“We got you covered, River,” Hayden adds.
“Lux?” I prompt when I don’t hear her respond.
“I’m here,” she says sweetly. “Be safe.”
“It’sgotime.”
I climb out of the car and throw my kill bag over my shoulder, then take out my phone to follow the directions step-by-step. Heading up the shallow stairs on the back stoop, I rest my gloved hand on the doorknob. With a light twist, it opens just as Andrew said it would. Sliding my gun from the waistband of my pants, I keep it down to my side with a fingerhovering over the trigger. There’s a musty, stale odor which overpowers my senses, almost making me gag.
“This place smells like shit,” I mutter under my breath.
“You murder people, but you’re bothered by a little dust?” Sebastian teases.
I ignore him and continue scanning the house, searching for any sign of Duncan.
“River Thompson.”
I swing around, my gun pointed at a tattered fabric chair in the room’s corner. “Fuck, dude. You scared the shit out of me.”
Duncan chuckles. “I’m sorry. You should have seen your face.”
“Fuck you.”
“I’ve been expecting you. There’s something waiting for us in the basement.” He continues laughing like we’re a couple of friends casually hanging out on a Friday night.
His body language shows no signs of fear or unrest—a cockier man than our last two targets. I hide the smile pulling at the corner of my mouth. I’m going to enjoy ending this prick.
“A woman, I presume?” I slip my gun into the back of my pants.
“Better.” He grins, nudging me to follow him. “A college student. Young and ripe.”
Motherfucker. He already grabbed one.
Andrew never directly stated we’d pick one up together, but I assumed—and was hopeful—we’d take care of Duncan before another woman got hurt.
I slap him on the shoulder, taking every bit of self-control not to wrap each one of my fingers around his neck and squeeze. “My favorite. Especially when it’s one of those sorority girls.”
“I knew you were one of us, Thompson.”
He leads me into a cement-walled basement, similar to the one I found Lux in that first night.
A low, painful whimper echoes throughout the place as we round the corner to find a naked woman chained to a wrought iron bed. Not sure if she’s completely coherent or not. Her eyes are blindfolded and hands are bound behind her back. She already has bruises spanning the inside of her legs and I wonder how long she’s been in here.Duncan must have had her here prior to only earlier this evening.
Anger creeps up my neck just as Hayden confirms they’ve cleared the perimeter.
Duncan walks over to the woman, a shit-eating grin on his face with his arm extended like he’s proud of what he’s showing me. “Usually we don’t share on our weekends, but Andrew wanted me to test you out first to make sure you’re legit.”
“What do you mean?”
“I hope you don’t mind sloppy seconds.”
My eyes move over to the girl, and all I can think of is Lux being in the same position—the pain she felt, the fear and terror when I showed up.
All I see is red as I slip my gun from my back and lunge at Duncan, hitting him on the side of the head with the handle of the gun. He stumbles back, the wind knocked out of him.
I hear Sebastian scream in my ear, but my rage drowns out everything else as I continue beating the shit out of the man.
“You sick fuck. It’s your turn to die now,” I grit out as he pulls down the curtain trying to brace his fall. When Duncan falls to the floor, I’m reminded of my promise to Lux. This is supposed to be for her and I can’t take that away.
