REID
The farm was dark and quiet, not atypical for any farm located in the area. The moon hung high, casting its light on the stalks of corn and rows of vegetation surrounding the property.
There were four main buildings on the property—one large farmhouse located in the front, two large barns located a distance back away from the farmhouse, and then a large aluminum structure that one would assume was used for storage and other farm-related equipment. The truth was, Reid and the guys really had no idea what was contained in each of the structures.
Reid crouched beside Niko as they huddled at the edge of the cornfield, watching two sets of men guarding each of the barns located out back.
It was almost time.
Pulling back one of the stalks of corn, Reid watched as a figure slowly emerged from the field across from them.
“What is that?” one of the guards asked, elbowing his buddy in the ribs.
“What the fuck?” the second guy blurted, both men staring at the blood-soaked clown standing motionless next to the cornfield.
The two men glanced at each other before turning and running toward the second barn.
They didn’t get very far.
As they turned the corner, Caden and Blade met them with a large piece of wood to the face. Both men fell to the ground, stunned and confused. Caden and Blade didn’t give them a chance to make a sound. They both punched them twice in the head, knocking them unconscious.
At the second barn, Reid watched as two more clowns stepped out of the cornfield and waited to catch the guard’s attention.
This time, these two guards were not as chickenshit as the first set. These men stepped forward, cautiously raising their guns toward the clowns as they struggled to make sense of what they were seeing.
It wasn’t every day that someone encountered a set of clowns, standing in a cornfield, covered in what looked like blood from a distance. Reid had learned that it wasn’t actually blood, but coloring that had been added to their clothing to give them that murderous look. The killer clowns weren’t accustomed to rolling around in human blood.
That being said, Reid was still a little freaked out by the crazy clown gang, especially that little girl they met last night. No seven-year-old should get that much pleasure out of wearing something so scary. He wondered what sort of parties she had for her birthday. Something told him that “princess parties” were out of the question.
“Poor guys,” Niko whispered, drawing Reid’s attention to the two other clowns who were quickly sneaking up behind the two distracted guards.
One tapped the guard on the shoulder, who turned just in time to see his friend get knocked in the head with a large metal pipe. The man fell to the ground like a ton of bricks.
The second clown snatched the gun from the startled man’s hands and slammed the grip of it into the guard's face.
Blood burst from the man’s nose as the other clown struck him in the head with the pipe. The guard collapsed with a thud, unconscious alongside his friend.
With the guards taken out, Niko, Reid, Marcus, and Ace charged out of the field and across to both barns.
“You guys take that one, and we’ll take this one,” Marcus ordered, pointing to the two barns.
Niko led the way as he carefully peered in through the open door.
There were men with rifles slung over their shoulders, marching up and down the center of the barn. On each side were rows upon rows of beds, all with men and children—some lying, some sleeping—on them.
It broke Reid’s heart to see people living in such nightmarish conditions. It was awful to think that some individuals actually forced others into manual labor.
Reid had seen human trafficking rings that forced people to work on farms or construction sites for twelve to fifteen hours a day, often in dangerous working conditions.
One construction site he investigated forced their guys to continue building houses, even when it was thundering and lightning out. They didn’t care if anyone got struck by lightning or even slipped and fell to their death. They knew that they could always get more free labor.
He fucking hated these scumbags.
“Ready to kick some ass?” Caden whispered over Reid’s shoulder.
“Fuck yeah,” Niko responded, giving his brother a slight head nod.
“Just make sure that no innocent people get hurt,” Reid reminded, wondering if this was such a good idea.
