Page 149 of Road to Redemption

I hopped inside first, lifting my pistol as soon as my feet hit the italian marble inside.

Leaping in behind me, Spencer did the same.

We cleared the room, keeping our pistols aimed and our eyes down the sights. Long silencers adorned the ends, not interested in drawing attention to our presence above the wedding guests meandering to their seats below.

As we approached the door to the hallway, I felt my back. A pack was strapped on, metal pieces of a disassembled sniper inside. Once we reached the balcony, I’d have a matter of seconds to construct it. Something I’d been practicing in the motel room. But I hadn’t done it under duress in years.

At the door, I signalled for Spencer to hold as I gently opened it. Peaking over the frame, I cleared the hallway before lowering my hand to my hip, gesturing it from my back forward.

Go.

Spencer nodded, tapping my shoulder as she moved past me. She kept her pistol trained on the right end of the hallway as I moved out and covered the left.

On my end, two guards stood with their backs to us, facing the staircase that led to the wedding below.

Tapping Spence, I pressed my palm flat to my pistol.

Hostile.

On an unspoken count of three, we both let off two shots to the guards down the hall. A dulled thud was the only sound coming from the barrels of our HK Mark 23 pistols as our bullets met their skulls.

As soon as we let off the shots, Spencer and I sprinted silently down the hallway. We grabbed the guards bodies before they could clatter to the ground.

Gently resting them on the marble, Spencer peeked down the staircase to make sure no one had seen us. A nod and a gestured move was enough for me to lift my pistol and head back down the hall.

Spencer’s usual goofiness had evaporated, all that was left was a Valemont Violence soldier, desperate to protect our own.

At the end of the first hallway, I stopped us on the corner. We took a second to catch our breath before I peered around the edge.

A guard stood just feet away.

From a holster on my side, I unsheathed a short tactical knife. Lifting my hand, I signaled for Spencer to hold. I took the corner slowly, within arms reach of the guard.

In one swift movement, I hooked my arm around his shoulder — locking his head — while my leg swept around his. I put the knife to this throat and sliced across his jugular with just enough pressure to cut through his artery.

I carried him to the ground, blood spluttering from his throat as he gasped for air.

Standing, Spencer and I moved down the hall.

We were moving fast now, downing security around every corner.

As we approached an open guest room door, we kept our pistols high and checked the room. Just as we did, a woman in a light blue dress wheeled around.

“Oh, my!” She gasped as she saw the guns.

Quick on her feet, Spencer lowered her weapon and nodded. “Apologies, ma’am. Security. Just doing our rounds. Please proceed downstairs, the ceremony is about to begin.”

Calmed enough by the masked guards, the woman nodded and gathered her belongings as we moved on.

Spencer shrugged at me as we moved.

It would have to do. We’d dropped nearly half the guards in the manor, whoever was left probably wouldn’t make it up here fast enough to stop what we were doing.

We neared our doorway, the room with a view of the garden and our perfect balcony.

Once we were inside, the mission would be a go. We wouldn’t have long to execute the guards on the perimeter of the property, the ones with sniper rifles just like mine who would be training their scopes on Dom and our Kiera.

If Isaac spotted them before we were in position, they just might take the shot.