Page 24 of Sleeping with the Dark (The Righteous 3)
“You have me there.”
Cody fell in step with Arek as he picked up a jog and weaved his way through the alleys. All he could hear was his own feet, and no matter how he altered his stride, he couldn’t seem to be as stealthy as they slinked through the shadows.
The little red dots slowly moved in the sight, and Cody was once more amazed. This was deadly tech, like total video game come to life kind of crap. Arek held up a fist and signaled to get down, and he instantly obeyed.
Arek pulled the sniper off as he settled on the ground. He watched in fascination as Arek focused in on something Cody couldn’t see with the naked eye. Arek began mumbling to himself and he quickly realized he was running through all the particulars he needed to make the shot. His eyes scanned the buildings in the distance, and two shots later, a couple of the dots disappeared. They’d been so bloody far away his mouth fell open in admiration for the sheer skill. Arek rose like a deadly panther from the ground, his face a mask of concentration. Cody swallowed hard. Even though he was aware of how deadly the brothers were, to see it in action was something else altogether.
“We need to keep this fast and quiet,” Arek whispered. “There are three men between here and where the main hallway is.”
“I see them.”
“Good. Your target is the one in the room to the right.”
Cody nodded and followed Arek the remaining distance to the building. There was music playing, a loud thumping that was so loud the door was vibrating. Arek pulled on the handle, and the door opened.
“Either the guards are idiots, or they’re expecting more to show up, and this is a trap. I’m thinking it’s the first, but keep your eyes peeled.”
He’d been pushing it down, but now that they were inside the building, he was consumed with Trev’s safety. Alejandro was not known for his kindness. He was the one person Tyson refused to fuck over or try to take territory from, which said all there needed to be known.
Arek picked up his pace and disappeared around a corner further down the hall. Cody peered around the partially closed door at the man that was inside. He was sound asleep, slumped over in a chair with a television playing in the corner. He had no idea how this guy was sleeping through the music that was being blasted through the intercom speakers.
Taking a deep breath, he mentally went to the place he had to go to when he killed. He had to become one with death. It was just something that happened. There was no emotion to the kills. Cody took aim and, without any further hesitation, pulled the trigger—he caught the guy in the throat. The man gasped awake, falling to the floor. He held his throat as his mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Cody stared into the wide eyes as the man stared back. Blood pooled on the floor like a red river. The shock and fear that had been evident in his eyes began to fade. In the breath of a heartbeat, the man was dead. The part of his soul that allowed him to give a shit learned to take a back seat a long time ago. Cody moved on and followed the green dot to Arek’s location.
“What took you so long?” Arek asked harshly. “If you can’t keep up, then leave. I can’t slow down for you.”
“Sorry, I’ll be more efficient.”
Arek paused a moment, then nodded. “You go that way. I’ll go this way. If you need to communicate, press this and speak.” Arek pointed to the small button attached to his vest. “The power will be cut on my command. Ready?”
“Ready.” Arek jogged off, and even with the heavy boots, Cody never heard a single footfall. He turned to his task when a scream that ripped his heart from his chest pierced his ears and echoed off the walls. Cold fear spread through his body as another scream reached him. He’d know Trev’s voice anywhere, and screaming in pain was one thing he never imagined to hear. His hand clutched the gun a little tighter.
“Trev, I’m coming,” Cody whispered.
He took off in the direction of his targets. As Arek said, they were plummeted into darkness with a quiet command in his ear, but he was still able to see everyone and everything with the fancy tech.
“What the hell happened? Did we blow a breaker torturing that fucker?” A man said as he stumbled out a door and headed straight in Cody’s direction. He was fumbling with his phone and finally managed to get the flashlight turned on. He held it up, and his step faltered as he came to an abrupt halt—the light bathed Cody in its cool white glow. Cody already had the gun pointed at the man’s face, the click of the hammer loud in the sudden silence. The man’s adam’s apple moved visibly as he swallowed. The scent of fear and sweat hit Cody in the face, but it wouldn’t affect him, not now, not anymore.
“Please don’t….” Cody cut him off. It would only delay the inevitable. He squeezed the trigger, and the shot was true and hit the man between the eyes. He dropped like a stone as he crumpled to the ground. Cody wiped the back of his hand across his face, removing the blood splatter, and he didn’t even want to know what else.
Cody barely made it to the door’s opening when his next target came running out of the room. He braced himself and took the hit like two colliding bulls. Cody smacked hard into the wall, pushing all the air out of his lungs as the mountain of a man slammed into him. A fist connected with his gut, luckily the vest took most of the assault. Using his foot as leverage, he heaved with all his strength and pushed the much larger man back a few strides. Taking advantage of the man’s unbalanced position, he raised the two guns. Pop, pop, the two guns fired at the same time. He looked down at his chest, his hands going to the open bleeding wounds. Hands shaking, he lifted them in front of his face, even though he wouldn’t be able to see the blood. Fear-filled eyes lifted to Cody’s face, his eyes blindly searching the darkness before dropping to his knees. He kicked away the man’s fallen gun and left him to bleed out.
He could hear yelling in the distance, barking out orders echoing down the long corridor. He knew without seeing who it was that it was Alejandro’s voice. He’d sat in on too many meetings with that voice to not recognize it.
The hallway he was jogging along was going to open up into a much larger space, which was where Trev was being held based on the little green dot. There was one more guard to take care of, and he stood at the mouth of the entrance. He couldn’t see the top of the man’s head. He was unbelievably tall, and his shoulders were almost as wide—it was like he was playing a game with Russian nesting dolls in reverse and was working his way from smallest to the biggest mother fucker.
Cody softly stepped closer. One foot in front of the other, he slunk toward the beast of a man. He weighed his options as he drew closer and decided to make this one as quiet as possible, so Trev didn’t pay for his actions. He slipped the guns into the back of his jeans and had just started to pull the blade that was on the vest when Alejandro yelled.
“Find the fucking breaker,” Alejandro’s distinctive voice rang out. “I finally got him to scream, and I want more before he dies. Go now.”
The man turned and sprinted straight at him. He had no time to maneuver out of the way or get the knife pulled when he was sent flying backward and landed hard on his ass with the freight train of a collision. The guard stumbled, sending his phone clattering to the floor. The light shone upward, casting a horror movie quality of shadows on the guard’s fierce features. The tear tattoos running down his cheeks and thin scars that snaked his thick neck wrote a clear story.
Not wasting another second, Cody jumped up as the man, regaining his senses, pushed off the wall. They circled the cell phone and the small glowing light like two lions getting ready to fight. Their eyes roamed over one another’s body, and an evil curl lifted at the corner of the guard’s mouth.
“I know you, Ice Man. You’re the backstabber that killed Tyson.”
That wasn’t accurate, it was Arek that had killed Tyson while he was strung up in the corner like a slab of meat, but he wasn’t about to correct the guy.
“I have big aspirations,” Cody smiled. “Maybe you’d prefer to join me then die?”
