Page 48 of Vow of Silence

“Is my girlfriend joining me in the cellar?” I looked at Pham.

He smiled. “No, you’ll get her when this is over. She must really be something to go through all of this for her.”

“She’s killed for me. Loyalty like that doesn’t come along too often.” Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw several men nodding. Everyone knew it was hard to find someone that cared for you for the right reasons.

I hadn’t seen this coming.

These sinister bastards were paranoid. I understood trust issues but this was taking it too far. Two men with Uzi’s approached me. One grabbed me and escorted me down the hall while the other led the way. They hadn’t bothered to secure my hands since I was weaponless and surrounded. This home was old and built when the city still had its steel mills. It would be almost impossible to escape once down there. I was far from, Prague in a remote location. This could go badly. Worst case scenario, I would be injected with a bomb. There was no way around it, I’d have to retreat.

Big mistake.

I followed the man down the stairs. The man behind me still had his gun out but it no longer jabbed me in the center of my back. If I acted quickly, I could avoid getting shot. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I pretended to trip, and fell to the floor.

“Get up.”

The man reached for me with his other hand. I kicked the gun from his hand and flipped him over my shoulder. I got the gun and fired at him and the other guard who had walked down the hall to prepare my prison cell.

There was more gunfire above. Men were shouting all around. No one had come down here, so I suspected there wasn’t an exit.

“What the is happening?” said Le.

“Assailants are on the grounds. There are too many of them. We need to retreat,” he said.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Running to the end of the hall, I looked out the high window. It was too small to climb out of even if there hadn’t been bars along the surface. I saw the men and they were wearing all black. It was impossible to identify them. One moved ahead of the others. I instantly recognized him. My father’s hair and face were covered by a mask. I would recognize him anywhere. At that moment, he turned and saw me. His slight hand gesture for me to move back wasn’t lost on me.

I moved back immediately.

Turning, I saw men running down the stairs. I fired on them and ducked. Someone started firing from above. I took cover around a large metal bin. It smelled like dead bodies were inside but I hunkered down and fired on the men. Whoever it was shooting down here stopped.

Nguyen walked down the steps. When he got to the bottom, I fired at him. My shots missed and he ran back upstairs.

No, you don’t.

Boom.

The wall under the window exploded and the impact sent me flying into the nearest wall. My back and shoulder took the hit. I lost my grip on the gun and it flew from my hands. Wiping the blood from my head, I got to my feet, and picked up one of the dead man’s guns. I ran upstairs. I ducked, rolled up the stairs, and slid on the tile behind a formal couch.

I fired at the six men who were firing at me. I hit three of them and missed the other three. Looking around, everyone who was important had left the house. Through the reflection on the glass table, I saw one man coming toward me on the right. I aimed the gun and fired.

Four men wearing black masks rushed inside, firing on the men trying to shoot me. I dashed away from the couch and ran upstairs. I waited then looked around the corner just in time to see the glass window shatter. Nguyen was prepared to jump out when I shot him. He screamed and fell backwards on the carpet.

He reached for his gun, but I shot his hands, and kicked the weapon away. Taking out my knife, I sliced his ankles, then cut off his cock. Covering his mouth, I stabbed him in the chest, before I slit his throat. After placing his cock in his mouth, I took a picture of him. Once I showed Anya the proof that he was dead, I’d delete it.

I turned and one lone masked man stood in the hallway. He removed his mask, but he didn’t have too. I knew it was my father.

Sheathing my knife, I walked over to him, and hugged him. “You didn’t have to come. I would’ve gone to see you soon.”

He moved away from me. “No, you took risk that I hadn’t approved you take. We will talk but not here.”

His body language showed that he could barely hold his rage. The only reason his temper was in check was that we were in the home of his enemy. His expression had melted a second before his mask was back in place. He was furious.

Liam walked back downstairs. As much as I hated it, I slid in the backseat of the truck next to him.

As soon as the doors closed, he turned to me. “What were you thinking? There was no reason for you to take a risk like that. I would’ve never allowed you to…”

“I know. You treat me like a person with disabilities.” Ben had taken off his mask and stared at me through the rearview mirror.

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