Page 56 of Evil Beautiful

“I only have one order. Take her alive.” My people nodded.

I didn’t have to say more, they knew exactly what to do.

Turning I climbed into the back of the waiting vehicle.

Gideon slid in on the other side.

He didn’t have to speak. Just a tip of his chin had the vehicle moving.

Feeling Gideon’s eyes on me I turned my head and looked at my best friend.

Neither of us said a word. We didn’t have to.

Tonight, one way or another, Winifred Harrison’s rule of terror will end.

And we will be the ones to end it.

Gideon

Dom sat silently beside me as we drove to our destination. Our plan was to approach the guest lodgings where the hag was hiding through the vineyards. Autumn was fast approaching but the vines still had plenty of leaves that would give us enough cover to get close. The majority of her guards were foolishly watching the most obvious access points, while only four patrolled the vineyards closest to the guest house.

Darren was in command from the second we got into the vehicles. He was the trained commando while Dom and I weren’t. We’ve had training but not as extensive as his and the rest of our teams.

Arriving at the rendezvous point we left the vehicles and soundlessly dispersed into the night. Everyone knew what they had to do.

Dom and I were with Darren as we approached the side of the guest house. The guards didn’t expect us and were shocked when we hit them, but one of them recovered quickly and attacked Dom with a wicked looking knife. The fight was eerily silent and the bastard slipped through Dom’s defence twice. Stabbing him high in the chest and neck, I was about to take him out when Dom lashed out and his attacker sank to the ground and lay still. Zach appeared out of the dark and was instantly on Dom patching him up before we continued.

The dead guards were quickly dragged into the vines where they wouldn’t be seen should anyone decide to check on why they had gone silent.

And then, finally, we were in the house. When I stepped inside the house wasn’t silent. I recognised the sounds and suddenly it felt as if someone was dragging a sharp knife down my spine into the small of my back.

Loud classical music came from deeper in the house and the particular piece of music made my gut roll.

It wasn’t a good sign.

The hag loved the classics and always played her favourite piece of music when she personally took care of her victims. I looked at Dom and he gave a sharp nod. We both knew the music meant someone was being cut to ribbons for information…or just for sport. It could be either with the hag.

Following Darren we made our way down the long passage. The guesthouse was like a sprawling mini mansion.

We had come in through the sliding doors in the main bedroom and were slowly making our way through the house. The men with us cleared all the rooms as we went along, and eliminated anyone they found.

No one in this house was innocent. Not if they could listen to the pained moans and muffled screams and do nothing to stop it.

And finally we found her and by finding her we found Mitch.

He was naked and tied to the plastic covered dining room table. Ropes led from his wrists and ankles to the legs of the table. Two of the hags favourite torturers were in the room with her, both were in their underwear and splattered with blood but the bitch had most of his blood on her.

She was crouched on the table over my friend, a short bladed knife in her hand and she was cutting long lines all over his torso. The men with her were watching with leering smiles.

We couldn’t allow them to see us. If they did Mitch was dead.

We were going to have to move fast, really fast.

Dom waved Darren and his men forward and it happened between one blink and the next.

The bastards spotted us, bullets flew and I pulled Dom to the floor.

When silence descended I jumped up. The men with the hag were dead and she was on her belly on the floor. One of the men held her while Lex manacled her arms behind her back. I grinned at the ball gag she had shoved in her mouth and strapped to her head, keeping her silent. There was blood on her lips and running down her chin which meant whoever had shoved it in her mouth hadn’t been gentle.

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