Page 216 of Deadfall

That was unforgivable, and he was going to pay for his sins.

103

EMERSYN

I stared down at Brooks’ body and heaved in breath after breath until I had myself back under control. While it was satisfying to see him dead at my feet, the adrenaline and focus of the job delayed any enjoyment I may have had. My father stepped out of the broken window.

“You good?” His voice was strained.

“Yeah.” I spat blood out onto the grass and retrieved my rifle and knife.

Tex, Sakari and Graham were still inside. My father helped me climb back through the window, and I stepped over the bodies of a group of guards they’d run into after I went through the glass. The rest of the wing was clear and quiet as we moved down the hallway, and we arrived in the foyer without issue.

“Enemy forces are gathered on the second floor,” West said over comms. “Nyx, what’s your status?”

“West wing of the second floor is clear,” he responded. “Holding position on landing.”

“Headed up to you,” my father responded.

We took the stairs up to the second floor and found Nyx and Knox holding the space before the east wing, where Mahoney’s study was. Nyx took inventory of us. His attention swept over my father and Graham before they jumped to me, and he stepped forward.

“You good? What happened?”

I shrugged him off. “You should see the other guy.”

Tex scoffed. “Yeah, the other guy got a mouthful of concrete.”

“Shit. Remind me not to get on your bad side,” Nyx smirked.

“Let’s move,” my father ordered. “Nyx, grenade the hallway. We move on my signal.”

Nyx edged up to the doorway while the rest of us took positions flanking the hallway. He carefully cracked the door, lobbed a grenade and dove out of the way as bullets ripped through the wood. An explosion rocked the landing, and the gunfire stopped.

We rushed through the doors at my father’s hand signal. I was in the middle of the pack so I missed out on the kills as Nyx, Graham and my father cleared the hallway in short order. We didn’t hesitate at Mahoney’s door. With my father and Graham on either side, Nyx opened it and we streamed in.

Several quick shots took out the handful of guards in the room, and then there was only Mahoney. He leaned up against his desk with a gun leveled at my father as we circled the room. He didn’t seem at all concerned with how outnumbered he was.

Mahoney smirked. “What a lovely sight this is. Father and daughter. Reunited.”

“Not quite what you had in mind, is it?” I asked. “Maybe you should be more careful about what you gift people on their birthdays.”

Mahoney’s eyes turned icy, and his jaw twitched as his amusement disappeared.

“Yes, well, I expected Octavius to take better care, but he always was rather reckless.” His eyes drifted back to my father. “So, North, here we are.”

“Here we are,” my father agreed.

“I’d say I was sorry for playing you, but we both know that would be a lie.”

My father shrugged. “I think we both knew it was going to come to this.”

Mahoney’s eyes glittered dangerously. “It’s a shame I had to pull her before the auction—I would have gotten great pleasure from watching you see her on stage.”

My father’s jaw tightened, and his entire demeanor flared violently, but his gun remained steady.

“Put the gun down, Mahoney,” my father ordered. “It’s over. You don’t have any moves left.”

“Oh North, you really think I would shoot you?” Mahoney’s lips twisted in a cruel smile as he swung the gun toward me. “No. I’m going to hit you where it will really hurt.”