Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 40446 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 202(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40446 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 202(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
As we approached rear entrance, I tested handle cautiously. It turned with soft click. Unlocked. Just like Wylde said it would be. I paused, frown creasing my forehead. This was too easy. There should be some resistance. Anything. Sure, Crush assured us he’d taken care of security system, but it wasn’t like Victor to leave any entrance to his lair unguarded when he was being hunted.
“What’s your game, svoloch?”
“I want to try another entrance before we fully commit.” Piston’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Will it change the outcome?” I met his gaze with a raised eyebrow.
“No. But it might give us more of an advantage if this is a trap.”
I gestured with my hand. “Lead way.”
Moving with practiced stealth, we retreated and approached property again from west side, where shadows lay thickest. The grass was wet with dew, muffling our footsteps as we crept closer to the large back windows that gave us a partial view inside. My heart thudded in my chest, each beat a loud drum against the silence around us.
Once we reached house again, we paused, crouching low against wall. Piston peered through window. The soft glow of television flickered inside, casting shadows that danced across the back wall. Three figures could be seen lounging lazily on vast sectional sofa, seemingly engrossed in whatever drama unfolded on screen.
“Three inside,” Piston murmured, his voice low and controlled. “Looks like they’re not expecting company.”
“Perhaps I’m paranoid.”
I glanced inside the window, needing to get look inside for myself. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Piston. Man might be my nemesis, but he was damned good in battle. I simply wanted to see if I could find something he missed. As he said, three men were in the room. One spoke as he stood, pouring a couple fingers of whisky for each of them. The appeared to chat lightly, one of them grinning as he spoke, waving his hand to make some point. The others laughed before each of them drank.
“Victor isn’t there.”
“Which other part of the house did we need to check?”
I frowned. He obviously knew more than he was letting on about my vision. No one knew, yet somehow, he did. “Center of house. I can’t tell which room, only that it’s in center of second level.”
He thought for a moment before speaking. “We take out these three, then make our way from here.” When I nodded, he ducked under the eave to the other corner of the window. Wylde said we had until exactly two-thirteen before security system was automatically switched back on. That gave us thirty minutes. If Victor was in this house with no extra guards, it wouldn’t take us that long. If we ran into resistance, there would be bit of time crunch.
Piston met my gaze and held it. I nodded once, then we both raised silenced weapons and fired twice at glass pane. It didn’t shatter. Instead, four blossoms appeared as our shots disintegrated against the bulletproof glass. All three men turned to the window, pulling weapons. One spoke into his phone just before floodlights illuminated every square inch of property from this side.
“Bloody hell.” Piston lunged for me, pulling me after him. That was all it took before we both sprinted around corner to a shadowed depression against side of house.
“I’m not leaving until I know Victor’s not here.” I checked my weapon, scanning our surroundings for the enemies I knew were close by.
“Now’s not the time to argue, Venus.” Piston reloaded his gun with a fresh clip, even though he’d only used two rounds. Obviously, he was expecting to have to fight our way out. Which was problem because, even though there was plenty of land with this place, we were still in residential area. It was why we went in with suppressors on our weapons. Last thing we needed was to have law enforcement involved. “Move!”
He shot twice at figure moving among trees scattered over this side of grounds. Second shot had man spinning around before he landed face down on the ground. Another man met similar fate, this time from my weapon.
We both darted from our cover, headed back to edge of property and tree line used for privacy. Way we’d come in. Several bullets kicked up earth where they landed near our feet or just in front of us.
Piston hung back, covering my back as we ran. I heard him fire several times as I kept running, sprinting for cover and not looking back. I wasn’t used to watching out for someone else in battle because I always went in alone. Now, not only did I feel responsible for Piston, there was heaviness in my chest that had nothing to do with running as hard as I could over rough terrain, and everything to do with worry Piston would be shot. Or worse.