Page 116 of Voracious

Barry, Lisa and their baby. Stacey was the live-in babysitter.

Barry got her out of the UK.

“Do we have any information on the family?”

One of the guys shrugs. “I think they were eliminated.”

My blood runs cold. “No.”

Base appears, grabbing my helmet to make me look at him. “Keep it together,” he grits. “We have a target to hunt.”

“There’s a lot of blood in the baby room,” someone says to my left. “Looks like there was a fucking massacre in there.”

I shove one of the guards aside as I make my way up to the first floor, stopping when I reach the last bedroom.Evais written on the door, and there are Disney characters painted everywhere.

As soon as I push the door open, my burning gaze lands on the pictures on the dresser, all decorated with blood. Barry, Lisa and Eva. And another one is Stacey with Eva on her shoulder, both grinning for the camera.

“Fuck, man. There’s so much blood,” Base says, his helmet dropping on the ground beside me.

I’m already on my fucking knees. They killed Barry? Fucking Barry? His wife and daughter?

Where the fuck is Stacey?

I lean forward on my hands, lowering my head, attempting to count to three. To figure out how to fill my lungs, to stop the pressure on my head and behind my eyes.

Base rests a hand on my shoulder, making me flinch as my eyes burn. “Breathe, man. We’ll find her. Did you know the people she was living here with?”

“Yeah. Barry. He was my… friend. They can’t be dead.” I press a button on my radio, pushing my voice out as I try to focus. “Do we have confirmation if the other three targets were eliminated?”

“The only information we have is that the babysitter is still alive.”

Base squeezes my shoulder. “I’m sorry, man. We… we can still find Stacey.”

I’m shaking by the time Base helps me to my feet. He doesn’t speak as I pull the picture of Stacey and Eva from the frame and fold it into my pocket, checking that the pistol in my leg harness is loaded.

I feel every fibre within me darken, my emotions void except pure rage as I walk past Base, shouldering into some of the men as I exit the building with nothing but murder on my mind. Base chases after me, and I get into the car and start the engine.

The passenger door opens and closes. “Where are we going? The mission isn’t done yet. She’ll punish us if we leave.”

My eye twitches as I speed through the streets, nearly crashing numerous times but not giving a fuck. “Fuck the mission.”

33

KADE

As soon as I reach our destination – the hotel Bernie is staying at – I slam my brakes on and pull off my seat belt.

“Fucking think about this for a second, Kade.” Base swears under his breath as I throw open the door. I shake my head, making my way across the street towards the hotel entrance. “Kade!”

“I have no reason to think about it. She has a goddamn hit out on Stacey, and I need to know where Barry and his family are.” I gesture to the car. “Go to the facility. I don’t want you getting involved in this.”

“You think I’m going to fucking leave you?”

I push into the reception, and the lady behind the desk takes in my all-black uniform, combats, bulletproof vest, the riot helmet hanging from my hand – then her eyes land on the pistol in the other.

Base rushes into the elevator just as the door closes, joining me inside. It’ll take us all the way up to the penthouse. I stare forward while he bounces on his toes – nerves. He’s a ruthless bastard, but he still gets nervous when it comes to confrontation. It’s why he could never handle arguing with my sister, and whenever he did something wrong, he ghosted.

“You think they’re dead?”

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