Page 39 of Vicious Vows

“Why did you have to kill him?” I whimper, but it’s so low they don’t hear me, or if they do, they ignore my question. Sobs come, and I don’t stop them. I let the tears drop on the keyboard as I continue “working” for them. I transfer money from Luke’s account, then from the Albanians. Then I switch and with as many account numbers as I can reliably recall, I continue siphoning money. I won’t bankrupt Luke, but I have to make it look good.

Then I begin to shiver, the shock of the whole situation finally settling in. My hands shake, making it almost impossible to type well. It slows my pace to a crawl, and I see the scarred man nod at the other. He stands and walks out, leaving only me with the hacker. I don’t know where he went until I hear a ruckus out there, loud noises and crashes. Then the obvious sound of gunfire.

I sit up straight and look at the door—closed but not locked. More fear invades my mind, pinching my chest so that it hurts. I feel like the walls are closing in on me, like it would be better for me to dip my fingers in Will’s blood and smear it on my body and lie down to pretend I’m dead. Maybe it would be my salvation. But no one would believe that if I do it in front of the hacker.

My pulse soars, thrumming past my eardrums at a deafening pace. My body feels stiff, aching with each jolt of shivers that racks my form. The hacker stands up and closes his laptop, tucking it under an arm, and walks to the door.

“Get to work,” he growls as he steps out and shuts the door behind him, but I can’t work now. Luke is here. I know it in my gut. There is no reason for a fire fight otherwise.

I stand and creep to the door to listen, pressing my ear against the cold metal, and I hear shouting in the distance. I don’t know if I should run or hide, and if Luke dies, there will be no one left to help me. I glance at Will and blink out more tears before wiping them away with my sleeve.

“I’ll come back for you, buddy,” I whisper to him, then I pull the door open. I don’t have a gun, but I’m smart. Hopefully, that counts for something.

I step into the hallway and move toward the sound of gunshots, praying this isn’t a mistake.

30

LUKE

Imove toward the building with boldness and determination. Vic walks to my left, readying his gun, and Dale’s friend is at my right side, already prepared. Dale trails behind, ready to cover our backs and be the first to the car to drive when we run out with Micah.

“Shoot first, ask questions later. We each have fourteen rounds and one in the chamber. That’s all we’re getting, guys, so make the shots count.” My chest is so tight, I feel like I’ll have a heart attack. I never feel like this when entering a fight, but this time, it’s different. This time, it’s personal.

“We have company,” Vic says, turning and moving into the darkness to the left of the building at top speed. I hear a few rounds rip off, shattering the otherwise pallid night with a hint of spark at the tip of his gun’s barrel.

“Go to the door,” I order my newfound soldier, and he obeys my order, running up and throwing the door open.

I enter first, gun pointed down the long hallway. We rush past a few rooms that are all empty before a few men duck out of yetanother room up the hall. I take them by surprise, popping off a few rounds into their chests before they even have a chance to react. Unfortunately, it alerts the rest of the building to our presence, and now we have to move more quickly.

“Shit, go now!” I hiss, and my men rush toward them, stripping their weapons. I watch Vic, who has now joined us inside, put one of the weapons in his waistband, then hand me the other.

I jam it into my boot as I nod at a juncture where the hallway turns. He moves forward, nodding for Dale to come with him, and I hear a lot of shouting. Pressing myself against the wall, I inch my way down the darker hallway, checking each room as I go. The rooms are all void of humans, but it looks like they conduct business here. Each room has a desk, a computer, and a few chairs, and they all look the same.

Dale’s friend follows behind me, checking the rooms on the opposite side of the hallway, and when he opens one that’s occupied, he gets a shock. One of the Russians lets a shot go, catching the man in his shoulder. He falls to the ground wounded, and I fire back, hitting the Russian in the temple. It’s lights out for him, but it draws attention I don’t want.

“Fuck, I’m hit,” the older man grumbles, and I have to step over him to continue firing up the hall at more of our enemies coming closer. A few of them drop, and a few more duck into offices down the hall.

“Can you still drive?” I ask him, and he grunts as he drags himself into the office where I stand, watching up the hallway.

“I think so…”

“Good, I’ll lay cover fire. You get out. Go to the car and keep it running.”

I wait for him to get to his feet and shove the extra weapon into his waistband just in case, and when I step into the hallway and fire off a few rounds, I shout, “Go now!”

The man darts back down the hallway from where we came while I advance a few yards up the hall, ducking into yet another office.

I still hear Vic and Dale shooting, along with dozens of other guns reporting in the building. It’s likely to be nothing but a bloodbath, and I pray that Micah isn’t one of the casualties. I’ll never forgive myself.

“Where’s she at!” I scream, anger clouding my judgment. They’ll never give her up, and though it has to be obvious why we’re here, they don’t need me to egg them on.

Laughter booms out of the office only two doors down, then a thick Russian voice calls out, “She’s already dead, Santoro. Go home before you join her.”

His comment only makes my temper worse. I don’t even care if I’m taking my life into my own hands. I lunge into the hallway firing haphazardly until I see a head pop out and I blast it. The bullet slams into the man’s forehead, laying him out to the ground in a puddle of his own blood, which is also splattered down the length of the hall. There are seven or eight more doors on each side, and I’m almost out of bullets. There’s no way I can clear them all myself.

“Give up, I have reinforcements coming.” I duck into the next room from where my most recent kill walked into the hallway. I know across the hall and down one door is where the last man is hiding. There may be more men up the hall still, but Micah may also be in one of those rooms. “Let her go now.”

The laughter is maniacal, eerie and seeming to come from more than one room at a time. I lean into the hallway and hear gunshots blast past my head, which makes me quickly duck back inside the room and lean against the wall.

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