Page 152 of Savior
When I leave him bloody and broken on the floor, I don’t look back.
3:30 AM
Jason pulls his black F150 over beside the barbed wire fence on the far side of the wooded lot. The furthest point from the Demons’ Den club house. The last several Thursdays I’ve surveilled this place, it’s been cleared out by this time. Just in case, we’re going in the back. The eight rows of barbed wire, stretch hundreds of feet in both directions, attached to a wooden post every six feet or so. Faded, No Trespassing signs, nailed to every other post.
“Did you hear that?” Jason asks, suddenly freezing at the back of his truck.
“I didn’t hear anything.”
“There it is again.”
“What?”
“Sounds like someone shouting back there.”
I turn towards the woods, straining harder to listen. Closing my eyes to focus more intently, I wonder if there’s something wrong with my hearing. Am I experiencing some delayed, long-term effects from all the underground fights I’ve taken part in? All I hear is the slight breeze whispering through the leaves of trees. A whippoorwill’s mating call. Probably a million croaking toads far off in the distance. So many it’s like a faint wall of white noise. Just a steady background of constant sound.
“I don’t fucking hear shit!”
When I open my eyes, Jason’s grinning at me, clearly holding back a laugh. “You sure? You listened real hard, I can tell.”
“You’re a dick.” I shake my head at him, feeling like a dumb-ass. “Next time, just tell me we’re gonna fake Probable Cause, instead of making me think I’ve lost my fuckin’ hearing. Asshole.”
Jason chuckles as he grabs the bolt cutters from the back seat of his truck, and walks over to the barbed wire fence. “Actually, we’re faking Exigent Circumstances, if we get caught. Not Probable Cause.”
“Whatever.” I sigh, watching him cut through the eight wires. He tosses the cutters back in his truck, then hands me a small flashlight, grabbing one for himself. I pull an extra black bandana out of my pocket and hand it to him. “Put it on.” I say, grabbing the one I’ve got around my throat and adjusting it up over my mouth and nose. “Incase he’s got trail cams out here. Never know.”
We make it the quarter mile through the woods to the back of the Demons’ Den club house.
“Even if Legion’s prints aren’t anywhere in the system, at the very least, I can tie him to that fucking Jar of Hearts stationary.” I say, slipping on my gloves and removing my lock pickers from the inner pocket of my jacket. “Then Vanna will have to believe me.” I mutter that part under my breath.
Jason doesn’t comment, whether he heard me or not.
“Shine that light over here.” I say, kneeling to get a better look at the lock on the back door.
“You know this shit’s illegal, right?” Jason jokes.
“I won’t tell if you won’t.”
“And even if we take something, there’s no telling his prints are even gonna be on it.” Jason goes on as I slip the tension tool into the bottom of the lock and gently twist it counter clockwise.
“I’m not just going to grab anything, Jay. I have done this type of shit before. Ain’t my first rodeo.”
“I don’t need to hear this.”
I chuckle as I slip the pick into the lock, slowly lifting up the pins. In less than twenty seconds, I twist the lock and the deadbolt slides open with a soft thunk.
“Aces.”
“That fast?” Jason sounds surprised.
“You think I came here to fuck around?” I grin to myself, tucking the lock pickers back into my pocket.
“Fuck around and find out…” Viking’s voice rings out suddenly from the shadows, scaring the shit out of both Jason and I. “Find out just what the fuck you two are up to? And why the Hell I wasn’t invited?”
“Jesus fuck, Viking! I almost just shot you!” I snap at him, releasing my grip on the gun I instinctively grabbed for, concealed beneath my jacket.
“Why are you so jumpy?” humor still lingers in his voice.
