Raze herded the kids out past all the straws.
Tace sighed. “Go for the gun next time.”
The first guy winced and shook out his hand. “We were just going to have a little fun with them. Tell you what. You use the girl first and then leave her for us. It’ll be a win-win.”
Without even thinking about it, Tace shot him between the eyes. Blood blew through the air, and the guy fell back, more blood congealing around his head.
The other guy cried out and scooted away on his knees.
Tace stepped over the spatter and pressed his gun to the second gang member’s head. He hadn’t earned kill tats yet and looked about twenty years old. “You rape kids?”
“No,” the guy whispered, his voice shaking. “I was just going along with Skip so he wouldn’t kill me. I’ve only been a member of Twenty for a month. There wasn’t anywhere else to go.”
“How many members are there?” Tace asked, ignoring the smell of gunfire, blood, and death.
“I don’t know—maybe about fifty? Everyone is kind of joining Twenty because they’re the strongest gang and now they work for the Elite Force.” The guy wiped his nose on his sleeve.
“Where’s the Elite Force?” Tace asked.
The guy blinked away tears. “Up north at some old mansion the Parks Department owned. The president is there, and they’re training Twenty members to be the front line of defense. We matter, man.”
“Then why are you here, dickhead?” Tace asked.
The guy glanced at his fallen friend and blanched. “We’re out in teams of two watching Vanguard and reporting back.”
Damn it. The president was about to make another move against them—Tace could just feel it. “What kind of firepower does the president have?”
“Dunno.”
Probably the truth. The guy definitely wasn’t in the know. “How many scouts are there watching Vanguard?”
“At least six teams of two. That’s all I know.” The guy’s shoulders slumped. “If you’re gonna kill me, just do it.”
“I’m not.” Tace wanted to, but he had to hold on to a small part of his humanity. “Though if I hear of you terrorizing any more little kids, I’m going to hunt you down and cut you apart piece by piece.”
“I get it.”
“Good.” Tace stepped over the widening pool of blood and headed for the back door. The hair on the back of his neck rose, and he pivoted just in time to see the guy reach for his gun. Tace fired, and the bullet impacted the guy’s temple. He dropped dead. “Thanks,” Tace said, turning on his heel. Now he didn’t have to worry about another rapist asshole out there.
Should he feel bad about killing the two? Probably, but truth be told, he felt relief.
He reached the outside and pushed open the door to find both kids sitting on the hood of the truck, the boy with his arm around the girl. Raze lounged against a pillar. “They won’t get in.”
Tace nodded.
“Did you kill those guys?” Tina’s lips quivered when she asked the question.
“No,” Tace lied easily. “I shot at them so they’d run away and leave us alone.” By the somber looks on the kids’ faces, neither one of them believed him. “Are you two coming with us or not?”
Tina wiped tear tracks off her face.
Rory just stared at him, desperation in his light eyes.
Tace took them both in. “Listen, if we wanted to hurt you guys, we already could have, right?”
“This isn’t a good place,” Rory countered, “but maybe your lair is worse.”
“Yeah.” Tace rubbed his chin. The bottom line was that the kids were going with them, but there had to be a way to gain their cooperation instead of taking them by force. It would delay the scouting trip for hours, but they had to get the kids safely behind the fence. “You ever heard of Vanguard?”
