Page 91 of S.O.S. Mizzay

“Fuckers,” Missy hissed, as if she didn’t already know. “Both of youze,” she snarled, putting on a good act if she did say so herself.

“Yeah. Both of us,” Fleischerman confirmed. “We’re rich beyond anything you stupid dumbasses could ever imagine. But because of this man,” he jeered and jabbed at Cobble again, “we haven’t been able to enjoy ourselves the way we should.That, however, is all about to change.”

His voice turned gleeful. “With you both out of the way, there’ll be no one to connect us to El-Umar. Charges against him will be dropped because there’ll no longer be a witness, and he won’t think to implicate us since he won’t have to testify.”

“You’re delusional,” Missy told him, gritting her teeth as she and Cobble were herded up onto the porch. “You do away with us, and everyone will know it was you who did it.”

“Not necessarily,” Fleischerman returned smugly. “The way we have things planned, it will look like we’vealljust simply disappeared.”

“How?” Cobble asked, keeping a hand on Missy’s back to push her ahead.

“Easy,” Fleischerman continued. “We kill you both, weight your bodies down and throw you into the ocean. Then Georgio and will I go off grid, too, with our already in place aliases, and no one will be the wiser that you two are fish food while we’ll be dining on delicacies in the Soloman Islands.”

“What about Wiley?” Missy growled.

“He’llalsobe dead. But we can leave his body here. Nobody will care about one nobody from some piss-ass security company who died whenallof us have disappeared. It’ll be part of a big mystery that’ll never be solved.”

Fleischerman came up and roughly separated her from Cobble, pulling her backward while Georgio put a gun to Cobble’s neck and prodded him into the house first.

Missy drew in a deep breath.

Shit was about to happen.

The interior had been made purposely dark by the team in residence pulling all the blinds, so coming in out of the sunshine, her vision and that of the three others needed a few seconds to adjust.

That was all the time SOS needed.

Operatives emerged and Georgio was immediately surrounded.

“Drop the gun,” Brent snarled.

Georgio spun, instead, to take out the risk, but before he could get off a shot, several rounds rang out, and the agent dropped to the floor.

Cobble rotated toward Missy, his weapon raised to defend her, but Fleischerman was quicker. He’d ducked his head down behind hers; his gun pressed hard into her temple.

Fleischerman growled. “Don’t do anything stupid or the bitch dies.”

He eased backward until his feet crossed the threshold, dragging her out onto the porch, kicking the door closed behind them.

Missy barely managed to catch Cobble’s rapid movement toward the back of the bungalow before she lost sight of him, but instantlyknewhe had to have a plan.

She’d be ready.

****

Cobble scrambled for the back window in the bedroom, the only way to leave where he wouldn’t be spotted. Without a second’s hesitation, he pushed the sash open and climbed out.

When the man Cobble hadn’t been introduced to—but whom he assumed was Billboard—attempted to follow, Cobble stopped him short and handed over his gun instead. “Take this. I won’t need it. I have an idea,” he rattled off. “Tell Prez, on the roof, to be prepared.”

Cobble knew all the operatives were wearing wires.

“Okay. He doesn’t have a shot yet. They’re still on the porch.” Billboard frowned, but to show the depth of his trust, he didn’t follow.

Cobble slipped to the ground, and bending over, he scrabbled in the scrub around his feet and found exactly what he needed.

He quietly rounded the corner of the house, where Fleischerman was now in the scruffy yard, pulling Andy back toward the vehicle. The agent’s eyes were glued to the front door.

Cobble got into position.

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