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“I’ll fucking give you a pipe motherfucker,” Riot grits.
“Focus!” Travis snaps, and the conversation quiets.
Hannah crouches down again just as another bullet flies our way, narrowly missing the van, sending my heart to my feet. Multiple shots ring out, the sound of metal crashing and grinding fills the air, and the undercarriage of the second SUV is fully visible as it flips over, landing on its roof.
I watch the SUV spin upside down, and listen to the screeching and crashing as more cars pile up into the mess. Pulling the rear doors of the van shut, Hannah falls backward onto her ass, taking a deep breath.
“Whoo baby yeah!” Arsenal shouts.
“I don’t see anyone else. Check your mirrors guys. Anything?” she asks.
“Nada,” Riot answers.
“No one here either babe,” Blaize adds.
“Next exit ahead,” Zeke announces, letting everyone know that the end is in sight.
Swerving to the right, he hops off the exit, and instead of taking the main roads, he quickly turns onto a side street.
The outskirts of Silversun Valley are desolate. Much of the area has been ravaged with poverty, in far worse condition than the seedy areas of Havok Hills.
Tall, decaying, decrepit brick buildings surround us on every side. Vacant, old housing occupied by the homeless. Abandoned warehouses. Failed businesses. What a fucking place to stash a safe house. I guess it’s kind of genius if you think about it. Who would look here?
After a few more turns, Zeke pulls into a covered lot, making his way into a deserted parking garage. Engines rev, and the guys all pull their bikes one by one into the secluded space. When I count four bikes, I feel enough relief to breathe. Some part of me deep down, was worried that someone wasn’t going to make it out of the mess we started on the interstate.
Holstering her weapons, I observe Hannah as she checks her spare ammo before opening the doors. Climbing out of the van, it pains me not to climb out right behind her. I continue watching intently as her and the guys disperse, creeping through the alleyways. I can’t see them the same way I could with the cabins and it gives me this sinking feeling of anxiety. There are too many blind spots between the van and the safe house. Too many opportunities for them to get ambushed.
“I don’t like the lack of visuals here Zeke. They’re so…blind.”
“Don’t stress about it love, they are all trained. They know what they’re doing,” he responds, climbing into the back of the van, and sliding into a chair as he simultaneously rolls it over in front of the screens.
Sliding into the second chair, I pull up next to him.
“Besides, we are their inside eyes, that’s where it’s important. That’s where they are vulnerable.”
Folding the screens out, he plugs in his laptop, and begins working his magic. His fingers fly across the keyboard so quickly and with such ease that it’s like he’s speaking his native language when his fingers strike each key.
“Check in,” Zeke orders.
One by one all of the guys and Hannah check in, confirming their locations.
“This one is going to be tougher. Even with their surveillance, we have blind spots you guys. We have 3 floors and a basement. The place is crawling inside and outside, I’m counting… fuck. Fifteen men total? And that’s just what I can see.”
“Shit,” Travis mutters. “He’s gotta be here, no other explanation for all the bodies.”
“There are two rooms I can’t get a read on. One on the 2nd floor and, fuck, half of the basement. You guys we are tapped for time too, don’t forget. Have each other’s backs. I’ll keep eyes on all exits to the rooms I don’t have visual on so listen up for me or Spencer.”
I look at Zeke and he turns his head, his deep blue eyes meeting mine, “Don’t give me that look love. They’re gonna be fine. You watch the basement exits, I got floor two. You see something, you say something. Got it?”
Nodding my head in response, I turn to face the monitors, reminding myself to keep breathing. My body trembles and my stomach churns. I have the worst feeling about all of this. Something isn’t right. Something is off.
The building is dark, and I watch as Riot and Travis creep in through a side entrance, making their way up the staircase to the 2nd floor. The 1st floor is entirely empty, and the Knox Brothers sweep it quickly as they make their way toward the basement steps.
Averting my eyes for just a minute, I peek at the top screen and watch as Hannah takes out three fully grown men with nothing but a butterfly knife and her shadow-like sneak attacks. That is one bad bitch.
Turning my head back to the screen with the basement, I notice two men crouching in the corners outside of the doors to the blacked out room.
“Blaize, Arsenal, watch out. When you hit the bottom of the steps there’s two men crouched in the corners. It’s dark, you won’t see them coming.”