Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 81285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81285 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
I thought tonight would be about being reassured.
I couldn’t have been more wrong.
27
GOOSE
It was the nightmare of all nightmares.
Far worse than any bad dream I’d ever had. It was like one of those where you shout out for help, but nothing comes out. No one hears. No one comes to your rescue. You try to move, but you're frozen in place.
And then, when you don’t even think it’s possible, it takes a turn for the worse, and someone you once cared for steps out of the dark and proves who they really are.
Only this wasn’t a dream. This was real.
The Vault had been taken hostage by six masked men. They moved in tight succession with no hesitation. The two covering the floor carried AR-15s, along with the two watching the back. The remaining two carried Glocks and currently had them pointed at Seven’s head, waiting as he emptied the registers.
The brothers and I were still face down on the ground.
They were watching us like hawks.
I caught Memphis’s eye across the room, and like me, rage was simmering in his eyes. Like me, he wanted to end this thing.
We knew better than to make a move, especially when rifles were trained on civilians. You don’t go playing hero when innocent lives were at stake. So, I lay there with my hands pressed to the floor, trying to think of some way out of this fucking mess.
Sadly, nothing was coming to mind.
These assholes moved like they owned the damn place, and I wanted nothing more than to prove them wrong. Unfortunately, all I could do was watch as they finished wiping out the registers.
The sound of crying cut through the room like a bad dream. My pulse pounded in my ears, but I managed to keep my breathing steady. The last thing I needed was to let panic creep in.
In through my nose. Out through my mouth.
In. Out.
In. Out.
All the while taking note of everything. Their height. Their builds. Their boots. The way they moved. And the one in the center.
The one who wasn’t scrambling for cash.
He stood back, waiting and watching. His rifle was hanging low. The way he moved felt familiar, but it was the way he spoke that rattled me to the core. I didn’t want to believe that it was Davis. I didn’t want to accept the fact that he’d pull something like this.
But when he motioned his hand toward the back hallway and shouted, “It’s in the office. Second door on the left!”
I knew.
There was no doubt about it.
It didn’t matter that his face was covered. It didn’t matter that I couldn’t see his eyes. I knew that voice. It was the voice of family. It was one I’d grown up with. I’d heard every day.
It was Davis.
I wished I could say it surprised me, that it felt like the rug had been pulled from beneath my feet, but it didn’t. My brother had already proven that he had no loyalty to his family or to me, and in all honesty, it didn’t even hurt.
I just felt cold and empty, like what I’d dreaded most had finally happened. I glanced over at the others, wondering if it was possible that they’d picked up on the fact that Davis was in the thick of all this.
Not that it mattered.
Brother or not, he would pay for this shit, and he would pay dearly.
But we had to find the right time.
Two men charged down the hall and into the office. They were going to attempt to break into the safe. That wasn’t going to happen. That damn thing was state-of-the-art. It would take someone with a great deal of skill and patience to break through the layers of authentication, and even then, it would take time. Lots of it.
They could try explosives, but it would take a mountain of dynamite to blow it open. It was a fucking tank. It was doubtful that they could get their hands on what they’d need to blow it open. I was trying to listen when something upfront caught my attention.
The leg of a chair raked across the concrete floor, and out of nowhere, some kid who couldn’t have been more than twenty, stood and lunged for the stage. He rushed toward the leader. Only, he didn’t make it far.
The second he saw him, the man started firing.
The explosion of gunfire ripped through the club like lightning.
And he wasn’t just aiming at the kid. He was shooting anyone close to him, including Lu. She was one of the new girls, and I’d had a soft spot for her. Not because I was interested in her, but because she was a good kid, trying to make something of her life.
My stomach twisted into knots as I watched her bring her hands up to her throat. She coughed and gasped as blood seeped through her fingers. The girls around her started to panic and cries filled the room. But my focus was on Lu. I lay there, and rage coursed through my veins as I watched her eyes widen and her body giving out.