Page 9 of Twisted Revelations

Beverly jumped from the bed at D’s words. “You did? Is Laura there?” The prospect of hope in her tone wasn’t lost. She’d found one friend and lost another in the same night. She contained the emotional war taking place inside her well.

“I can’t pull any visible images, but thermal images confirm that all inside the warehouse the Audi stopped at are alive,” he updated, causing her to send a relieved breath through her weak smile.

We stood at his shoulder as he explained where the warehouse was in relation to our location. We studied the blueprints and the considerably weak security measures the group had in place. We tossed around ideas about how we would search for and extract Laura, provided she was inside the warehouse.

“Wait. Only the two of you are going to go in there?” Beverly pointed at the screen, shaking her head. “All of those moving red dots are bad guys, right?” She was skeptical of our proposal for helping her friend.

D turned to face her. “Beverly, only one of us is going in there,” he corrected. “It’s best not to send an army of men in. It’s what they will be expecting. If one of us goes in, our chances of finding Laura and getting her out will be better.”

“One.” She laughed before she pointed between us. “One of you is going in there to get Laura? Oh God,” she murmured before plopping down on the edge of the bed.

D took her hand. I envied his knack for keeping people calm.

“Beverly, I can assure you. We’ve done this type of operation before. If one of us goes in there, we aren’t going to leave that building until we have Laura, even if it means destroying everyone inside.”

Those words lifted her brows. She glanced back and forth between us, questioning who she’d truly gotten involved with. She stared, face strained, taking us in fully before nodding.

“I’ll meet you two later at our new location,” I announced. I’d assigned myself the job of going after Laura. D jerked his neck back at my words, his expression unreadable, but I knew better.

“I know you like to live up to your ‘silent assassin’ image,” he stated, revealing my nickname from the military. “But that warehouse is surrounded by other buildings in an area where help won’t come quickly or easily,” he pointed out. “Are you sure you want to do this? I can’t pinpoint where Laura might be inside the building, so you’d be going in blind,” he warned.

“Yes. I figured as much,” I confirmed, allowing a bit of the necessary arrogance needed for this type of mission to shine through.

Beverly’s eyes volleyed between us as tension rode her body. She clearly had doubts about our ability to pull off the mission, and she should. Facts were, we couldn’t guarantee it would be a success. We’d worked this type of mission before, yes, but like all assignments, you never knew when it would be your last.

D’s penetrating gaze locked on mine. His glare said what he didn’t in words out of respect for Beverly. I could picture a litany of words hovering above his tongue, telling me I was being arrogant when he was sitting there willing to trade places. I commented on his hard stare.

“I’ll be silent. I’ll be … vigilant,” I confirmed before flashing a smile that revealed the darkness of hell was following me into that building.

He nodded his understanding. “You’re the only motherfucker I know that can dress your darkness up as well as you dress your body. Be careful,” he warned, handing me an earpiece. “It’s long range, so you should be able to hear me from the new location. If not, use your phone, but only if you must,” he instructed as a hint of concern reflected in his eyes but dissolved when a mischievous smile crept across my lips.

He eyed me for a while, not willing to say out loud the things we’d normally say to each other amid a deadly mission in front of Beverly. If we had to die, it would be as a result of attempting to do something good, to help the good guys, or to dispel an evil threat to the world. Did we live righteous lives? No, we didn’t. However, we’d encountered real-world devils that made us look like the saints.

D turned to Beverly when we were done with our stare down. “Pardon my earlier language. I’ve been meaning to quit cursing, but it has a way of adding flavor to my limited vocabulary.”

A smile crept across her lips. “No need to apologize. I fucking understand better than you think.”

We laughed, but he kept his glare on her, locking her in place with a serious expression. “We are going to find Laura,” he reassured.

“If she’s in that building, I’ll find her,” I added, knowing she needed the positive boost.

Uncertainty remained in her gaze and stress kept her body coiled tight. However, she had no idea she’d received a promise from two men who knew how to stoke the fires of Hell and use the flames to burn it to oblivion.

---