Page 95 of Mr. Perfect

Jude shut down the motor and grabbed a paddle while Rocky picked up the other one. It took a few minutes for Jude and Rocky to synchronize their strokes effectively, so they floated in the right direction. Felix’s heart sank when they rounded the bend in the river, and the Spencers’ property came into view. He’d expected a well-lit, bustling home that mirrored the lives of the people who inhabited it. What he saw was a dark, lifeless structure looming ominously amidst a thick copse of trees.

“That’s not good,” Rocky whispered, echoing the dread pulsing in the pit of Felix’s stomach.

They were too late.

“Maybe they go to bed early,” Jude suggested.

“Doesn’t explain the lack of exterior lights,” Felix said. “They’re gone.”

“Only one way to know for sure,” Rocky said, steering the boat toward the Spencers’ boat dock.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Felix whispered as they neared the wooden structure.

“Of course, it’s not,” Rocky replied. “Since when has that stopped you?”

Rocky wasn’t wrong. Knowing he shouldn’t leave the boat, Felix still accepted Rocky’s hand and climbed onto the deck. It took him a second to get his bearings on the floating structure, then Felix turned and assisted Jude. He didn’t break their connection once Jude stood on the deck beside him. The strength and warmth of Jude’s hand made Felix feel braver as they wordlessly crept over the lawn. The expanse of grass narrowed and was swallowed up by the trees as they neared the house. Various nocturnal creatures serenaded them along their journey, but Felix wasn’t tricked into believing they’d been written into a Disney film. It was probably more like a Tarantino movie.

Overhead, the wind kicked up and whistled eerily through the trees, and it felt like a bad omen. Felix shivered but still persisted putting one foot in front of the other. The cloud cover shifted, as did the shadows all around them. Felix’s heart sped up, but he didn’t retreat. He started to feel less anxious when they reached the edge of the trees surrounding the Spencers’ massive home and hadn’t encountered booby traps or mafia henchmen.

“Should we split up?” Rocky asked.

“Hell no,” Jude said. “We check things out together and get the hell out of here.”

“Yeah,” Rocky agreed. “Left to your own devices, there’s no telling what the two of you would get up to.”

“Absolutely no breaking and entering,” Felix said. “I better not see a lock pick in your hand.”

“I agree wholeheartedly,” a deep voice with a hint of a Brooklyn accent rang out from the trees. It had to be one of Mercy’s goons.

“Oh fuck,” Rocky said.

“Hands in the air and turn around. Slowly. No sudden moves,” the man commanded.

“Oh fuck. Oh fuck,” Rocky repeated.

“He sounds like a broken record,” Jude whispered. “Can I hit him and see if he plays a different song?”

“Maybe,” Felix said. It had been Rocky’s dumb idea to get out of the damn boat.

“He said to turn the fuck around,” a second goon commanded. His voice was equally as stern as Goon One but not as deep.

“Okay,” Felix said.

“Without talking,” a third henchman said.

Felix, Rocky, and Jude slowly turned around to face the threat lurking in the shadows behind them. Their NVGs didn’t help identify the men dressed in black from their ski masks down to the boots on their feet. Felix nearly pissed himself when he saw the guns in their gloved hands. A fourth man in black jogged out of the woods.

“No one else arrived with The Three Stooges,” he said.

“Who the hell are you?” Felix asked.

Goon Four turned on a light, temporarily blinding Felix, Rocky, and Jude through their NVGs. Felix cursed and reached to rip his headset off but stopped when all four men yelled at him not to move. He closed his eyes instead.

“Get on your knees,” One said.

Rocky laughed dryly. “Not until you buy me a steak dinner first.”

Concern for his friend’s mental state eclipsed fear for his own life. Felix looked over at Rocky, who was grinning like a lunatic.