Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 115964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115964 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 580(@200wpm)___ 464(@250wpm)___ 387(@300wpm)
“They sent Macca for me as a nice fuck off.”
“I don’t know. I haven’t seen Macca in years. How’s he doing?”
“You’re a killer, Raize. Not a liar.” Oscar tilted his head to the side. “You a liar now?”
Raize’s eyes narrowed, and his tone went cold. “We’re starting with insults? It’ll be a short meeting, if that’s the case.”
I heard the yellow suit draw in his breath, and found myself doing the same.
Oscar shook his head. “When you left Estrada, you left all of us. You’re forgetting that.”
“And you missed me so much?”
Oscar’s face tightened. “Careful, Raize. I might kill your girl if you piss me off.”
Frozen. Me. Right now.
If I thought the room was alarming before…
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I could feel Raize coiling up, rising. He was going to strike. I felt it in my gut, and I was now just waiting, looking around for where I should dive to avoid the bullets.
Then I felt a presence behind me, it was the door guy. He murmured softly, “It’s a bluff, buddy.”
Those words weren’t for me, but Raize didn’t seem to pay attention.
The room was stifling now.
“I came here as a courtesy,” Raize said. “I’m in the area. I wanted you to know that.”
Oscar had been reaching for something in a drawer, but he paused, studying Raize again before bringing out a bottle of tequila. “Why am I the one getting this courtesy? Word is that you reached out to Estrada. You’re looking to work with him.”
“You control the girls in this section. I’m down here on behalf of my employer, and I want you to know there’s no interest in working girls. If you were worried I’d be competition, I’m not.” He paused. “You didn’t need to send Macca.”
“Oh, damn,” came from behind me.
Before I could sort out what had happened, Raize’s hand shot out, shoving up under my shirt. He pushed me into a corner as he brought his gun up and around. He shot at Oscar at the same time he shoved the door guy away.
I heard a growl as my knees hit the ground.
People were shooting.
I kept my eyes on the floor.
Someone shoved me farther into a corner. I went, gladly, and hid behind a buffet counter.
Raize was in front of me, and I felt body after body hitting the ground.
One after another, and I could see them. Some had their heads turned our way, others had their heads the other way. One guy didn’t have a head.
The room was thick with the smell of sulfur and blood.
When it stopped, I didn’t realize it at first. My ears were ringing, and Raize touched my shoulder. I heard him shouting, “Come up!” But his voice sounded muffled.
There was someone else moving around the room. He and Raize were checking the bodies and yelling at each other. It was the yellow suit guy—both had guns drawn, but pointing at the floor.
“We have two seconds—” He was cut off by a thundering of footsteps down the hallway. He cursed, dropping a gun clip and jamming another in its place.
Raize was at the desk, going through the drawers. He stuffed something in his pocket. “I didn’t ask for your help.”
“You needed it.”
A deep thump slammed into the door. Someone was trying to break it down.
Yellow Suit stepped back, pointing his gun at the door. “We gotta move, Raize. What’s your plan?”
Move.
They were coming.
We needed to go to live.
I needed to live.
I pushed up. My legs were unsteady, but I looked around. The glass room where the girls were. They were gone. A door had been left open, but no one was coming through it. Not yet.
I pointed. “There.”
Both guys looked, and Raize cursed. “Get over here. I need your pockets.”
I shoved away from the buffet counter and went to the desk.
There were more thuds at the door, more shouting.
Raize’s-I-Didn’t-Who was cursing, but he backed up, going into the glass room. “The girls left their door open. We can get out that way. No one’s remembered it yet. That’s a back entrance. They have to go outside the building to circle around. We’re not cut off yet. I bet we have thirty seconds.” He shoved open the door connecting this office to the first glass room. “We gotta go now, Raize.”
Raize kept looking through the door.
“Now, Raize! Right fucking now!”
Raize cursed, shoving things into my sweatshirt, but then he stopped and looked me in the eyes. “Are you okay?”
I lifted my chin up and down, not feeling connected to any other part of my body.
He cursed, but turned me and shoved me forward. “She’s in shock,” he told his friend.
The guy cursed again, but reached for me. Both guys had a hand on my arm, guiding me through the first door, into the glass room, then into the area where the girls had been and out another door. Raize’s friend was right. It opened into what seemed like a different building. There was a thick wall immediately to our right, and we had to pass down a tight hallway with doors every few feet. Those were rooms, and I could hear moaning from inside.