The bullet hits my target in the back of the skull, splattering blood up the wall. He hits the ground with a thud, a puddle of crimson pooling around his head.
I swipe a card at the door and head inside, pausing to listen for footsteps.
Just when I think they aren’t coming, heavy boots hit the stairs to my left. I press against the wall, my body hidden from view until I see the legs of the first guard. I shoot out his knee and he tumbles down the remaining steps, hitting the floor with a grunt. Before he can even look at my face, I put a bullet between his eyes and take the stairs up two at a time. I find Ryker in the hall, his arm cuffed around the last guard’s neck in a choke hold. The man thrashes for a final time but then goes out like a light.
Ryker just simply drops him, raising his hand to wipe a trickle of blood from his face. “Fucker got in a cheap shot.” He grumbles, kicking the guy.
I roll my eyes and head to the door. She’s still awake inside so as soon as I boot this door down, she’ll likely scream and bolt, so I need to be prepared.
I count in my head, lift my foot and hit the door right at the weak spot. It flies open and slams into the wall with a loud crash, causing ornaments and picture frames to fall from their shelves and shatter against the floor.
When I step inside, gun levelled in front of me I almost laugh at the scene waiting for me.
Wren stands on the other side of her living room, her own gun pointed right at my head. Ryker steps in behind me, his own weapon aimed at her. We’ve got ourselves a good old-fashioned stand-off.
“I can take you out before he shoots me,” she threatens, jerking her chin towards Ryker. There’s no fear in her voice, no tremble or worry.
Hmm, that’s interesting.
“How good is your aim?” I ask, cocking my head, “because if you’re going to shoot me, you’re going to want to make sure it kills me.”
“Oh it’ll kill you,” her lips curl back, showing her white teeth, “What do you want?”
The fact that she hasn’t shot me already is telling enough, all bark, no bite. Not like me, my bark is just as vicious as my bite.
“Put the gun down,” Ryker snarls, “put it down!”
“Get the fuck out!” She screams back.
Girl’s got balls.
Ryker takes a menacing step forward and she moves her aim away from me, levelling it on Ryker. There’s still no fear though. She’s calculating her escape. Her eyes dart between the two of us and then to the exit behind us, it’s done so quickly I’m sure she thinks I haven’t seen it. But I see everything.
I allow myself a look at her for the first time since finding a gun pointed at my head. She’s in sleep shorts, tiny cotton ones and a tank that reveals a slither of pale skin around her hips. Her copper hair is pulled into a pony tail and she doesn’t have an ounce of makeup on her face. Her green eyes narrow and her jaw clamps tight. I can appreciate beauty and this girl has it in spades. It always was the psychotic ones that got me off the most.
“What did my father do?” She suddenly asks, “Does he owe you money or something?”
I laugh, “Oh he owes me something. And I’m here to take payment.”
“The cash is in the safe,” she tells me.
I lick my teeth, shaking my head, “Do I look like I need your money?”
Her brows twitch as if she wants to frown but she is good at hiding most of her emotions.
We’re at a stand-off right now and time is ticking. I have no doubt someone is going to stumble on those bodies soon, if not already and Valentine’s men likely check in with a central point every thirty minutes or so, when that check doesn’t come, questions are going to be asked and I’ll have a whole new problem to deal with.
Death didn’t scare me, little did, but it would complicate the matter.
“Wren, lower the gun and we’ll do the same,” I try to reason.
“How about you get the fuck out of my apartment before I shoot you.”
“You’re not going to shoot me,” I growl, “if you were, you would have done it already.”
Suddenly she pulls the trigger and a vase behind me smashes into thousands of pieces.
“And here I thought your aim was good,” I taunt.