Page 248 of Unravelling The Beast

I close my eyes briefly and look aside.

“This is who I am, Wren.”

“Is it?”

My eyes return to hers, and she speaks softly, her huge eyes glistening with tears.

“Or is this what they made you to be?”

As I remain silent, it becomes deafening between us, and after a moment, I stand taller while releasing her.

“I'll be back soon.”

I turn away from her, but I can feel her watching me as I leave the house without saying anything else.

I'm driving to one of our abandoned sites with one hand on the wheel and with the other, I rub my palm across my face, stuck in thought, irritation swallowing me.

Yeah, I understand that she's worried since she's pregnant, but I don't know anything beyond what I've grown up with and lived around my entire life. This is who I am, and I will never change. This is my way of life, and it's not for the faint of heart.

Once we're in, there's no way out but death. Wren will get used to it; she's already made it this far. She's just a touch hormonal right now, and I'm not one of those fucks who fails to understand where a woman is coming from when it comes to hormones.

Well, I fucking hope that's the case anyway and she's not having second thoughts about us.

Now I'm prepared to go kill this fucking cop. Someone must have given him a shit tip-off because where he is now isn't a place we use anymore. When I killed my dad, I had everything moved, including drugs, firearms, money, and everything else shady we do. I wasn't taking any fucking chances.

As I pull up some distance away from the spot, I turn my headlights off since I intend to ambush him. I sit in complete darkness for a moment, releasing a deep breath before reaching over, opening the dash compartment, and pulling out a black balaclava and pistol.

I pull the balaclava down over my face before checking the clip in the gun. When I see it's full, I cock it back, reach over again, and take the spare full clip too. I open the door beside me before stepping out of the car and gently closing it behind me.

While stalking across the long, overgrown field, I spot a car parked outside of the old, broken-down structure and I come to a halt before squatting down. I track the vast area with my eyes as the full moonlight illuminates it, and I listen out for any movement.

When I can't hear anything, I keep moving carefully ahead, as slowly and quietly as possible.

I'm not stupid; I know I'm dealing with a fucking highly skilled killer here, likely far more skilled than anything I've ever been trained for.

When I'm close enough to the building, I lean back against the brick and listen again. It's still quiet, other than the crickets in the tall grass surrounding me. I sneak around the building to a known entry, and when I get there, I discreetly enter the shadowy building.

The aroma is foul and potent as I enter the corridor. Urine and dampness linger in the air, but I brush them off as I creep forward stealthily.

I pass many doors, aiming my gun fiercely, expecting a surprise attack at any moment, until I reach a large, empty expanse with huge pillars stretching as far as the moonlight allows me to see.

I dart behind a pillar when I hear a disturbance from the far end of the huge region, and it echoes around me. I crouch down before peering around the pillar when a bullet suddenly zips by me, the air of how close it was brushing across my face as I draw my head back swiftly.

My nostrils expand before I rise up, mentally calculating where it came from.

“Well, well, well, Arlo, I'll give it to you; I wasn't expecting you here.”

When he speaks, I now know he's behind me to the far left, so I lean back before responding.

“What are you doing here, cunt? You're no longer useful to the FBI anymore.”

He laughs before he responds.

“Thanks to you, and fuck them; I'm doing my own investigation.”

My eyebrow rises.

“You won't find much here; you're in the wrong fucking spot, motherfucker.”

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