At some point, I’d have another conversation with him on how long he’d planned Raven Intel without mentioning it to his best buddies. He’d certainly been eager enough about us joining, already lamenting over missing the first op. As if we were initiating a highly trained military mission. Well, in some respects it was, complete with masks to hide our identities.
What we were completing tonight would be in and out without wasting time.
Without further discussion, we rolled out to Steven’s house. Kendrick was the one who exercised his breaking and entering skills, getting us inside within seconds. I was no longer shocked at the various activities we’d all participated in during our youth.
As expected, Steven was found fast asleep.
We stood over his bed, taking a few seconds. Then I tapped him on the shoulder.
“What the…” He awoke with a start, gasping for air as he tried to figure out what he was seeing in the dark.
So Maverick helped him out, shining a bright flashlight in his face.
“You’ve been a very bad boy,” I told him, only mildly attempting to disguise my voice.
“Who… Who are you?”
“Call us ravens because we’ve come to punish you for your sins,” Gabriel said, laughing, the sound something I’d never heard coming from his throat before.
We allowed him to stew in his fear for a few seconds.
Finally, one of them flicked on the overhead light.
“What?” Steven was wide-eyed and horrified, already slobbering on himself. He was even more panicked than before now that he could see several masked men standing in his bedroom.
I planted a booted foot on the side of the bed next to him. “You see, you’ve been playing both sides of the law, Steve. Playing footsie with James Worthington isn’t in your best interest. Now, since you obviously aren’t intelligent enough to know who your friends are, we’re going to give you something to think about the next time he contacts you asking for a favor like providing classified information on witnesses, jurors, and cases pending Luis Delgado.”
“I would never do that.”
His insistence made Maverick laugh. “Yeah, buddy. You would.”
I was the one who dragged him out of bed. Gabriel was the one who issued the first punch, Kendrick followed.
After a few minutes, he was all mine. I tossed him around, issuing a few brutal jabs of my own. The intent wasn’t to kill him. He deserved to live so he could face a jury of his own. It was amazing the evidence that could be collected when you knew the right people.
“You can’t fuck with me.” He slurred the words since his lip was busted.
“Oh, yes, I can. Now, you on the other hand, you fucked with the wrong people. The murders of those jurors are on you. Blood on your hands.”
“Yeah? Just wait until you see what happens to that pretty little witness.”
Ice tore through my veins. I yanked him off the floor by the throat, getting in his face.
“Take it easy,” Kendrick hissed.
“What the fuck did you say to me?”
“What’s wrong? You want a piece of her too? Maybe I can arrange that before she’s sold.” He didn’t just spout off the words. He laughed. As if this was all a joke. As if he was bigger than the law.
For a man who’d learned early in life that control was necessary, I was certainly quick to lose all sense of it. I didn’t even realize how many punches I’d thrown or that his face and mine were covered in his blood.
Or that he was no longer laughing.
And maybe not even breathing.
Until hands were jerking on both arms, trying to pull me away.
“Hey. Stop,” Maverick hissed in my ear. “Don’t do this.”
