only a few cheap bottles of liquor sat. It took a good two minutes before one of Juan’s men saw us by the front door.

“Good afternoon, Uncle. I think it’s time we had a chat.”

Juan’s face turned red with anger when his eyes landed on Zane and me. He didn’t respond to my statement. Juan swung his head back at his men and narrowed his beady eyes. “You sent me photos of those two dead. I will have you fucking killed if you don’t eliminate them.”

“Such a temper, Uncle. Let’s sit down and have a little chat. You can clearly see Zane and I aren’t dead.”

Juan balled his fists. “Stop calling me Uncle.”

I looked over at Brock and John, who held back their grins. Even before Juan had destroyed my life, I hated the man. “Well, I am married to your niece, Uncle.”

Juan sat down at the table and motioned for me to join him. Weiss was the leader of the three in the room. His jaw was clenched, and he took the table next to ours. Brock stayed in the back of the room while John worked himself around to get another angle if things went down.

Zane and I took our seats at the table across from Juan. My hand never left my Glock. The only people I trusted in the room were the men that came with me. We waited at the table for Juan to say something. My goal was for him to tell us what he wanted, and when we had the upper hand, we would take him down.

“I want all the money back, and your plane.”

I tapped my finger on the table. “Let me get this straight. You want Sophie’s and Katherine’s inheritance and my plane?”

Juan's hand trembled slightly. It was the first time I had seen him not completely composed. His three men looked to be in a heated discussion at the other table. Brock had his full attention on them, and John stood as our backup.

“It was my money. Those dumb bitches had no right to my inheritance.” He jumped from his seat and started to pace back and forth. “It was my money. It was my money.”

His rant kept on. It seemed that Juan had had a breakdown. When I looked closer, his usually perfectly groomed hair was greasy and unkempt. His thousand-dollar suit was riddled with dirt, and the bags under his eyes were almost black.

Weiss was the commander of his unit. Did something happen that we were not prepared for? He narrowed his eyes in Juan’s direction and stood up from his chair.

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