“How was the guard killed?”
“Gun.”
“Do you know how many people are normally inside?” I shake my head. It wasn’t something we had discussed, and I hadn’t been inside the compound often enough to notice.
The Duke taps her hand against her thigh and blows out a breath. “Okay, I want two of you around the back, one at each side, and two at the front. Mask up, vest up. There are possible civilians inside, so we’ll use the gas and rubber bullets. Dolly, you’ll be with me.” She leads us back to the helicopter, where I’m fitted with a bulletproof vest, thigh pads, and a gas mask.
“Do you know how to use a gun?” The Duke asks.
“No, I’m more of a knife kind of girl.”
“Ah, you’re like Tessa and Rebecca, then. Here.” She hands me two military knives and helps me strap them to my vest. “All right, boys, there’s nothing stealthy about this. No one inside that building missed the sound of the copter touching down. Let’s do this.”
As one, we race across the lawn. Prickles of sweat dot my brow, and I can’t help but feel a surge of hope. If Sinister’s alive, we’re going to get him out.
When we near the compound, our group splits up according to The Duke’s instructions. We pull our masks on and run up the stairs, exchanging looks at the wide-open doors. One man stops at the threshold and throws a canister in. It slides across the floor, emitting a cloud of gas.
We step inside, but the foyer is suspiciously quiet. No one is at the reception desk, but the walls are covered in dried-blood splatter.Fuck.What the hell happened here?The Duke points two fingers, and the two men with us split off, one going right, one left.
“Where are Sinister’s rooms?” she asks, her voice muffled by her mask. I gesture toward the stairs, and The Duke pushes me behind her and heads up first, gun trained and sweeping back and forth. Once we hit the landing, I’m again astonished at the silence. At least there’s no blood up here.
We take our masks off and attach them to our vests. The Duke pulls to a stop and presses a finger to her ear. “Got it,” she replies. “Dolly, they found people locked in the basement. Eight dead, seventeen alive. Sinister wasn’t among them.”
I give a jerky nod and fist my trembling hands.Stay calm. Breathe.
The Duke sweeps each room we pass but appears to let her guard down when they continue to turn up empty. I pull to a stop outside Aidan’s room, a slither of premonition locking my muscles. My head shakes back and forth, then I squeeze my eyes closed and push the door open.
My knees give out, and I fall to the floor, gasping for air. The nurse lies sprawled on the floor with a bullet in her head. And Aidan…fuck. His sightless eyes stare at the ceiling, while the jagged slash in his neck mocks me with a crimson grin.
The Duke grabs my arm and hauls me to my feet. I stumble into the room, coming to a stop by his bed. I take his icy hand in mine and whisper, “Go in peace, Aidan. Thank you for keeping him safe for me.”
Shock and sorrow morph into anger, and my chest burns with the need for blood. Whoever did this is a dead man. And if they hurt Sinister, I’m going to make it as painful as possible.
I storm out of the room and head toward Sinister’sapartment, pulling out the knives as I go. The Duke follows me silently, keeping her own counsel.Calm down. Don’t lose it. Stay alert.Fuck that.
I hurl myself at his door and tumble through it like the Tasmanian Devil on steroids. The living room is empty, so I carry on toward the bedroom. The moment I enter the hallway, I see him through the open door. Someone strapped him to his bed, gagged him, and he sports shallow-looking slashes all over his bare chest.
The Duke tries to grab my arm, but I shake her off and race toward the room. Sinister’s eyes widen, and he screams into the gag, shaking his head. He struggles against the bonds, the muscles in his arms standing in relief. It’s enough to warn me when a shadow appears from behind the door.
Richard steps out from behind it with his gun raised and pointed at my head. “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the little bird, alive and well. I have to say, I was surprised to discover you were still alive.” I freeze in place as childhood memories slam into me with the force of a tidal wave. My teeth clench as I force them back into their box. I don’t have the luxury of spiraling.
“That both of you are still alive,” he goes on. “So imagine my surprise when I got word of Jack’s and Evan’s deaths, followed by Chris’s, Leo’s, and Thom’s disappearance. You two have been busy, haven’t you?”
“We have,” I agree. A smile lifts the corners of my mouth. “All to draw you out, of course. Thank you for making it easy for us.”
Richard’s features twist with unease, and I take that moment to drop to the ground. The Duke steps forward and shoots him in the leg but not with one of her rubber bullets. His knee explodes in a shower of blood, and he drops his gun when he crashes to the floor with an ear-piercing scream. The Duke steps over me and kicks the gun away before heading toward Sinister.
“You can take the trash out,” she says, tossing me a grin.
I crawl to my knees and straddle Richard’s waist, placing one knife to his throat. “Who do you work for?”
He sneers at me, even as he writhes in pain. “Go fuck yourself, you little cunt.” My arm whips out, and I stab it through his hand, pinning him to the wooden floor. His back arches beneath me, trying to buck me off him as he lets out a pained shout.
“Who do you work for?” I scream back at him, pressing the other knife tighter against his throat. A slick line of blood appears, and Richard’s eyes bulge.
“Governor White,” he grits out, baring his teeth at me. “He’ll roast you both alive. He’s better guarded than Fort Knox—you don’t stand a chance against him.” The last of his words come out gargled as I plunge the knife into his chest. Years of suffering and hatred pour out of me as my arm swings down over and over again. Hot metallic blood splatters my face and obscures my vision, while tears stream down my cheeks and pool on his chest.
Time ceases to exist as I exorcise my demons on the man responsible for it all. His heart stops beating long before I’m satisfied, and I only stop when Sinister pulls me off him and wraps his arms around me.
