Page 16 of Breathe
Later, when he thought about his reaction, he knew it came from his gut. The knife was in his palm, and before he could think twice or have any regrets, he sliced an X down the front of the man’s white dress shirt that all of them wore beneath a black suit.
His blade never missed.
It sliced through the material and left a good eighth of an inch deep cut crisscrossed into the man’s skin.
The guard fell back with a hiss, and the other two guards pulled their guns. The barrels were pointed at his head.
Azrael squeezed his hand around the knife handle, and he wondered if he could take them both out while dodging bullets. He figured that would be superman shit and didn’t risk it.
“Go ahead,” Azrael goaded, stepping in close enough so the barrel pressed against his forehead. “Pull the fucking trigger and then you can explain to Dave, Stone, and Real why I’m dead.”
“They won’t blame us. You’re a pain in the ass,” the guard said, pressing the gun against his forehead.
The sliced-up guard was holding his shirt against his chest, trying to stem the flow of blood.
Azrael stepped back and pointed to one of several cameras that had caught the whole thing. Dave was very efficient at keeping the property protected.
It was eleven o’clock in the morning, and Azrael knew without a doubt that the cameras were always monitored.
“I’m going up that wall and across the roof and into my room,” he informed them, backing away so he kept them in his sights.
They never lowered their guns, and Azrael never took his eyes away until he had to scale the wall.
He expected to feel a bullet in his back the whole time, and raced along the top of the wall, leaped onto the roof, and didn’t look back until he was through his open window.
This would be the last time he ever came here.
His plan was to avoid Real at all costs, get the data from Genesis, and haul ass out of there.
In that order.
Real walked through the halls of Dave’s estate.
His plan was to locate Azrael, but he’d heard from the kitchen staff that the twins and Cash had gone to breakfast.
He helped himself to a few scones from the cook with the nice smile. She was thrilled when he complimented her on the ham and cheese tucked inside.
With his stomach full, he left the bakery smell of the kitchen and headed into the foyer. From there, he turned left and walked down the wide hallway toward where the gaming room was.
Voices drew his attention from the direction of the guards’ quarters and he hooked another left down a back hallway.
“Damn it, bring him over here and let’s get that bandaged up.”
“We should drive him to the hospital.”
“No, no hospital.”
Real moved quietly to the break room door that the guards used.
When he spotted the one guard without a shirt and another one patching him up, Real pinched the bridge of his nose and held back the sigh.
Apparently, Azraelwasback. Those slices in the guard’s chest looked suspiciously like the young assassin’s handiwork.
Real stepped away, heading down the hall, and he pulled up the surveillance app on his phone. He wanted to get a look at Azrael’s handiwork.
He flipped back through the video and stopped in his tracks. He pressed the Bluetooth in his ear that would connect the video’s audio to his phone.
The surveillance video played the chain of events, along with every fucking sound.
