Malakai did exactly as planned.
Pushing open the door, I step into the dining room, every table set empty, save for the one at the back. Richard sits at the head of the table, with two of his men on the right and another three on the left.
“Mr. Archer,” He picks up his glass but doesn’t stand, “You’re late.”
“Am I?” I lazily stroll toward them. “My apologies, heavy traffic.”
Richard’s eyes cut to the case in my hand. “I’m surprised you did what I asked.”
“Did you give me much choice?”
He chuckles, “I suppose not.”
Placing the case down, I open it and pull out the USB drive, laying it on the table.
One of his guys reaches for it, but before he can take it, my hand slams down on his. “I trust the target on Sloane and my daughter has been removed.”
Richard gestures to one of the guys, and he pulls out a cell before he presses it to his ear. The way the silence falls as we wait means I can hear the cell ringing right before the phone in my pocket starts to buzz as it connects. Richard’s brow pulls low, watching as I pull it out, hitting the answer button.
The call connects to the guy right in front of me.
“Oh, that’s right,” My mouth pulls into a smile, “I already dealt with the threat.”
Everyone moves, reaching for the weapons, but then, pop… pop, pop, pop, pop, all five guys go down, blood splattering across the table as each bullet lands its mark.
Me and the guys spent a day scoping this place out, figuring out the best spots for the attack. We worked the plan based on numbers we didn’t have so planned for the worst. Five guys though is child’s play for us.
Richard pales at the end of the table.
“Truthfully, did you honestly believe you could blackmail me?” I laugh, “You’re more stupid than I thought you were.”
Behind me, the door opens and my brother steps in, his switchblade flicking in and out as he strolls toward me, the gloves on his hands speckled with blood.
“Had some cleaning up to do,” He says nonchalantly. From the left, where the kitchen is, Malakai and Sebastian head through, gaits easy, faces void of emotion.
“Now just wait a minute,” Richard panics, “All it will take is one call! I can have everyone you love killed, you hear me?”
Sebastian laughs, “No, you can’t.”
Richard grabs his cell from the table, but another pop sounds in the room, the bullet slicing through his hand. A scream rends the air as more blood stains the white tablecloth, and Malakai slides his gun back into the holder.
“Look at the mess you’ve made, Richard.” I sigh dramatically, “Girls going missing, blackmail, extortion, what else have you got hiding in your closet?”
“You can’t prove anything!” He spits, “You’re all going to regret this. Every single one of you.”
“Now you’re really sounding like the villain,” Sebastian mocks. “Keep going, maybe you can mean something before it all ends.”
“To regret this, Richard, would require you being around long enough to see it through,” Malakai casually leans a hip against one of the empty tables, “I made a mistake all those years ago letting you live, and here I am, fixing it.”
“I still have it,” He rushes out, “If you kill me, Sebastian goes down. I’ll show the whole world the video of him killing that senator. I have other things too; I can take you all down with me!”
But all I do is chuckle. Because he has nothing, not anymore. As we speak, his house is being raided, and his employee files taken. Anyone who swore loyalty to him is being rounded up, and they will be killed. As for his computer and those thousands of files proving his crimes, well, I have them now.
“In my haste to keep you out of my database,” I tell him, “I forgot one thing.”
“What is it?” He spits, his whole world crumbling.
“There’s a backdoor to all viruses, a key, if you will, that’ll lead you back to the originator. You just have to find it, and as it turns out, that’s one of my specialties.”
