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“I’m going with you,” I tell him, tone defiant.
“The fuck you are,” he snaps. “Get back in the car.”
“No. I fucked this up, and I’m going to try to help fix it.”
Sloan pinches the bridge of his nose and closes his eyes, and Levi and Rory exchange worried glances.
“Mercy, it’s not safe,” Rory says.
I can tell he and Levi don’t want me to come because they’re worried I’ll get hurt. Sloan doesn’t want me to come because he doesn’t trust me. And I get that. I can understand why he wouldn’t now.
But we don’t have time to argue. There’s too much at stake.
We stare at each other for another half second, and then Sloan whips back around, hand going to his gun. My heart stops for a beat, wondering if he’s going to shoot me instead of stuffing me back into the car—but then he’s marching toward the door.
“Stay the fuck behind me,” he tosses over his shoulder.
I hurry to do so, falling in line. Rory and Levi bring up the rear, and we make our way up the driveway to the house quickly. The door is busted in, standing open and hanging half off one hinge. There’s a muddy footprint right in the middle of it, like someone used their foot to literally kick it open.
It makes that sour feeling in my stomach even worse, and my heart rate climbs again. It’s been such a rollercoaster of a day, going back and forth between emotional extremes, and this definitely isn’t helping.
Whatever we’re about to find inside can’t be good.
All three of the guys have their guns out and up, ready to take down anyone who might still be lurking in the house. We move through quietly, but it all seems empty. No sign of the accountant or any Jackals at all.
I swallow hard, glancing around the house. It’s a nice place. Homey. Clearly this guy wasn’t totally on the up and up if he was laundering money for a gang, but he probably had a life outside of that. Maybe even a family.
I can only hope that he wasn’t here when the Jackals showed up. Maybe he was out, and they burst in and got away without hurting him.
Sloan nods silently in the direction of the kitchen and Rory peels off to check it out, gun raised. Levi moves to take the left side, peering down a hallway. It’s quiet but tense, and my heart is pounding so hard against my ribs that I’m pretty sure everyone else can hear it.
“Clear,” Rory calls softly.
Levi turns to give his own assessment, his gaze scanning the space as he holds his gun in a practiced grip. But before he can say anything, a door bursts open at the end of the hall, swinging wide and hitting the wall with a bang.
I jump, my pulse skyrocketing. It looked like a closet at first, but as the door bounces off the wall and swings partway closed again, it shows off a small, hidden room.
“Shit!” Levi gets his gun up, firing off a few quick shots into the room.
It’s quiet for a beat, and then two tall, broad-shouldered men come running out. They’ve got guns raised, and they fire wildly at us as they dash toward what looks like a back door.
Sloan yanks me farther behind him, making sure I’m not in the line of fire, and pops off three shots, tagging one of the guys in the shoulder. The guy swears harshly and stumbles as blood blooms through his shirt. Sloan releases his grip on me and sprints after them, ducking sideways when the guy he shot fires back over his shoulder again.
The man weaves out of the way as they exchange fire, bumping into the wall and leaving a streak of blood behind. His friend yells something, shooting out the lock on the back door before kicking it open.
Rory and Levi are right behind Sloan, and all three of them follow the two men out the back door. Several more gunshots pierce the air, and then there’s the sound of an engine revving and tires screeching.
“Goddammit!” Rory curses loud enough for me to hear it from inside the house. “Motherfuckers! They’re gone.”
A moment later, the three of them slip back into the house. Sloan looks even more furious than before, and Levi and Rory both seem on edge.
“Let’s keep looking,” Levi grunts. “There could be more of them.”
Rory nods, and we move as a unit toward the room the two men vacated, even more on our guards now.
I can still hear the ring of gunfire in my head, and I’m jumpy. Every time one of them makes a floorboard creak, my shoulders jump up and my breath stills for a second, certain someone’s about to jump out and attack us.
We make it to the back room without any other incidents, and when we step inside, I hold my breath as I look around. There are a few large bricks of cash on a table, a safe in one corner, and an overturned chair.
