All but him.
All of them are under Ricky's control, except the man with the absolute power.
Their guns are pointed at the one man who’s unarmed and on his knees. Two men are pushing down on his shoulders, forcing him to maintain that position.
“Fuck you! Fuck all of you!” the man on his knees yells out and spits on the ground.
“So it’s true!” yells one of the men holding him down.
“Fucking pig! Fucking liar!” the men are yelling, practically chanting. I realize with a start that the man being forced to kneel must be an undercover cop. I fumble in my clutch for my phone. I need to get help.
“What did you tell them?” asks Ricky. Bang! I almost scream and have to cover my mouth with my hands as the sound of a bullet cries out and echoes through the alley. My phone drops to the ground, and the screen cracks from the impact.
My heart stills as Ricky yells out and grabs the cop's shoulder.
Somehow I don’t think they heard me, or saw me. Their focus is on the cop who's still on his knees clutching his leg and wincing in pain.
“The next one will be in your skull.” Ricky walks closer to the man and puts the gun up to his temple, twisting the barrel of the gun to taunt him. “What did you tell them?”
The kneeling man attempts to laugh although he’s in obvious pain. “Just do it. You’ll never get anything from me.” He sneers as blood soaks through his jeans. It’s so dark, it almost looks black.
No! No! I need to do something. As I bend down to get my cracked phone, the man in the dark suit moves forward. A hush falls over the men. The only exception is Ricky, who’s cussing and making threats that don’t seem to affect the undercover cop.
“Is it true?” a deep, rich voice asks so calmly that it doesn’t seem real. The loud click of his gun cocking makes me take a step forward. My head shakes. No. No.
It’s silent. Everyone's waiting for his answer, even Ricky.
“Fuck you, you fucking criminal.”
“What did you call me?” The man’s voice raises with a deadly tone. He points his gun at his target’s head.
“You really going to make me say it again?” the man on his knees asks, but his voice cracks. The fear of imminent death is finally coming through.
And with that, his death sentence is complete. One shot, bang, and he falls to the ground. The man in the suit moves his arm again and aims at the ground this time. I can’t see, but I hear the shots ring out, again and again. Bang, bang, bang!
I shake my head with disbelief, tears leaking from the corners of my eyes. They killed him, and I saw the whole thing. My blood runs cold, and the sickness I'm feeling threatens to come up my throat.
And then I do scream. I shriek louder than I ever have before.
A pair of hard, unforgiving arms wrap around my waist and chest before a hand covers my mouth. I struggle against what feels like an unmoving brick frame holding me tight, my back to his hard chest. Caught. I’ve been caught. I fight for my life; my nails dig into his skin, piercing and scratching. But it does nothing. He’s so much taller than I am, so he easily picks my body up off the ground and wraps his hand around my throat, suffocating me. I struggle as much as I can. But it’s hopeless, I'm already losing consciousness. The last thing I see, before my world goes black, is the man in the suit looking down the alley. His intense gaze is focused solely on me.
Olivia
I wake with pain radiating in my shoulder. My throat feels bruised, and my head throbs with an unrelenting ache in my temples. Zip ties dig into the flesh of my ankles and wrists. They're so tight it feels like every move against them, no matter how small, cuts my skin.
My heart skips a beat, and I struggle not to open my eyes as I realize what’s happened. I’ve been taken. I register I’m not alone when I hear voices. I need to be still. I need to be quiet. I need to get the fuck out of here. I can't risk drawing unnecessary attention to myself until I can figure a way out of this.
“Who let him in, Ricky?” I recognize his voice immediately, the voice of the man with power. The dangerous man from earlier, the man in the suit, and right now he sounds pissed. The sound of his anger alone is enough to paralyze my body.
“It’s a mistake anyone could have made, Kade.” Ricky’s words are hard. The man in the suit might be in charge, but it's clear Ricky is as well.
“It’s a mistake that could have ruined me.”
“You never made more than a handful of contacts. He would've had nothing on you,” Ricky says dismissively.
“It’s unacceptable.” Kade’s words are sharp, and nearly make me jump. But I’m too scared to move. I have to remind myself to breathe as I begin to feel lightheaded.
“Well, we found out before anything got leaked,” Ricky grumbles.
