Page 33 of Fight

“Paid?” the guy who spoke the first time I entered the room asks.

I nod, “Yes, paid. If you choose to leave, there will be no repercussions. The Heirs have all been dealt with. However, whichever option you choose, you do need to leave the premises immediately.”

“Do any of you live on the grounds?” Ace asks the clearly shell-shocked staff.

“No, we don’t. We all live in town or on the outskirts,” one of them replies.

“Excellent. If, when we call you all back to work, some of you don’t come, we will assume that you are not coming back. Please make your way out, and we will escort you from the property.” I add, trying to keep it professional and keep them at ease as well, I have no idea how well it's working.

They all share a look before, one by one, they start to get up, Ace takes the lead, and they follow as I wait behind to make sure that the room is completely clear before I follow after them, making sure that no one gets any ideas about exploring or staying on the grounds. We can’t risk it. Usually, I would insist that they stay where they are until we’ve done the clean-up, but these people are used to how the families work, so this is probably the least terrifying thing that they’ve encountered.

When we get out the front, everyone takes off pretty quickly, which is understandable as they’ve had one hell of a morning so far. Just as they’re leaving, the van pulls in, the staff looks at it curiously, but no one stops to take a closer look.

“How did that go?” Mase asks as he hops out and opens the back.

“As well as can be expected, I will be incredibly surprised if any of them choose to come back to work,” I reply.

“I wouldn’t if I were them,” Rome adds as he unceremoniously dumps Daniel in the back of the van. I notice that he’s cable tied his hands together while Ace and I have been gone. I’m guessing it's for extra security, just in case the poison doesn’t last as long as we were told that it does.

The others soon load the other three that are still alive into the van as well, all of them still knocked out.

As the last one lands in the back, my phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out, “Hello.”

“Jynx, just calling to let you know that we’re ten minutes out from the location,” Alaric says on the other end of the phone and then promptly hangs up, just in case someone who shouldn’t be happens to be listening.

“Everything okay?” Rip asks me.

“Yeah, my contact is going to be here soon,” I reply.

Rome looks at the others, “In that case, Malory, you take the SUV over to my place and fill the grandparents in on what you can. We will meet you there soon.”

“You got it,” she smiles, looking like a weight has been lifted off her shoulders, and in a way, I guess that it has.

She catches the keys and then strides off back down the hill.

“It’s going to be cramped, but it’s not for long, and at least we can keep an eye on captives, while we drive there,” Rome says to us once she’s gone.

“Yeah, let’s do this.” Malachi grins.

We all pile into the van, and Rome starts it. It’s going to take about thirty minutes to get to the edge of town, and we’re halfway there when Ace’s phone starts to ring.

Frowning at it, he says, “It’s Rome’s place, so I’m guessing that means that it’s the grandparents.”

“Kids,” Gerald’s voice comes through from the other end of the phone since Ace has once again remembered to put it on speaker.

“Gerald, is everything okay?” Rome asks.

“Yes, Malory has just filled us in, and I thought I’d let you know that we’ll take care of the cleanup at the estate. It’s something we’re well versed in, and with all of us; we’ll have it done in no time,” Gerald replies.

“That would be great,” Rome replies, sounding slightly surprised.

“Good, we just wanted to tell you so that you weren’t surprised if you came back to do it; the last thing we need is a shoot-out,” Gerald replies with a smile in his voice.

“Thanks, Gerald,” I reply, “celebration at Rome’s place tonight, I think.”

“Absolutely,” Gerald replies, as someone, and I’m assuming it’s Cecil, hoots in the background with excitement like a college kid.

It makes us all smile as Gerald sighs heavily and then hangs up.

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