Page 78 of Blood & Loyalties
Fuck yeah.
“Let’s go!” I called out, tucking my guns away.
Walking up to the house was eerie with fucking kids playing and cars moving around like absolutely nothing was wrong.
Dan, Brett, Rex, and I took the front. I didn’t bother knocking on the door. I turned it slightly, noting it was locked. I presumed the deadbolt was, too. I quietly picked both locks, hoping the asshole wasn’t close enough to hear the damn thing click, but breaking down the door would cause too much attention to come our way.
As I opened the door, Dan sent a text to the others, saying we were going in.
The house was quiet, new, and smelled like bacon. We broke off, each going separate ways. I took the long hall to what looked like a kitchen. Nothing. All three of the guys nodded their head as we unlocked the door for the rest of the guys, who came piling in.
I nodded to the two sets of stairs, one up and one down. Val and his crew went down, mine up.
Quietly moving through the house, the distinct opening and shutting of drawers caught my attention. I used my hand to signal the door I thought it was coming from. It was wide open, and the man’s back was facing us.
“You must be Jake.”
His body stilled. My gun was aimed right at him.
“Jag, you’re a bit smarter than I realized. How’d you find me?”
“Phone, asshole. Turn around.”
He tsk-tsked. Pussy.
“Damn, Steve was supposed to put a bug in that phone. Oh, well.” He turned around, quickly pointing a gun in my face.
I didn’t hesitate, shooting him in the chest. His gun went off as he slumped to the floor, the gun clattering across the hardwood. Fire burned in my shoulder, but I didn’t take my aim away from him while the guys ran inside the room.
“Where the fuck is she?”
His hand came up, covering his wound as blood poured out of him. I shot him again, right next to the previous entry, and he screamed.
“Answer me!”
“Found her!” was yelled from the hallway.
“Is she okay?” My eyes never left the motherfucker for a second.
“She’s bad, boss.”
“Guess we all go boom,” Jake said, right before I put a bullet through his head, killing him instantly.
My stomach dropped. “Get her and get the fuck out of here. The place is gonna blow!” I yelled, barreling down the hall.
Walking into the room, I saw Catarina’s body laid out, unconscious. My heart stopped in my chest as breathing became difficult. Her beautiful hair was matted, and with each tug Val gave, pulling her out of the cuffs, she didn’t move. She had on the same clothes she’d had on days before, her body dirty with wet spots around her and the potent smell of urine coming off of her. The son of a bitch hadn’t let her use the bathroom.
“Is she alive?” I asked, almost too scared to know the answer.
“Yeah. Track marks in her arms. Fucker gave her something, but she’s breathing.” Val unlatched the final chain.
I rushed to her side, picking her up as gently as possible. Her entire body was still, not reacting to my touch. She was completely unconscious. Fear gripped me.
“Gotta get out of here; the place is going up. I don’t know if it’s on timers or what, but let’s go.”
We rushed down the stairs and out of the house. I was careful not to hit Catarina’s head as I bounced out of the place as quickly as I could.
Stepping out into the light of day, nothing happened. We moved to the car, expecting the whole fucking place to blow any second. Nothing.
