Total pages in book: 158
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144908 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 725(@200wpm)___ 580(@250wpm)___ 483(@300wpm)
Ink’s voice was soft in Master’s ear. “Car coming around the block and moving slow again. I think you’re going to have company. Wrap it up.”
“Did you see the men who took your wife? Were they Russian? Did they have tattoos?”
Stoddard nodded. “Yeah. A lot of tattoos. Weird ones on their fingers. Snakes.”
“Reese knows or has seen Helena,” Master said quietly into his mic. “Get him, his wife and his daughter to a safe house now. She wants him dead. This isn’t his family after him. That’s a red herring. This is Helena tying up loose ends. He’s a loose end.”
He beckoned to Stoddard. “You want to live and try to find your wife, you need to get away from that window now. They’re coming for you.”
He gestured toward the kitchen. He would need this man to be strong. Already, his brothers were sliding into the house, moving to cover him. They would have to allow one of the assassins to get away and hopefully lead them to Stoddard’s wife. Code would have to stay close to him to jam all communication so there was no chance for him to call ahead or text and send word to kill her if she was still alive.
“Go into your bedroom and close the door. You can’t see or hear anything, so you won’t have to testify, but we need information if we’re going to get your wife back.”
“That doesn’t seem fair that you’re assuming all the risks.”
“Go.” Master poured command into his voice. He already knew the risks, and this wasn’t the one he was concerned with. If Reese knew Helena, if he’d seen her in prison and the assassination crew was waiting for him there, that meant, no matter what, Master would have to go back. He knew one more time and he was done. Right now, he couldn’t think about that. He had to face the men pulling into the driveway and getting out of the car.
“Ambrielle, at least two of these men will be coming through that door behind you. I want you to come to me and tuck in right behind me just the way you did when we made our way here. Give me plenty of room to maneuver. The idea isn’t to fight. We’re going to kill all but two. One will escape and the other will answer questions. You stay very still. Do you understand those orders?”
“Yes.” Ambrie was already moving, a whisper of sound, her hand gliding over his ribs as she came up beside him and then went on past to do just as he said. She slid into the shadows behind him and went very still.
Master found himself proud of her as always. The military upbringing her parents had given her had prepared her for orders and stealth. She slipped into that mode when needed. The five-man team entered the house, using two at the front door, two at the back door and one at the side entrance.
As the two entered the living room via the front door, Master allowed them to move past him. He stepped up behind the last man, matching footfalls, not a whisper of sound, his knife in his fist. He wrapped his hand around the man’s head, covering his mouth, at the same time slamming the blade into the base of the skull and lowering the body to the floor. Leaving his knife, he pulled a second one as he came up with blurring speed just as the first man pivoted. Master slapped his arm down, deflecting his weapon, and cut up with his blade, severing the arteries in both thighs, and continued up the body in a figure-eight pattern, cutting arteries and veins as he went until he slashed through the throat, dropping the body on the floor.
The two men were dead in seconds. Master stepped back, took a breath, refusing to look at his woman. Instead, he wiped his blade clean, using the clothing on his first victim, and then removed the knife from his skull. That was never an easy retrieve. When he’d cleaned that blade, he signaled to Ambrie to follow him, again without looking at her.
The third man had entered via the door they had come through. He had a good view of the living room and would see his dead companions. He would try to talk to the two men coming in through the back, the ones who were already dead or captured. Maestro and Keys were in position with orders to kill one and take the other prisoner. The man in the hall wouldn’t get a response. He would have to decide to go forward or retreat.
The man had his weapon drawn and took a step to bring him into the living room, but he paused, staring at the two dead men and the blood pooled around them. He backed stealthily into the hallway all the way to the door. Once there, he eased it open and was gone, sprinting for the vehicle, talking into his radio. Clearly, no one answered, because he yanked open the door and fired up the engine, backing out quickly. Master didn’t pay him any more attention. He was Code and Preacher’s problem. They would follow him and hope he led them to Stoddard’s wife. It was Maestro, Keys and Master’s job to question the remaining assassin for information.