Page 12 of Justified (Ruthless Vigilante #1)

I waited until I heard him, and when he came up beside me, gun in hand, I quickly wrapped my hand around his neck, bending him back and snapping his bones instantly.

He never had a chance to get a shot off or make a sound.

Fucking asshole had it coming for all the shit he had talked in the limo.

Again, I dragged the body behind some bushes.

I looked up towards the balcony. I didn’t hear anyone on it, so I jumped and landed softly on the Spanish marble tiles.

I swear, some people had all the luck and didn’t deserve it.

I stepped to the side and took a quick peek through a slit in the curtains.

The room was empty, but the lights were on.

I checked again, looking for any wiring that would set off an alarm if I opened the door.

Nothing on the outside, so I looked through the glass panes to see if I could see anything on the inside of the room.

Damn. There it was. A little, thin wire threaded along the rim of the entire doorframe.

It was best if I cut the power to the house, but when I did, I’d have to move quickly.

When they came to turn the power back on, they were going to become alarmed at the lack of guards.

Well, I had come to party, so fuck it. I jumped down and made my way over to the fuse box.

Didn’t take me too long to find it. It was locked with a code, but I was strong as hell, so I yanked the door open, sounding the alarm that was quickly silenced when I shot the control panel.

Sparks flew, and all of the lights in the house went out.

Emergency lights came on around the outside.

I ran back toward the balcony, leaping up there again, and used my strength to break the lock.

It was dark as night when I stepped in and I could hear the guards running around trying to take care of business.

There was a woman screaming and a man’s voice telling her to “shut her cunt mouth up.” Yeah, sounded like my Mr. Henley was getting ready to have himself a little party too.

I walked out of the bedroom as quietly as I could and saw several guards moving about, carrying flashlights.

One of them walked beside Mr. Henley and it seemed like they were trying to get him someplace safe.

Well, we couldn’t have that. I pulled out my Beretta, aiming it at the guard, then pulled the trigger.

The guard hit the ground and the flashlight fell, shining its light on my target.

The silencer I had on my gun was a beautiful thing.

Mr. Henley gasped when he saw the guard go down and he grabbed the woman he had his grip on, pulling her in front of him.

I didn’t waste any time fooling around with him.

He was starting to back away from the light and I needed that to see.

I managed to shoot him in the leg, and both he and the woman screamed.

One thing I did exceptionally well before my new abilities came into play was hit my target.

I was top in my class. It was one of the reasons I had been sought out by what I’d thought was the CIA.

Mr. Henley stumbled and fell, dragging the woman to the floor with him. That was when I jumped down there, landing in the light. I kicked the flashlight in the direction I knew he had fallen and when I saw him, I stalked over. “Let her go,” I growled.

″I’ll kill this bitch if you hurt me,” he threatened. “I don’t know who the fuck you are, but you’re not getting out of here alive.”

At that moment, three of his guards came running in with their flashlights shining on me.

″Drop your fucking gun,” one of them demanded.

Just three guards. Easy peasy. I was hoping they would gather around me. Made it easier to kill…eeehhh, four birds with one stone. I needed to take out his guards first.

″Don’t just stand there, kill this motherfucker!” Mr. Henley ordered.

Well, I could take getting hit with bullets, but my outfit couldn’t.

I ducked, sweeping out the legs of two of the guards, and they dropped their flashlights as they fell with hard grunts.

The dropped flashlights pointed at the other guard, blinding him.

I rolled over on my back and shot the last guard who was standing twice in the chest and once in the head.

The others scrambled to their feet, firing their weapons at me in quick succession as I rolled across the floor.

I growled as two of their bullets hit my arm, but I kept rolling until I bumped into the sofa. I ducked behind it, taking cover.

″Kill his ass!” I heard Mr. Henley barking that demand again.

Yeah, you keep thinking that was going to happen, bitch.

They picked up their flashlights, which gave away their positions. I kept low while they aimed their lights in my direction, trying to locate me.

″He’s over there,” one of the guards said as the beam of his flashlight was inching closer to me. I aimed and fired, shooting him in the throat, then rolled back behind the sofa. The woman continued to scream in terror as this went down. I kind of wished she’d shut the fuck up.

″He’s behind the sofa, just shoot it!” Mr. Henley screamed, but his voice sounded like he was further away.

I didn’t want to risk him getting into some kind of panic room or leaving the mansion all together.

Better act now. I stood up, shooting my gun at the guard as one of his bullets ricocheted off my bicep.

I hissed from the sting, which burned like hell.

The guard, on the other hand, went down to both knees, holding his stomach.

I walked over to him, picking up his flashlight.

I aimed my Beretta, firing a bullet into his temple.

Blood splattered from the hole I put in his head, covering the floor and the other guard’s flashlight, painting the beam red as it shined on the wall.

Mr. Henley was still struggling with the woman as she cried and yelled to be let go. No doubt, her fighting him as he limped down the hallway, using her as a shield, slowed him down as he attempted to make his retreat. I stalked over there to him.

″Stay back, I’ll kill this bitch, I swear!” he yelled.

″What makes you think I care about her?” I asked. Sure, my plan was to kill him before he could hurt another woman, but if she had to be sacrificed so that no one else after her would be harmed, so be it.

″Please help me,” the woman begged through her tears.

″I’m not here for you,” I told her. “I’m here for him.”

″Who sent you? Was it Dadetech? I can double what they are paying you to take me out. Triple it!” Mr. Henley bargained.

″I’m listening.”

″Okay, good. Just let me get to my computer—”

″I want cash,” I said. It was untraceable. Plus, I didn’t know my joint account number with Jordan by heart.

″Fine. Cash, I can do that. How much are they paying you?”

I thought quickly about a number. “Fifty grand.”

″I’ll double that.”

″You said you’d triple it. That’s what’s going to save you tonight.” I kept my gun aimed at his head with the flashlight in the Graham technique. “I’m a merc, I go with whoever shines the prettiest coin in my direction. So make me a nice offer.”

″Deal. One hundred and fifty grand, tonight, cash. But I want something else in return,” he said. He squinted a little in the light as I kept both that and my gun aimed at him. He also made sure to keep his head partially hidden behind the woman who was now reduced to just whimpering.

I scoffed. “Your life isn’t enough?”

″I want the life of the son of a bitch who sent you to take me out.”

″That’s an extra fifty grand.”

″Done.”

″Cash first, and then I’ll leave.”

″Follow me,” he said as he dragged the woman, who had started crying and begging again, down the hall towards what looked like a room with double doors.

I followed behind him closely, making sure he wasn’t going to get away.

The limp I gave him was keeping him at a slow pace and that was good enough.

I didn’t have super speed, but I could still move damn fast.

Eventually, we ended up in what looked like his office and he shoved the woman to the floor.

She landed with a hard grunt. “Stay, bitch,” he said with a little more confidence.

Like he was no longer afraid for his life.

Sure, he’d lost his entire security team, unless that one guy wasn’t still knocked out.

But he’d managed to wrangle a deal for himself.

″Don’t try anything,” I warned.

″I won’t, trust me. I want the head, literally, of the man who tried to kill me.

You definitely have the skills to make that happen.

Can you shine the light over there?” He pointed toward the wall lined with what looked like books.

“Also, I’d feel a lot better about our new partnership if you’d put your gun away. ”

I did what he requested, it wasn’t like I needed my gun to kill him anyway. “Better?”

Mr. Henley nodded. “Much.” He walked over to the wall, removing a book slightly, and looked to be punching in a code.

I heard a lock release and I followed Mr. Henley towards his safe.

He opened the door that was hidden behind a painting and started removing stacks of neatly wrapped bills.

Each stack looked to be about ten grand.

″There,” he said, putting the last stack on the pile. “That’s two-hundred grand.”

I’d guessed right, each stack was ten grand based on the amount of stacks on the table.