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23
Mercy
Walkinginto the lion’s den felt exactly as it should. My heart thundered in my ears, and my mouth had turned to sandpaper. We’d driven two hours to reach a city I’d never visited before, and I felt totally out of my element.
As soon as we stepped into the small boutique mall, the air conditioning hit me at full force. The space was dark and empty, only our wavering reflections showing on the polished marble tiles. The mall didn’t normally open for another hour anyway, but we’d ensured we’d have it to ourselves. Beckett had managed to send around a strategic message to all the businesses inside using his father’s contact info, telling them that emergency work was being done today.
In a way, it was even true.
Our footsteps clacked against the floor as we walked down the cavernous main hall past the shuttered storefronts. At the far end, the ceiling lifted even higher into a huge dome with a honeycomb of skylights that loomed over the upscale food court. Gleaming tables with attached seating stood at wide intervals in the glow of the early morning sunlight. A broad terrace with more shops ran around the second floor overhead, their shuttered entrances visible through the gaps in the railing.
Kaige looked around and shuddered like he’d seen a ghost. “Seems like a weird place to have a business meeting.”
“My dad and Anderson worked on this place together,” Beckett said. “From what I’ve been able to gather, they often met in the buildings they invested in, so he won’t think it’s too strange.” He motioned to a set of stairs that led to the second-floor terrace. “You’ll want to have your men waiting up there. I picked this spot specifically so you’ll have as much high ground as possible.”
“We appreciate that,” Wylder said in a dry tone, and motioned to the Noble men he’d trusted enough to bring along. I nodded to Jenner, Sam, and the handful of Claws who were with us too. Altogether, a dozen men tramped up the stairs to position themselves just out of sight around the terrace, their guns at the ready.
“What about us?” Gideon asked. “You suggested it was best for us to face him on equal ground.”
Beckett pointed to a couple of thick, regal columns that stood at the far end of the food court. “We can wait behind those until your men have… subdued any opposition.” He paused and looked at me and then Wylder sharply. “You did make it clear that they’re not to hurt my dad?”
In that moment, hearing the fierceness of the question and knowing that he’d set this whole operation up to ultimately protect his father and their empire, I wouldn’t have gone up against Beckett for any money in the world. If we made an enemy out of him, we might be screwed in the long run regardless. He obviously wasn’t the type to forgive and forget.
“They have their orders,” I said.
Wylder nodded. “The only way anyone’s shooting at him is if he makes a move to shoot us. I assume you’ll accept that as a reasonable exception?”
Beckett grimaced, but he tipped his head. “I don’t think it’ll come to that. He isn’t stupid—and he’ll want to get out of here alive if he can. But I won’t blame you if you need to defend yourselves.”
The five of us gathered behind the columns, Beckett with me and Wylder, Kaige and Gideon behind the other. Gideon was monitoring street cams on his tablet. “He’s on his way. I’d estimate his time of arrival to be five minutes from now.”
“Very punctual,” Wylder muttered.
That was the whole reason we’d used a supposed meeting with Evan Anderson as bait. We were counting on the Storm being particularly eager to re-establish ties with his real estate associate after their recent dispute. Little did he know that Anderson had just reached out to us last night wanting to talk more about the proposal we’d sent.
It’d been hard to get excited about his interest when the man most instrumental in earning it was still unconscious in a hospital room. At least we had some hope of letting Rowan wake up to a world where death wasn’t lurking right at our doorstep.
Wylder adjusted his earpiece. We’d agreed that he’d give the signal to all of the men above, both Nobles and Claws, to ensure they were fully coordinated. “Just a few more minutes,” he said into the mic. “Stay alert.”
I couldn’t make out any of the figures through the railing. They were keeping well out of view like we’d discussed. My heart thumped even harder as the seconds slipped past us.
There was a distant squeak of hinges and then a soft rasp of several sets of footsteps heading our way. My back stiffened. I held myself rigidly still as the Storm and his usual contingent of bodyguards marched toward the food court. I had no idea what the man who’d rained so much terror down on the Bend even looked like, and in my mind’s eye, I saw a shadowy figure like the dark god tattooed on Gideon’s chest slinking through the grand hall.
“Planning on being fashionably late as usual, I suppose,” a low, gravelly voice said at the far end of the atrium. I dared to peek from our shadowed position beneath the terrace.
The man who was just walking into the food court was nowhere near as intimidating as the supernatural figure I’d imagined, but the solid frame encased in his expensive gray suit had an imposing air all the same. He looked to be in his late forties, with thinning hair that was flecked with gray. I could have mistaken him for a regular, if powerful, businessman if I hadn’t known better.
That was how the Devil’s Dozen blended into society, I guessed.
He was flanked by eight bodyguards in darker suits. As they strode deeper into the food court, they fanned out a little amid the tables. Wylder was watching their progress now too. As the last of them came into the open area beneath the skylights, my fingers curled into my palms.
“Now!” Wylder whispered into his mic.
On cue, the men on the terrace leapt forward and opened fire. They took down most of the bodyguards in the space of a second, the men crumpling to the floor before they even had a chance to reach for their guns. The sound of the shots blared through the atrium and rang in my ears.
When the Storm and his two remaining protectors moved to make a run for the hall they’d come out of, our men fired several warning shots into the floor around them, as they’d been instructed.
“We don’t want to hurt the rest of you,” Wylder said, stepping out into view. “Stay where you are, and we can talk like civilized people.” I followed him at a slower pace so that the limp from my leg injury wouldn’t show. Gideon and Kaige joined us, leaving Beckett still hidden behind the column.
