Page 23 of Drowning in the Deep
That was the last straw. Making eye contact with Nico in the mirror, I waited for him to catch my drift and brace himself, and then I slammed on the brakes. Both of my brothers went flying forward. Vin’s face smacked on the dashboard while I felt Dezzy’s bury into the headrest behind me.
Now, it was my turn to laugh. I hit the gas again, and we took off.
“Thank you for sparing me.” Nico chuckled while my brothers rubbed their faces.
“Son of a bitch,” Vin said, dragging his hand across his forehead. “That was unnecessary. How are we supposed to kill the Latvians if we’re cross-eyed?”
“Maybe you should watch your fucking mouth,” I replied, trying to sound nonchalant, like it was no sweat off my brow.
I quickly caught up with the other vehicles, and the SUV went quiet as we all got back into attack mode. All five of the cars pulled off on the dirt road where we’d parked before, spreading out and taking cover under trees on the edge of the road. We hadn’t seen another vehicle for miles, but it never hurt to be cautious.
Under cover of the inky purple sky, we headed out, fully armed, ready to end this once and for all. Above us, a thousand stars twinkled in the sky, all of them visible this far away from the city. They were about to see quite a show.
Vin and I led the way since we would be the ones to start everything off in the shed behind the farmhouse. In my pockets, I carried the catalyst that would let everyone know things were going down. I had to be careful, traipsing across uneven ground. The last thing I needed was to be the light that set the scene ablaze myself.
We took our time, making sure that no one in the house was able to detect us coming closer. Vin and I headed to the back while the others took up their various positions around the perimeter of the house, again using the trees to make sure that they weren’t openly visible.
Noise from the house hit our ears as soon as we stepped into the vicinity of the backyard. Lights poured out of nearly every room. The barn was also hopping, with the same loud music playing and laughter letting us know whoever was cooking the drugs in there tonight was probably already drunk off their asses.
The shed door was hanging open, which was a bit of a warning. If they were cooking drugs, they may be going back and forth for supplies. Vin and I would need to work quickly to make sure we weren’t detected. As soon as we stepped inside the shed, I went to work.
“Hey, there’s a couple of guys on the porch,” Vin whispered. “We can’t use the flashlight.”
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, turning to look. I could see the forms of two Latvian assholes sitting on the porch, guns in hand. They didn’t appear to be paying any attention to what was happening in the yard or barn, but I couldn’t take the risk of turning on a light when they might see it.
I was pretty sure I knew which chemicals I had in each pocket and where I needed to pour them to make everything go boom, but it wasn’t a chance I was willing to take without verifying the labels on the bottles in my pockets.
Pulling the first container out of my pocket, I held it up, hoping that the starlight might help me some, but I couldn’t see the label at all. I even sniffed it to see if that helped any, but it didn’t. “Fuck.”
I pulled the second one out and had the same result. Under the circumstances, there was no way I could be sure which bottle was which, and if I had accidentally switched them when I put them in my pockets, I would kill us both. Normally, I would’ve been more careful, but I thought I’d be able to see them when I got here.
“Can you hurry up?” Vin whispered. “The guys out front are probably getting restless.”
Annoyed, I rolled my eyes at my brother. “Uh, I’m playing with deadly chemicals in the dark. Do you really want me to rush?” I asked him.
“No, not rush. Just hurry up. That’s all,” Vin replied.
I turned and gave him a look he probably couldn’t read in the dark, but I was certain my silence spoke volumes to him.
“Those assholes seem pretty oblivious,” Vin argued. “Maybe they won’t see the light.”
“They’re fuckheads, I’ll give you that,” I told him. “But I’m pretty sure they’ll see a goddamn light.”
“They need to go bye-bye,” he muttered.
Once again, I found myself looking at him. “Can you take them out without anyone hearing?”
Immediately, my brother started to vibrate, literally bouncing up and down like I’d just reminded him it was his birthday. “Fuck yeah, I can,” he said. “I can do it in three minutes. Do you have a knife on you? That’ll make it easier.”
“A knife?” I asked, remembering how he’d been slashing that hunting knife around at the warehouse. “Don’t you have one?”
He pulled the blade out of his belt. “Sure. But I need two.”
Again, I gave him a questioning glance, but I didn’t want to know what was going on in my deranged sibling’s head. “How long will this take you now?”
“If you’ve got a knife? One minute, tops,” he said with a shrug.
Pulling a knife from my belt, I handed it over to him. Giddy with excitement, he took off into the darkness.
