The metal shutters rising startled us. Christian opened the door to let Shepherd in. He had a sword in one hand and a bloody axe in the other.
“Let’s get this show on the road.” Shepherd handed Christian the axe and stalked toward us. “Is it him?”
I rolled Ivar onto his back. “Yep. Wanna do the honors before he wakes up?”
Gem helped me to my feet.
“What did he say to you earlier?” I asked her.
“Ohthat.” She blushed. “He said you smelled like a man. I didn’t know what to say, so I told him you were.”
“That explains the look he gave me.”
She nibbled on her fingernail. “I fudged up by saying his name. Apparently he didn’t give his true name to the store when reserving his private tour. It never occurred to me that he would be using an alias.” She hit the palm of her hand against her head. “I feel like such an idiot.”
I averted my eyes when Christian raised the axe over one of Ivar’s goons. Metal struck the floor.
Claude darted across the room like a bullet. “The door, Christian!” He turned the switch, lowering the solid shutters. After heaving a sigh, he gave Christian a critical look. “You can’t do that in plain view.”
Shepherd got down on his knees, raised the sword, and took Ivar’s head.
“What about the store workers?” I asked, doing my best to dissociate from the death around me. “Viktor said no witnesses.”
Gem kicked a broken vase. “It wouldn’t be right. Viktor said to take care of their servants, not innocent bystanders.”
Christian joined our group—blood on his lips, beard, hands, and spattered across his coat. “I already took care of them.”
“As in—” Gem covered her mouth, eyes wide in terror.
“Jaysus wept. I’m not a psychopath.”
I gave him a sideways glance. “Says the man covered in blood, holding an axe.”
“I scrubbed their memories and put them to sleep. They’ll be fine.” He looked over his shoulder at the horror show. “We have to burn the bodies.”
“Can’t do it here,” Shepherd said, wiping his bloody blade on Ivar’s suit. “This is a high-end store. If the fire department doesn’t show up, Regulators might.”
“Isn’t the higher authority the one giving us the reward?” Gem took off the earrings she had borrowed from the worker. “Why not turn the bodies over to the officials?”
Christian raked his hair back and disheveled it. “We’re to photograph the face, the mark, and collect electronic devices. Viktor gave us explicit instructions. If anyone saw us, or we couldn’t trust the Regulator we’re handing the body over to, the other oligarchs might get tipped off. We can’t risk it.”
After setting down the sword, Shepherd snapped a few pictures and then searched the body.
“Maybe we should cut off his hand,” I suggested. “The one with the tattoo. If something happens to Shepherd’s pictures or the phones, at least we’ll have physical evidence. We can store it as backup. Viktor recognized the tattoos, so I’m sure he knows people who can corroborate his story.”
Christian picked up the sword. “Gem, be a sweetheart and find something to put it in.”
She curled her lip and then skipped off to the back room.
I knelt down, unfastened the buttons on Ivar’s cuff, and pushed up his sleeve. “I bet you can’t make a clean cut right below the wrist bone.”
Christian canted his head as he stood over me. “You only make wagers when you want something.”
“Yeah, I want you to not cut off my fingers.” I pulled the arm all the way out and held it in place.
Christian found a good position, knelt, and brought the blade down.
Claude approached the body. “Shepherd, back up the van to the doors. I’ll carry the body, but someone needs to collect the head.”
