Carnage
My emotions areall over the place as we ride in Whisper’s van to the approximate location where Leon’s phone pinged. Thank fuck Whisper is always thinking ahead and kept the location monitor on that phone number. I really have to give credit to my brave man for making the call that finally brought Leon out of the shadows. He obviously still wants Rue, or at least wants to profit off him, which worked to our advantage. I don’t doubt that Leon would figure out a way to avoid being seen at the club directly, just in case, but he won’t see us coming tonight.
It takes us more than forty minutes to get across town to the part of Mistone where we think Leon is. It’s on the edge of town, bordering one of the metro area’s more dangerous neighborhoods, but from what I know, it’s pretty cheap to find housing in this part of the city.
Whisper turns down a darkened street flanked on either side by derelict looking apartment buildings, but as we drive farther in, three one-story houses come into view at the end of it. One of the houses has dim light coming from the rear of it. We park the van near the apartment building and Whisper gets to work tapping on his laptop screen.
After a minute, he confirms. “That’s the location. It’s the only one with any activity. I’m not sure anyone lives in the other houses.”
“I doubt he legit lives there,” Rue says. “He’s probably squatting.”
“I’m sure you can get away with it in this neighborhood.”
Stealth turns to face us from the front seat. “What’s the plan?”
“He’s unlikely to be alone, so if you and Whisper can focus on anyone else in the house, that would be good. I’ll find Leon.”
“We can handle that.” Stealth cracks his knuckles.
The four of us exit the van, but I grab Rue’s hand, pulling him close to me. As we approach the house, he taps my arm, pointing to the cracked driveway.
“That’s No Neck’s car. He’s like Leon’s bodyguard, kind of.”
“Does he carry weapons?” Whisper asks.
Rue shrugs. “I’m not sure. I’ve never seen him with one. He just looks tough and runs interference.”
“Easy enough,” Whisper says.
“But anything could be different now if Leon is paranoid. He was starting to get that way when I was with him.”
“We can handle it,” I say. “The important thing is for you to stay out of the line of fire.”
“I will. Promise.” He rises on his toes and kisses my cheek. “You be careful too.”
“Promise.” I lean in, and this time I take his lips in a sweet kiss. “This ends tonight. No matter what.”
His bright, trusting smile makes my stomach flutter, and I know that there’s no way I’m ever getting over this guy. I’ll learn how to make him happy, because I can’t let him go now. He makes me feel things I didn’t know I could.
Rue’s eyes seem to say so much, and I desperately want to hear his sweet voice say those words, but now is not the time. I have an abusive predator to deal with.
We continue to approach the house in silence. My go-to is just to bust down the door and wreak havoc on everyone inside, but I’m with Stealth and Whisper right now, our silent but deadly assassins, and I gotta admit, I admire the way they work.
Whisper kneels in front of the door and expertly picks the lock. After the door creaks open, we step into a living room where there are several sleeping bodies on the floor. None of them react to our presence.
“Great security,” Stealth murmurs, drawing his gun from his chest holster. “We got this out here. You find Leon.”
With Rue clinging to me, I creep through the house, peeking into each bedroom as we pass. There are only two before we reach one at the end of the hall with the door shut. Light filters under the door and I nod at Rue. Bingo.
Pushing Rue behind me, I quietly twist the doorknob, catching soft voices from the other side.
Rue peers over my shoulder and nods. “That’s him,” he whispers.
Leon is sitting on the bed, oblivious to my presence. He’s talking to someone on the phone and as I listen, my blood boils.
“How should I fucking know, man? All I know is that he finally contacted me. I already called Trip and Max and told them to make the party happen. Trip said he knows some other buyers.” He’s quiet as he listens to the person on the phone. “He said the dude hasn’t fucked him, but it’s not like there’s a way to check. I can still claim he’s a virgin and get top dollar for that.”
Fuck this guy.
