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Beyond him, another figure dropped to the ground amidst the underbrush. It was possible that he’d been hit by a bullet, yet I remained patient, watching for the telltale glint off the barrel of his gun.
And there it was, seconds later, even closer. I didn’t need the reflection, I couldfeelthe heat of it tracking me as I adjusted my aim and pulled the trigger.
A bullet zipped right past my ear, so close I could feel the heated rush of air right before it slammed into the cabin behind me.
The gunfire ceased, and a hush settled over the forest. Fallen adversaries lay scattered amidst the underbrush, their once-intimidating presence reduced to lifeless forms.
“All clear,Signor,” Carmine’s raspy voice came across my earpiece.
I stood up. “Search the area,” I called out. “If you find one alive, I want him.”
I strode toward the trees and brush directly in front of me. One of the two men I’d shot there was still alive, his breath labored, determination etched across his face as blood pumped from a bullet hole to the right side of his chest. I kicked his gun away and crouched down next to him.
He couldn’t have been more than nineteen years old, and his eyes were wide as he gasped for breath like he hadn’t seen this coming.
A kid. A kid completely unprepared for battle.
“This is what happens when you fuck with the Lucianos,” I told him, fighting the guilt that had no business welling up inside me.He’d made his choice.
“You can lie here until you bleed out, or I can end this quickly for you,” I said, holding up my gun in explanation. “The choice is yours.”
The goddamned kid groaned and his body convulsed.
“What… do you want?” he panted when he’d recovered himself.
“Information,amico.Why are you here?”
He coughed, spewing out a copious amount of blood.
Shit.The guy had seconds left, maybe a minute, before he drowned in his own blood.
“Answer me,” I snapped as I held his head upright, trying futilely to keep the blood from blocking his windpipe.
“The… girl,” he choked out, then coughed some more, painting the green grass and fallen leaves red.
So, this had been about Heidi.
“She’s working with him?” I asked.
He opened his mouth, but all that came out was blood.
He coughed once more, and then it was too late.
His eyes rolled back in his head. His chest stopped moving, and his hands went slack against the ground.
“Dumb fucking kid,” I cursed at him as I gently laid his head down on the ground.
This had been no hardened criminal, no well-paid mercenary. A goddamned fucking kid, still wet behind the ears.
I closed his eyes and stood up, but the moment I did, a volley of gunfire exploded.
All I could do was watch as Aurelio’s body jolted with each bullet’s impact. I could feel them, one at a time, ripping through something inside me.
He fell to the ground, ten yards from the cabin’s front door.
I looked around, searching for the source. And there he was, hiding amid a dense cluster of oaks.
The asshole should have run when he’d had the chance.
