Page 42 of Soul of Discretion

Simon’s eyes began to flutter open. Well, one eye, the other was swollen shut. Nick swore they’d pay for this. “Nick…I knew you’d find me.” Simon’s voice was rough, and Nick doubted he’d been given anything to drink since he was taken.

“I’ll always find you,” Nick swore while trying to judge how deep some of the cuts were. “Tell me what hurts.”

Simon gave a small laugh before moaning, “Everything.”

Nick’s head snapped up at the sound of footsteps headed their way. Immediately, he stood and positioned himself in front of Simon and the other officer who was still working on Simon’s injuries. His MP5 was at the ready as the footsteps stopped somewhere down the hall. Nick had to find out who was down there with them to protect Simon and the officer working on him.

Nick took a few steps back until he stood beside the other officer. “I’m going to find out who’s down here. I need you to stay put and protect Simon.” The man gave a nod and picked up his gun. With one last look at Simon, Nick walked over to the doorway and inched himself out into the hall.

The sound of a heel scraping on the floor had him turning to his right just in time to see Anthony Baronne aim his gun at Nick’s head. He lunged sideways as the wood trim of the doorway where he’d been standing splintered from the impact of a bullet. Anthony turned and ran, and Nick followed. There was no way the man responsible for so much pain was getting away.

“Stop! Police!” Nick yelled, but Anthony kept going, stopping only occasionally to fire off another round behind him.

Nick restrained himself from firing back. He wanted the bastard to live a long life in solitary confinement for the rest of his miserable life. But with each bullet Anthony fired, the likelihood he would give up and Nick wouldn’t have to use deadly force grew slimmer.

He followed Anthony into a large, dimly lit room that appeared to be under construction. Rebar stuck out of holes in spots where concrete hadn’t been poured, but in other areas the ground was level. It took a split second before Nick realized that he was standing on a burial ground. Possibly where the Baronnes got rid of all physical evidence of their crimes. It sickened him to think this might have been where they intended to bury Simon. The room had roughly five pillars and no windows or exits.

Nick stood behind the entrance wall and shouted, “Come out, Baronne, you’ve got nowhere else to go.”

“Fuck you. I’ll take you to hell with me, cop,” Anthony growled as he leaned out from behind a pillar in the back corner and fired.

Nick took the opportunity to race behind another pillar to the left of Baronne, ensuring there was no way he could get past Nick. “There is only one of two ways you’re going to get out of here. Either in handcuffs or a body bag. Your choice.”

He heard movement coming from the hallway and turned in time to see Ben coming through the door as Anthony swung around the pillar and took aim. “I choose to take this one with me.”

Thankfully, Nick was faster, and he shot Anthony twice before he could get off a single round at Ben. Baronne clutched at the wounds in his shoulder and stumbled backward while both Nick and Ben advanced on him.

“Thanks, buddy,” Ben gasped out. “He would have shot me.”

“You would have done the same for me,” Nick replied without a doubt. “I have to get back to Simon so let’s wrap this up. On your knees, shithead.”

Instead of complying, the asshole began to laugh. “You think they will be able to keep me in jail? They haven’t yet. And once I’m released on bail I’ll disappear.”

“Is that so? You think your family will hold on to a risk like you? Christ, kidnapping and torturing an earl, not too bright. There are some things your family can’t take care of and this is it. They might as well take out the liability.” Nick warmed to the idea as he moved ever closer, grinning at the bastard while Nick got out his handcuffs.

“I’m a Baronne, I’m family. No one would dare harm me.” Anthony no longer sounded so sure.

“I see how that worked out for your cousin Jimmy. He’s been dead almost two years now, right?” Nick asked as he watched Anthony shiver. What was left of Jimmy Baronne they’d found washed up on two different beaches. “Now get down on the ground like a nice asshole.”

Anthony’s eyes turned feral as fear took over. He reached down into his boot and pulled a Saturday night special then fired at Nick, who registered the pain milliseconds after he pulled his trigger, aiming straight for the center of Anthony’s chest. The mobster stumbled on a pipe that was lying on the concrete floor and began backpedaling even faster while clutching his chest. By the time Nick realized what was going to happen, there was no way they could reach him in time. In what felt like slow motion Nick watched as Anthony Baronne fell backward, impaling himself on several pieces of rebar sticking up out of the floor. His final few laboured breaths were the only sound in the room.

Nick wasted no time; he hurried back down the hall and straight to the room where he’d found Simon. They had him on a stretcher by now and paramedics were working on him. Nick came around to the head of the stretcher to find Simon conscious; he would have expected him to be moaning in pain.

“Did you get him?” Simon asked as soon as Nick came into his sights.

“Yeah. He won’t ever hurt another soul again.”

“I knew you wouldn’t give up until you found me. I knew I had to hold on.”

“You did great, Simon. We’ll get you to the hospital and they’ll fix you right up.” Nick couldn’t stand the blood and bruises. It made him want to kill Anthony all over again. But this time, slower.

“I still have all my fingers and teeth, I’m ahead. Anthony swore I’d lose both. Hope the bastard rots in hell.”

That was the Simon Nick knew, mouthy and strong. He doubted anyone could break the Earl of Stoneham. Simon was one tough Brit.

“Wait, you’re bleeding. Are you hurt?” Simon asked.

“Nah. Got winged in the arm. Nothing to worry about,” Nick replied. Compared to Simon’s injuries, Nick’s looked like a scratch.

“You’ll be getting it checked out at the hospital,” Simon ordered.

He quickly agreed. Simon needed to focus on healing, not being bossy and stressed out about Nick.

He followed the gurney out and noticed more than one person looking his way. He didn’t give a shit what anyone thought in that moment; he had Simon back alive. That was all that mattered.