“What the fuck were you thinking? We’re in a house. You can’t use a grenade in here.”
He grinned at me. Crazy bastard. “Bet it’s clear now.”
I threw him aside and went into the bedroom.
A fire raged. The carpet was engulfed. The drapes were an inferno. The bed was a mess of wood and plaster. Bodies were scattered around. Blood and guts dripped from the walls. It looked like something out of a horror movie.
“He’s not here,” I shouted over the roar of the fire.
Gunshots screamed nearby. Danilo, Iago, and Rolando held the guards at bay with a steady stream of bullets. Carmine stomped into the room and began kicking over the corpses, cursing the whole time.
I grabbed his arm, coughing from the smoke. “He’s not here. We have to go.”
“Rolando said he’d be here. Rolando said—”
“Fuck Rolando. Balestra isn’t here. You wanna die in this room?” I shoved him back to the door. “We have to go.”
Carmine screamed with fury and frustration. I couldn’t blame him. Balestra took his parents. Ruined his life. Stole his mafia family. This was supposed to be his revenge.
The fire crept closer, burning hot. Carmine staggered into the hall and nearly took a shot to the face. It missed by inches and buried itself in the wall. I came out next, shoving the men forward.
“Too many guards,” Rolando shouted. “We’re pinned down.”
“Can’t stay. Fire back there.”
“Come on,” Iago said, running ahead. He shot a Balestra man in the chest, but took a wound in the leg. He screamed in pain as Danilo finished off his attacker.
Carmine went with the two cartel men. They took the next hallway, forcing Balestra’s men back. But we were moving too slow. At this pace, we were fucked.
“Where’s the closest exit?” I shouted, grabbing Rolando by the throat. I jammed him against a wall.
“I don’t know,” he choked.
“Think fast or we’re all dead.”
He groaned and shoved me back. “Window. Down the hall. There’s a roof we can jump down to.”
“You first then.” I shoved him forward.
The flames licked down the hall like they were chasing after us. Carmine and Danilo fought ahead with Iago limping along, leaking blood. Rolando pointed at a room ten paces ahead, and I charged at it. I kicked down the door while Balestra’s men tried to kill me. I burst into a large bedroom with an empty and cold fireplace.
The others came in after. I threw the window open and Rolando was right. There was a porch roof, and below that, the lawn.
“Carmine first,” I said. “Get out. Go.”
Carmine growled with rage, but he did as instructed. Danilo went next with Iago.
Rolando moved to follow, but I grabbed him by the shoulder and shoved him back. “You’re staying.”
“Staying? They’ll fucking kill me.” His eyes went wide. “They saw me with you. They knew.”
I extended my baton. He raised his gun, but he was too slow. I cracked down on his elbow so hard I heard the bone shatter. He screamed and dropped the weapon as he crumpled to his knees.
Smoke poured in under the door. Men shouted in the hallway. The fire was raging out of control and soon the place would be ashes.
I leaned down close to Rolando’s face.
“You never should’ve touched her,” I said softly.
The fear was delicious. I could’ve drunk it in all night. But I didn’t have time.
I brought the baton down hard on his skull once, twice, three times. He dropped in a pool of his own blood and brain matter. I hit him again, and again. I had to be sure.
Rolando stopped moving. Stopped breathing.
Dead. Another name off my list.
Only one left now.
The door kicked open. A man stumbled in, coughing. I was on him fast and hard. I killed him and wrecked his face like it was made of paper. I shoved his corpse back into the smoke-drenched hallway and ran for the window. I leapt out, hit the porch roof hard, and dropped to the ground.
Carmine and the others were already at the fence. I got up, grunting with the effort, and sprinted after them.
Gunshots rang out behind me, but I didn’t slow.
I kept thinking one thing. Cap, Cap, got to get back to Cap. I felt a bullet bite into my back. I groaned and kept running. Carmine shouted. I barely heard. Cap. I love you. Got to get back to her. If I hadn’t stopped to kill Rolando, I might’ve made it.
That was how it went. You made your choices. You took your risks. Sometimes they paid off. Sometimes they didn’t. I felt another bullet bite into my shoulder and stumbled.
Carmine caught me. “Up and over, big guy,” he said, and he helped me climb. I hit the other side hard. But Carmine was there again. He dragged me to my feet. “Keep moving. Don’t stop.”