“Keep one alive!” The last two men at the cemetery were dead before we could reach them. I can hear him repeating the information to our captains outside.
By the time I round the corner and get into the study, the last man is lying next to an open door, frothing at the mouth and seizing.
“A feckin’ poison pill?” I ask, disgusted, “Who does that outside of a movie or a religious cult?”
The gunfire’s died down outside and my men are moving through the ravaged gardens and splintered wood of the outbuildings.
My body’s still in free fall from the adrenaline and I bounce on the balls of my feet as I hear the reports coming in.
“Clear. No survivors.”
“Clear. Sorry boss, no one alive.”
“Clear. We have a live one. He’s pretty banged-up.”
“Bring him into the kitchen, more room to work there,” I say.
“Sir!”
It’s the butler, Jerome, holding an AK-47 like he knows how to use it. His formal gray suit is still pristine, though. No blood or body parts like the ones covering my pants.
“Thekitchen?”Jerome pleads, “There is an area downstairs, where I could put down a drop cloth…”
“No time,” I interrupt him. “And isolate your staff on the other side of the house. We have to debrief them before anyone goes home.”
Based on his scandalized expression, they don’t do wet work here at the house.
“Monroe, bring in the family. I need Aria and Zed in the study,” I say into my earpiece after I get the ‘all clear’ signal from the team outside.
Aria’s face is white, and she breaks into a run when she spots me. “Are you all right? You’re bleeding!”
“Aye, so I am,” I admit, looking down at my bloody arm. “Just a graze, baby.”
She pulls out a suspiciously well-stocked first aid kit from a cabinet in the study and pushes me gently back onto a leather couch.
“I’m appreciating this naughty nurse bit ya’ got going on here, but I have someone to question,” I groan as she pulls off my jacket.
“Bleeding to death while you question him is a little counterproductive,” she says sharply. “You didn’t notice you were shot?”
“I had a lot on my mind.” I grab her by her high ponytail, wrapping it around my fist and kissing her as she finishes thequick bandage. “They knew where to go, the hidden room, aye? Go check the computer and your secret lair and see if they got into anything.”
“It’s not alair,”she says defensively.
“It is if it has a secret sliding panel in the wall. Go on now, do your work and I’ll do mine.” Cracking my knuckles, I head for the kitchen. A little hands-on activity is just what I need.
***
“I doan’ know anything,” the man groans as I slam him down on the granite countertop. It’s a nice high one, gives me plenty of room to work.
“I doubt that,” I say, sticking my finger into a bullet hole in his shoulder, enjoying his pained shout. “So many men, so many bullets. And hittin’ us at the funeralandhere? Inspired.”
For a moment, confusion flickers across his face before he’s expressionless again.
Interesting. He didn’t know about the shootout at the funeral.
“Patch him up enough so he doesn’t bleed out on us,” I tell Monroe. When the men roll him over, there’s another bullet hole in his spine, gushing blood like a fountain. “Goddamnit! We are not losing another one!” I shout.
It’s too late. His last breath is a sigh of relief.
