Page 113 of Iron

“Is that so? And a fourteen-year-old girl asked for it, I suppose? She wasn’t brainwashed into believing that was what she was meant to do?” Garen’s anger was clear in his tone and I wondered if this was maybe too much for him.

His eyes met mine and he quickly regained his composure.

He and I both heard the faint rumble in the distance. With nothing around and the town being quiet, I imagined the sound echoed making it seem closer than one might think.

However, it was clear that I’d run out of time.

“Who else knows where Emily is?” I asked as I pushed the rounded end into his skin.

“No one,” he told me through gritted teeth.

It was clear in his eyes that he regretted that now, so I knew he was telling the truth.

There was no need to drag this out any longer.

I nodded my head as I took a step back. My eyes stayed on William to watch the fear rise in his eyes.

A shot rang out and I didn’t even flinch.

One of the men started screaming, begging for God to save his life, offering me anything to let him go.

I didn’t bother opening my mouth to tell him that nothing could save him now.

Another loud pop and the second deputy went limp in his chair.

The third shot had the sheriff dead where he sat. Blood splattered all over William as the bullet tore through the sheriff’s skull.

I felt Garen move to stand right behind me. He knew the man was mine.

William was now shaking so hard his teeth were chattering loudly.

I held no sympathy for him.

His eyes now filled with fearful tears. He knew he was going to meet his maker and my guess, he hadn’t been good enough to take the elevator up.

The sound of his urine running off the edge of the chair hit my ears the same time the smell wafted into my nose. Garen shuffled back a step but I didn’t move.

With one quick swipe, I slit his throat with the razor blade.

My head turned to the side when I felt the wet sticky blood slap my face.

I should have made them suffer. That was my only regret as I stood there taking the four bodies in with my chest rising and falling heavily with every breath.

“This is a new suit,” Garen said as he looked down to see the blood that speckled his jacket and shirt.

He handed me a handkerchief he had in his pocket as I closed my blade. I wiped the blood away from my face as best as I could before wrapping the fabric around my blade.

“I’ll buy you a new one,” I told him as I slid the wrapped razor into the front pocket of his jacket.

“Now what?” he asked.

The loud, thunderous rumbling now surrounded the building.

“Now, I have to let my man know that I ruined his plan.”

With my head held high, I walked to the front door.

The sound died down before I made it outside, the sudden silence almost deafening.