Page 107 of Stolen Matrimony

We separated and they turned toward the basement door.

“I’m going to check the office,” Lucas said, moving right.

Nodding, I went to the half-open door and stood on the side of it. Holding my hand securely, I counted to three before pushing it open. It was a single bathroom, with only a sink and toilet.

“Damnit,” I groaned.

I wasn’t sure when the last time Neil was here, but it was clear it hadn’t been anytime lately.

“Office’s clear,” Lucas said.

“So that leaves the kitchen.”

Pushing out a deep breath, I readjusted my hat and followed Lucas. It looked like we had taken out everyone up here. There weren’t too many of Neil’s men, just like River had mentioned at the meeting.

I opened the door close to the opening of the kitchen, seeing it was an empty storage closet. The kitchen led into the dining room and it looked like neither had been touched in a while.

I turned to let Lucas know everything was clear in the kitchen when I noticed a guy creeping toward Lucas.

“Lucas, duck!” I shouted, lifting my gun.

His eyes widened and he did as I said. The guy looked surprised and tried to hurry to point his gun at me but I was too quick. My finger pressed the trigger and the bullet pierced his chest.

He went down instantly.

Lucas rushed the guy, sending two more shots into him.

“Fuck, where did he come from?”

I looked around. “Over there.”

We headed in that direction. “Thank you,” Lucas mentioned when we got to the open door.

I faced him and bobbed my head. “You’re welcome.”

No one else was inside the small room. It looked to be another storage room but was now empty.

“The cops finally got wind of the shootings. They’re on the way,” Emmet said. He had a scanner with him that was tracking police movement.

“That’s fine. The basement’s clear. Neil’s not here,” Nazai said into the headset. “We can head out.”

Annoyance filled me. “Damnit!” I stomped my foot. I didn’t know where his ass was hiding but I was over it.

“C’mon,” Lucas said, heading for the main doors that led back to the kitchen.

We left, making sure to still be on guard.

By the time we got to the main doors of the church, Nazai and them were getting there too. The distant sounds of sirens grew in the wind. We hurried across the street to where the two trucks were.

“Hurry up,” Emmet said, already back in the truck.

We filed inside and I snatched my hat off, tossing it to the ground. “This is bullshit!” I shouted.

“Now what?” Ezra asked when Lucas started the car.

“Now we wait. We’ve taken out his men here. He knows the place he once thought was safe is out. There’s a bounty on his head. He’s like a roach scrambling now. All we have to do is wait for him to show his face, then we take him out,” Nazai replied. “The other places he was known to operate out of were abandoned according to River.”

I didn’t like the plan but I knew there wasn’t much else we could do. This was the second time Neil’s men had been taken out and he’d avoided death. It was clear time was not on his side. Nazai was right; it was only a matter of time before he came into the light.