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“Of course not,” Luca says, flashing him a smile. “You’re an integral part of the plan.”
Puppet grins in reaction to her praise. I nearly tell him to fuck off before remembering how I’m supposed to keep my temper under wraps on this mission.
As we begin moving again, Luca and I toss improvised Molotov cocktails behind us. The fire doesn’t go up like in the movies. The blazes smolder, almost going out.
“The backup has increased their speed,” Dire warns on the earpiece. “I think they’ve noticed something’s wrong.”
Luca turns to me as we approach the other group near the front bushes.
“We’ll need to take a small group and engage those assholes.”
Nodding, I tell Thorn, “Keep moving. We’ll draw them to us.”
Rave and Riot step closer, signaling they’ll stay with us. While Thorn guides the others through the darkness to the RVs, I move with Luca toward the front gates. We get low behind a small retaining wall and aim up our shots.
Two SUVS stop at the front gate. With the power still out, the men need to manually open it.
Over the earpiece, Dire says our group has reached the RVs. It’s a tight fit, but they’re ready to roll.
“What about you?” Dire asks.
“Find somewhere to dump the two we’re not taking,” Luca types into her phone. “Then head to our first meetup spot. We’ll find a way to get to you. If we go silent or don’t show in an hour, just return to the Sanctuary.”
My body goes still as I imagine Luca dying here on this shitty estate in the middle of Bumfuck, Texas. Our home feels so damn far away.
We’re so close to being free and happy. This is our last job. We can have that kid Luca wants. I was going to learn how to be a decent dad. We have plans, yet I sense we’ll never get to see them become reality.
“I like the name Reece,” Luca whispers as the men get back into their SUVs and roll slowly toward the front of the mansion.
Luca’s words tear me up inside. She’s still got her mind on the future while I’m absolutely fucking certain we’re about to die here.
Past my dread, though, I realize I’m so close to offering Luca what was stolen from her years ago. She puts up with a lot of my bad wiring and overall asshole behavior. Luca always treats my love as a gift. She doesn’t view us as two fucked-up people settling for scraps.We’re magic in her eyes.
That’s why the noise in my head quiets. I only see my targets as they slowly leave their vehicles. They’ve noticed the lack of security. The men might also spot smoke wafting from the estate. Rather than rush forward, they stay close to the vehicles.
I don’t know why they don’t just bail. They’ve got to know shit won’t end well. The house is on fucking fire!
I assume they’re as brainwashed as the two bitches we can’t take with us. Jock and Angel are true believers. So are these assholes. There’s no backing out for them.
One of the men pulls out a phone. A second later, the ringer goes off next to the dead guys hidden in the darkness. When the men look in that direction, Luca makes a tsk sound to warn how she’s about to fire.
We aim up, knowing the men will move toward the ringing phone. As soon as they leave the safety of their vehicles, we take our shots. With four of us and six of them, we can’t end them on the first round. The fifth guy quickly drops. I think Luca hit him, but I don’t have time to high-five her.
Firing blindly, the final guy sprays our area with bullets. Luca and I duck down in our spot. The sisters are feet away, hiding behind the rock wall.
Luca drops to her belly and slithers through the bushes where she can line up a shot. I draw the guy’s attention elsewhere by firing at the house, shattering windows.
He shoots again, seeming to think we fired from the estate. The night fills with smoke. He’s all alone. The dogs bark in the distance.
His disorientation allows Luca the time to line up her magic shot. I hear a single pop and then the sound of the guy’s body dropping to the ground.
“There might be survivors,” she whispers to the sisters and me. “We need to grab one of their cars and get the fuck out of here.”
The air grows thick with smoke as we hurry as a team toward the SUVs. None of the men move on the ground, but I only breathe once we’re through the gates and racing down the dark road.
Luca settles next to me. She switches out her rifle for a handgun and stays wary. We don’t know who might be between us and the rest of our group.
“Dire, we’re approaching in a silver SUV. We’ll pass the group and find a spot to burn the vehicle.”
