Total pages in book: 54
Estimated words: 50148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 251(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50148 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 251(@200wpm)___ 201(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
“Let’s go, boys!” he said to the group. They all piled into the SUVs and drove to the front of the house to pick up Enzo. Go time had arrived.
The three SUVs made their way silently through the town. Reaching the target location, they abandoned the sedate procession. The driver of the lead vehicle announced to everyone in the cab, “Here we go!” as he busted through the gate with a thunderous crash. The other two SUVs trailed close behind.
The sound of popping and ripping rubber filled the lead vehicle as a retractable tire-shredder plate came out of the ground as they entered the tree-lined drive. The other SUVs swerved to avoid the hazard with squealing brake pads. Unfortunately, in such a close formation, the second SUV crashed into the rear bumper of the first, and the third swerved into the ditch to avoid the pileup. Airbags deployed with a whoosh, protecting those inside from serious injuries but tossing them around and blocking their view.
Frankie threw himself out of the vehicle and scanned the grounds, looking for a response to the racket. Quickly, everyone joined him. One man had a broken arm cradled against his body. Another slammed his shoulder against an SUV to shove it back into place. Both could still shoot. The rest were no worse for wear, but everyone was furious.
Frankie heard a groan and realized who was missing. He ran to the SUV stuck in the ditch to check on Enzo. He spotted Enzo crawling out of the SUV. “Boss! You okay?”
Enzo nodded and brushed the dust away from the airbag with a grimace of disgust as he scanned the pile of broken SUVs scattered across the pavement. Glaring at Frankie, he demanded, “Who the fuck has a tire-shredder plate installed in the middle of their goddamned driveway? Who the fuck are these guys?”
Frankie shook his head. “I don’t know, Boss, but now I’m even more pissed off.” He looked over the rest of the crew as they all gave him a thumb’s up sign to show they were still in the fight. “It’s a short distance to the house. We can do what we came here to do.”
Enzo nodded. “Oh, hell yeah! I’ve had enough of these people. Let’s get this done. We can call back to the house for a ride after we’re finished.”
The group plunged into shadows cast by the tree branches extending over the road and blotting out the moon. Everyone pulled out their phones and turned on the flashlights as they proceeded along the driveway. They could see the lights from the house ahead but still had some distance to go.
One man suddenly stopped where he was and swung his beam off to one side. “What was that?”
“What was what?” Frankie snapped. “Are you getting spooked?
The man kept slowly panning his improvised flashlight from left to right across the bushes along the road. “I heard something.”
Before Frankie could tell the man to shut up, a low rumble came from one side of the road. The growl was a deep, menacing sound that spoke directly to some primal instinct within Frankie. This wasn’t good.
Instantly Frankie’s flashlight was up and sweeping the bushes as well. As he passed some of the dense foliage, two flashes of light reflected at him. He thought they were small circles of yellowish green, but they vanished in an instant. He spotted them one moment and then they were gone. What the hell?
That was when they all heard it. From where the SUVs lay in broken heaps, came a howl. A long, keening canine call. Most of them had heard such a noise before on nature shows or at the movies, but this was different. Already amped up from the crash and on edge from the job they were here to do, the team appeared jumpier. That howl sounded extremely loud.
“They’ve got dogs,” one mercenary warned the crew.
Frankie had opened his mouth to say something when a clattering of a gun hitting the pavement behind them rang out. They all swung around at the noise.
Frankie yelled, “Goddamn it! Can’t you keep a hold on your gun back there? What the…” He didn’t finish the curse. No one stood behind them. The man tasked with guarding their rear flank had disappeared.
Again, a howl sounded from down the road. The menacing sound was closer. Another clatter followed from the front of the line. Like toy soldiers being yanked around, the group pivoted to find another man gone and his gun on the pavement.
“Fuck this!” One of the other men yelled and started firing his shotgun into the bushes. Some others fired as well, desperate to do something. Frankie could sense their panic oozing into the air. He struggled to focus everywhere at the same time.
“Stop shooting, you morons! You’re wasting ammo!” Enzo yelled.