Stoic. Figures. I try to peek over his shoulder, turning myself into an annoying but harmless customer.
“Come on, man. What’s going on? I want to see. Are there girls back there?”
He snorts, folding his massive arms over his chest. “Don’t know. None of my business.”
“You don’t get to play?”
His brow creases for a second but he neutralizes his expression. “I just work the door. You gotta be on the list to get back here, and if you don’t know what the list is, then you ain’t on it.”
There’s scuffling behind us and the quiet sound of a gunshot through a silencer. Cowboy turns around, peering through the curtain, and I take the opportunity to slip past him. He grabs my arm.
“Hey, you can’t come back here.”
I tug my coat back to show him my gun. “If you want to live, you better let me go.”
His face goes pale as he raises his hands. “Shit, man. I swear I don’t know what goes on back here.”
“I believe you.” He knows it’s not good though. “Stand in front of the curtain like normal. No one comes back here unless they’re part of whatever this bullshit is.”
“That’s Richie and Benicio. They run this place. The girls and the drugs, all of it.”
“And they’re here?”
“Yeah.”
I nod to him, gesturing for him to resume his place in front of the curtain. “Keep your mouth shut and you’ll live to see the sunrise. Start any shit and everyone dies.”
Cowboy nods with enough fear in his eyes that I’m certain he’ll do as directed. I join my brothers, kicking open doors and finding women in various stages of undress and assault. Stealth shoots every guy with his pants down in the head, not giving them a chance to explain themselves. There’s nothing to explain. They’re raping drugged women. Fucking animals.
A loud sound, like a body smashing into a wall, gets my attention, and Stealth and I hurry down the narrow hall to find Carnage going absolutely apeshit on the four men in the room. On a table are piles of money and drugs, from powders to pills, along with a few firearms.
Two men lie across the couch, bloodied and moaning, while Carnage has his hand wrapped around the neck of another man. The fourth man is already lifeless.
“Take care of them,” Carnage growls. “I got this one.”
He continues beating the fuck out of the guy in his clutches, and I’m gonna assume that’s his target.
“Help us,” one of the men on the couch grunts out. “Take the money, the drugs, whatever. I can hook you up if you get us out of here.”
“Where’s Richie and Benicio?”
“Me. I’m Richie.” He flops his hand onto the man next to him, who is struggling to breathe through his obviously broken nose. “Benicio.”
“Stealth.”
He joins me, leaving the body of the other man on the floor.
“Bouncer told me these two guys run everything.”
“Ooh, perfect.”
He lifts his gun and shoves it into Richie’s mouth. Richie whimpers and tries to beg around the muzzle, but Stealth pulls the trigger, ending any additional discussion.
I turn to Benicio, who is gasping now. Knowing Carnage, dude probably has a few broken ribs.
Grabbing his shirt collar, I hold him upright slightly. “Who else is in this? Who’s your boss?”
Benicio glowers, even with his swollen face. He spits blood and says, “Fuck you.”
