Page 92 of Our Tricks

“Almost there, it’s tricky, but since it’s nearly the same as what they used in Diego’s building, it’s going faster,” Wes answered.

Where did these people keep coming from? It was like lemmings or something where there was a never-ending supply of bad guys.

“Got it,” Wes announced, and the steel door sank into the floor, revealing another door. This one was normal, but none of us wanted to take a chance so Cognac rolled a grenade right in front of it as we ducked for cover.

The door exploded, and we surged inside. This was definitely where Marco did business, but as much as I wanted to poke around, we needed to find the bastard first. The rooms were empty until we came to one that Alvaro and Mariana were tossed into. It looked a lot like the murder room in Diego’s building, and I prayed to God they hadn’t done anything irreparable to them. I went right for Mariana while Cam checked Alvaro. Both were still alive—barely.

“We need to get them out of here,” I stated. “Two of you take them back downstairs and get our people to carry them to Harper. They’ll be able to keep them safe or even get them to Billy and get the fuck out of here.”

“You know they won’t leave,” Eagle reasoned. “But they’ll keep them safe. Come on, Picasso, let’s get them out of here.”

“Void, go with them and watch their backs,” I ordered. He frowned then nodded, and the group took off back the way we came. “Let’s see if we can find the bastard.”

“Shouldn’t we wait?” Cognac asked.

“The longer we wait, the more time we give him to come up with a plan,” Sprocket said, agreeing with me.

That seemed to get them all into agreement, and we headed for the last section of this area with two doors left. Trusting my gut, I went to the left and kicked it open, letting it slam into the wall with the force. Standing there behind a desk, clutching a little girl to his chest with a gun at her head, was Marco. While Marco should have had my attention, I only had eyes for the little girl.

She had light brown ringlets and crystal blue eyes that were identical to Devin’s. The shape of her face was more like mine, though, but either way, there was no mistaking she was, in fact, Devin’s daughter. She had some of Kimber in her, but she was way more Blackmore than anything else.

Holy fuck.

“Tabby, this is your Aunt Dax,” Marco introduced with a wicked grin. “Remember what your madre told you about her?”

“That she’s not a good person, and she’s the reason we had to move here to live with you,” Tabby answered in a soft voice, her eyes glassy with tears and body shaking with fear.

“Good girl,” Marco praised. “It’s also her fault I have to hold this gun to your head so she won’t kill me. That’s what your aunt does, she kills people and does all kinds of other bad things.”

My mind was reeling. How did I not know that Kimber had been pregnant, let alone that she gave birth and was raising a daughter? No, Kimber hadn’t been the one to raise her. There was no way. Tabby’s lip quivered, but she stood strong, her eyes never leaving mine as if she somehow knew what he was saying was wrong.

“It’s over, Marco,” I said, shifting my gaze to him. “This is your last move, the crowning jewel of all the plans you came up with. Too bad for you, it’s not going to work.”

I lifted my gun and glanced out the window to see the tank rolling up. I knew Harper could still hear everything that was going on, so I used that.

“I really should thank you. Without you starting this war, I’d never know who my friends are. Somehow, I managed to make even new friends, and he gave me all sorts of fun toys to play with. Like shells for my tank outside,” I shared, gesturing to the window. “There are all kinds of different shells that do different things. One I find interesting is the concussion shell… it’s experimental and not on the market. It’s supposed to let out a concussive blast that will hit a building and make your teeth rattle but not blow it up. Why do you think they would need something like that for a tank?”

“What are you babbling about?” Marco demanded. “As for winning, you haven’t won yet. I’m still alive, and as long as I’m breathing, then I have another move to make. You’re not the only one with tricks.”

I nodded. “True, but how many of your tricks can be pulled off on the fly? You seem more like a planner to me.”

“You better know what you’re fucking doing, Dax. Shell incoming,” Harper warned seconds before I saw the flash from the gun barrel, and the building rocked.

It was like going through an earthquake, but it did what I wanted it to do as all the books on the bookshelf behind Marco crashed into him. He dropped Tabby, and we moved in fast, Cognac scooping up Tabby, and I slammed the butt of my gun right into Marco’s face. I wasn’t going to make this easy for him.

Marco toppled to the floor, stunned at the blow. Putting my gun away, I grabbed one of my knives and kneeled right on his chest. “You fucking piece of shit, people like you don’t deserve to live. I saw what you did to your own sister. She was your blood. How could that mean nothing to you?”

“Just because you have a dead-brother complex doesn’t mean everyone does,” Marco spat, bloody spit hitting my cheek. “You’re too soft. No woman has what it takes to rule this world. It needs a firm hold so everyone falls in line. Killing me will kill the criminal world as we know it.”

“Damn, you really are fucked in the head, aren’t you?” I commented. “Lucky for you, being dead means you don’t have to see what happens next. But before we get to the actual death part, I felt like I should share with you the journey I’ve been on through all this.”

Clearing my throat, I sat back a little and drove my knife into the joint of his shoulder. “The first attempt was on Harper. They smacked her around… a little black eye, fat lip, the basics.”

Pausing, I punched him in the eye since I already gave him the fat lip with the pistol whip. “Then, not once but twice, you tried to attack me when all I wanted was some fucking food. It hurt my stomach so badly to be forced to fight with assassins instead of eating a burger.” Thrusting my elbow into his gut, he groaned and tried to curl up in a ball.

“I know, right, hunger pangs are the worst.” I sighed. “The one attack that really got to me was when I came out as Two Tricks. Shot in the shoulder.” I yanked out my blade and cut his neck, not deep enough to kill him, but for it to fucking hurt. “Grazed on the neck and shot in the back, but I’m not gonna flip you over so I’ll just show you where from the front.”

With a quick stab, I went between his ribs into his lungs. “Do you know what it feels like to almost drown in your own blood? I’m sure you don’t, but you will. Then you had the balls to blow up my fucking house and take my shit. While I’m not done destroying your house, I wanted to at least work on part of it so you got the idea,” I informed him.