Page 69 of Tone Deaf
Dom
I park along the east side of the massive abandoned property, opposite to the spot where the old trailer once stood—the mobile home that was the safe house for the witness Rick and I had protected. Jacob Cunningham.
After Jacob was murdered, the entire community was outraged and the residents of Royal Oaks moved out. And now the place is a ghost town.
As I creep along the edge of the tall grasses and massive hedges around the perimeter, the overgrowth will make it a little easier to go in undetected.
I’m glad to see that the place is still abandoned—I won’t have innocent people to worry about.
I quietly work my way through the brambles and chest-high weeds until I’m within shooting distance of the trailer, then I hunch behind a copse of out-of-control honeysuckle bushes. I plan to stay here until dusk disappears so I can go in under the dark of night.
As I’m crouched down low, I see activity around the mobile home. Two black SUVs pull up and seven men get out. This close, I can see that six are dressed in expensive suits, and each one is holding a gun. The seventh man is much smaller, and he doesn’t have a gun. He’s turned away from me, being pulled toward the trailer by the two men leading the group, and I can’t make out who he is without seeing his face. One thing I’m sure of, though, is that he’s not Callum. The suits are talking, but I can’t hear them clearly from this distance.
The way they are dressed and the fact that they are holding guns, makes me think these are Victor Mastov’s men. Guess I’m don’t have to wait until dark.
Rick did say that he wants back in with Victor, and in order for that to happen, he has to finish me off. But then why all the men? It doesn’t make sense to have this much fire power show up, unless Rick didn’t know they were coming.
The two men dragging the smaller guy head inside while the other four surround the mobile home.
I’m tempted to move, get closer to see if: one, Callum’s alright, and two, if these men are still talking. But where is a safe spot? I scan the area and spot a dilapidated storage shed, small but big enough to hide my bulky frame.
I carefully move away from the honeysuckle and make my way around to the rear of the shed. With my back to it and my gun in my hand, I hear quiet voices coming close.
“He’s a dumbass. He has no clue that Victor wanted him dead even back then,” one says, lighting a cigarette.
The other laughs. “I don’t think he realizes what we are doing here. We only need to tie up this end and we’re out of here.”
“It’s better this way. Once that Dom guy comes, we can pick off both of them and then negotiate a price for the bassist.”
“I like Warrior Black’s music. It would be a shame if we have to kill him off,” the one with the cigarette says. “And I had tickets for this year’s Rocktoberfest in Black Rock.”
“I doubt Victor will let him go, unless we go in and cover his head so he doesn’t see our faces.”
“He already has. Tomas and Del are inside there.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Shit. I need to move fast and get Callum out of here. As I get ready to shoot the duo, I catch movement to the right of me. Even in the muted light of dusk, I know that body well.
Pen.
Four men are with him, all of them moving stealthily toward me. They split up—Pen comes to me, while two head in one direction toward the far side of the trailer and the other two go toward the two numb-nuts who are still talking.
Pen moves until he’s squatting by my feet, smiling up at me like a ray of sunshine. “Miss me?” he whispers.
The relief at seeing his grinning face fills me with so much love, that it overrides my fear of him being involved in this.
“Babe, as much as I love seeing you on your knees for me, get up here,” I say so quietly that I’d be surprised if Pen hears the words.
He swiftly stands, leans in, brushes his lips to my ear and murmurs, “I’ll want that apology in many forms and as many times as I need it.” He kisses my cheek and looks patiently into my eyes.
I wrap one arm around him and pull Pen in, chest to chest, and whisper, “As many times as I need to. Now let’s go get our guy?” He nods, understanding we are heretogetherto save Callum.
We turn toward the trailer as shit starts to go down. Fig, Jordan and Dean’s men neutralize Victor’s men outside the trailer. Then gunfire erupts inside the mobile home.
“Callum,” Pen says in a low rush.
“The four are down,” I hear Fig call out. “Go get Callum.”