Page 67 of Corrupted Deception

“And how do you intend to do that?”

“The ground beneath the gravel outside is electrified flooring, four-by-four panels,” I explained, nodding to the monitor on the far right as I pulled up the flooring grid. The panels could be activated all together or individually. The choice was mine—lucky me.

“The gravel’s limestone—a good conductor,” I went on, trying to focus on the strategy and not the reality of what I was about to do. “The voltage is adjusted so that anyone wearing rubber soles will get knocked off their feet onto the grid. Those without… they’ll fry right away,” I said, though the last words tried to get trapped in my throat.

Aurelio nodded like he wholly approved, and for a brief moment, I could see it—the hardness behind his kind eyes, the ruthlessness beneath his warm smile. There really was more than one side to him, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to meet that other side.

I closed my eyes, though, and focused, like I could pull that ruthlessness right out of his veins and into mine. While I’d always known what this home could do, it had been a theoretical knowledge. Until now.

Dad, you really should have written a manual on all this stuff. ‘Killing Guilt-Free… for Dummies’, maybe?

“Charlotte?” Aurelio spoke gently.

“Yeah?” I forced my eyes open and looked at the men on the monitors. Men who were making no move to leave. Several of them had opened the trunks of the SUVs, retrieving what looked to be Saiga-12s and AK-47s while they rambled on to one another in Spanish about leveling this place and all the graphic ways they were going to kill the ‘puta’ inside. They were creative—I’d give them that much.

“Show me what to do,Signorina,” Aurelio said in a tone that was very much like Cielo’s—that ‘you’re going to do what I say’ kind of tone.

I tore my gaze from the monitors and looked up at him. “They’re not here for you.” This was my responsibility no matter how much I wished it wasn’t. “I—”

Movement at the far edge of one of the monitors caught my eye. Movement on the road beyond the parking lot. Two cars, approaching fast.

And the lead car was a black Aston Martin.

“God damned Maverick,” I cursed under my breath as my heart raced and my stomach turned.

Cielo was going to walk right into this, right into a bunch of angry men with very big guns.

I pointed to the cars zipping closer when Aurelio looked at me strangely.

“I told him to stay away, Aurelio.” But of course, he didn’t listen.

Bile rose high in the back of my throat, and my heart pounded so hard I could feel it slamming against my ribs.

“Tell me what to do, Charlotte,” Aurelio demanded.

They’re going to shoot him.

I highlighted the four-by-four panels I needed to take out every one of them as the men in front of the warehouse turned toward the sound of the approaching vehicles.

They’re going to kill him right in front of me.

My fingers flew across the keyboard, readying the system as the Aston Martin turned sharply into the lot.

“Shoot them!” Gustavo yelled, but not one of them got the chance to pull the trigger because I flipped off the audio feed and pressed ‘Enter’.

One key.

One simple push of a button.

And then I watched as thirteen mouths opened in silent screams, their faces contorted, their bodies convulsing.

They fell like dominos, jolting on the panels like writhing fish out of water.

And then they were still. Every one of the thirteen men dead.

It’s over,I told myself as I shut down the system and tried to draw in a deep breath, but it wouldn’t come. It felt like all the oxygen in the room had been sucked out, leaving me gasping.

Get a grip, Char. It’s over.

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