We could storm it, but there were four guys in there, just waiting for someone to come through that door. They might not kill us, but someone was bound to get shot. “I don’t?—”
“Obi, Wynn.” Ryu tapped his earpiece. “We’re doing Lagos on my count!”
My head snapped toward him. “Lagos?”
“Copy,” Obi said through the comms.
“Been awhile,” Wynn added.
“You have a better idea?” Ryu asked me. His foot braced against the door. “Five! Four!”
“Well, no?—”
“What am I missing?” Makarov asked, eyes wide as he watched both Ryu and I rushed to reload our weapons.
“Fuck,” I said through gritted teeth. “Lagos. Let’s do it.”
“What the hell?” Makarov scrambled beside me. “What’s Lagos?”
“Three!” Ryu said, smiling like the devil he was.
“Stay here, Makarov.”
“Two! One!”
Ryu kicked open the door, ducking, and rolling inside. At the same time, I followed right behind him. We fanned out beside one another, falling into the patterns we’d trained for years. As soon as we got to the main room, bullets were flying. Wynn and Obi burst through the window behind us. Blood splattered. Chaos broke loose.
My eyes locked on the body sprinting across the room and shutting itself inside one of the rooms.
“Three o’clock!” I shouted.
The four of us settled into a well-oiled machine. We’d done this exact same thing in the hideout of a local ganglord in Lagos two years ago. He’d been holed up with his men and the only way to get inside was a surprise attack.
But we knew once we got inside, we’d have to scan and eliminate targets who were likely hiding. We followed the same pattern, two of us rotating clockwise while the other pair rotated counterclockwise, all descending on the same singular point.
The other Alacrán members didn’t stand a chance. Within eight seconds, the apartment was clear except for the man barricading himself in what looked like the bedroom.
Makarov stepped into the apartment behind us. “So this is assassin shit.”
Ryu gave him a fist-bump.
“You alive in there, you piece of shit?” I called in Spanish. None of the men we’d killed were Arboleda. He must be the one holed up.
A bullet cracked through the door and flew right past my head.
“Who is it, Ciel?” Obi asked, leaning against the wall beside me.
“The man who killed my parents,” I responded in English.
My brothers paused, looking at the door like they, too, were ready to burn it down.
“Well, let’s fucking go then,” Ryu said, eyes wild. He gestured to the door. “Get in there.”
“Ever since the day I found you, you have been waiting for this,” Obi said, unconcerned by how another bullet whizzed past us. He didn’t even flinch.
I nodded.
“You will get vengeance for them,” Obi said, eyes locked on mine. “We will do all we can to help you. This kill is yours.”
