Page 133 of Devious Kingpin
“This is Astor,” Kian stated coldly. “Darius and River are watching us through their sniper rifles and tracking the movements in the building through body heat cameras.”
Basilio and I nodded.
“Anyone inside?” I asked, tilting my head to the building.
“Someone’s definitely inside,” he stated matter-of-factly.
“And we’re standing in the middle of an open space… why? I’m not in the mood to be a target right now.”
“Darius and River have eyes on every window of this building,” Kian’s right-hand man answered. He started moving, and for someone so large, he did so with surprising stealth. The intelligence behind his gaze assured us he wouldn’t be a burden but rather an asset. Good, because we’d need all the help we could get if the crazy bitch was inside.
He extended his hand, two small devices lying there. Earpieces. “It will allow us all to know what’s going on at all times.”
Basilio and I slid the device into our ear and headed inside.
We climbed up the cracked stairs, all four of us entering the building. An open area greeted us, knocked-down chairs, wet floor, gray walls… ceilings caving in. It was a mess. We made our way through dark hallways, all the while hearing faint voices traveling through the vents.
The four of us shared looks. We didn’t speak, not wanting our voices to carry through the empty hallways.
“There are no security cameras.” A voice came through our earpiece. “There are no movements on the upper floors. But there was movement on the first floor. Two bodies. Hard to tell whether there’s a female. They’ve disappeared, so they must have gone into the basement.”
The body heat cameras—at least those he had—couldn’t track them in the basement.
My lips stretched into a thin line. I just wanted this shit with Sofia Volkov to be done. The information Kian had shared with me yesterday revealed that psycho bitch had it out for my wife.
Because of the part her birth family played in Sofia Volkov’s madness. Because of Juliette’s bloodthirsty path to revenge.Not that I blamed her.
I spotted the door to the side and the direction above it showed it led directly into the basement. I whistled softly and everyone’s eyes turned my way. I pointed to it.
There was tension building in the air and inside me. It crawled through my veins and pricked my skin.
Astor opened the door that led to a winding staircase. There were cobwebs hanging off the ceiling, but it appeared they’d been prowled through recently, shifting as though someone had recently come through.
We must have all had the same thought, because Kian mouthed, “Someone’s down there.”
There was an eerie silence as we took the staircase that was getting more use today than it had in decades. Once we were all in the basement, we scanned the area. There were only two ways out of here. Back up the stairs or down a long, dark tunnel that ledsomewhere.And possibly to someone.
We stood still for a moment and then I honed in on the sound. It was very faint but I could hear it, and by the expression on everyone’s faces, so could they. The sound of footsteps.
One. Two.
Two sets of footsteps. Just like the snipers claimed. But then static came through the headset.
Mumbled words. Incoherent sounds. Then a single word.Trap.
That word I understood. The door above us opened and bullets started flying.
“Fuck,” the four of us said at the same time, drawing our weapons and breaking into a run, chasing the two ghosts ahead while being chased by others.
My hands wrapped around my blades tucked in the back of my pants and I sent them flying through the air, landing in their chests. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. There were more of them coming.
Fuck, I wished I’d dressed in jeans. Three-piece suits were a pain to fight in.
Four men came from behind us. Another four running toward us. We were trapped. Fucked through and through. Basilio and I aimed at the ones chasing us, shooting them down one by one. Kian and Astor fired their guns at the men in front of them.
We were running out of ammunition. Without alternatives, we grabbed the guns from the fallen men and kept shooting.
The circle was closing in on us and there was nowhere to go.
