“How far from me?”
“Other side of the estate.”
“How many of Teo’s people are still alive?”
Cassel is silent for a moment. “None of them.”
EIGHT
LELAND
Cassel’s words sink in as I realize the situation is much more dire than I even imagined. Whoever is doing this is working quickly and efficiently. And besides that first shot, I haven’t heard another. While they might be using silenced weapons we haven’t heard, the dead bodies tell me that they’re using a knife.
I shift Teo over to Sophia. “He’s yours. I have bigger things to worry about. Cassel, what’s the person doing now?”
“They’re directing Everly and Tavish to a specific area.”
“Where are they at in correlation to me?”
“Go through the door in front of you,” he says.
I start to follow his instructions while behind me, Sophia drags Teo after her. I’m well aware that she is thinking of using him as a bargaining chip if things go poorly.
Using Cassel as my eyes, I don’t hesitate as I move through the door. I don’t need to when he can tell me if there’s anyone beyond it. But when each room just offers streaks of blood and signs of violence, it’s easy to keep moving.
Sophia, who doesn’t seem prepared to risk her life to meet the person who has caused this, continues to check the locked doors, but it’s clear we’re cattle being herded to the slaughter.
But I’m not going down without a fight.
Cassel’s voice comes over my earpiece again. “Tavish and Everly are in the main room now. The person has followed them but hasn’t attacked them. I think Tavish and Everly know they’re cornered, so Tavish is trying to talk to them, but I can’t hear sound over the cameras. They’re in the room through the next door. The person is to the left but has placed themself behind Tavish and Everly. You don’t have a clear shot.”
“Okay.” My hand hovers over the door as I think about what I should do. I can wait and hope that they separate enough that I could shoot the person. But what if I wait too long and they hurt Everly or Tavish, both of whom are here because of me?
My hand turns the doorknob, and I slowly pull it open, gun at the ready.
From here, I can tell that the unknown person is clothed in black, with a ski mask over their face. They have a gun pointed at Everly, and Tavish seems to be bleeding, but both are still alive. I just need to keep it that way.
Whoever this is, they obviously planned this perfectly so that I couldn’t take the shot I needed to take.
“We are not a part of this,” I say.
“Mr. Sandman,” the person calls, sounding elated and confirming my suspicions that he’s a man. “You’re finally here.”
I refuse to show any emotions on my face, but my idea that he was here for Teo quickly goes out the window.
No.
He’s here for me.
And I’ve put everyone in my family at risk by bringing them here today to help this woman. We should have walked away. Yes, it would have been heartless of us to leave Sophia to deal with getting her son out of this alone. And knowing the type of family the Barlows are, I doubt she would have. They’d have dragged him into their world and wouldn’t have let go.
We were doing a good thing.
And look where that got us.
I observe the man closely, waiting for him to show his true colors. “I see you know who I am. We are simply here for a boy and have nothing to do with this family, and I’d love it if you stepped aside while I took my two here and went on my way.”
“I thought the Sandman worked alone,” he says, watching me from between Tavish and Everly. With the ski mask on, I can’t see his face, but his build seems pretty average. He has no discernable accent or anything else that gives away who he is.
