“Sure.”
The rest of us comb through this floor, checking behind every door, leaving no stone unturned. Upstairs is the same, no one. It doesn’t feel right that there aren’t more guards in the house, but it’s very possible they all ran outside to help their friends, or even more likely, abandoned ship.
When you’re face to face with an Apache and its giant guns, you run.
When we’re all gathered in the kitchen, we decide it’s best to let Dutch sleep for a couple of hours. This is her plan, her revenge. She deserves to enjoy it.
We all packed spare clothes, and Nate and Eric jog out to the helicopter to retrieve our bags. Many of us are covered in blood, and while it certainly adds to the macabre mood, it starts getting itchy after a while.
When Nate and Eric come back, we agree on a guard rotation at the panic room while everyone showers and changes in one of the house's eight bedrooms. Eric and I will put together a meal for everyone, then we’ll wake Cruz and Dutch and get this show on the road.
Chapter 68
Dutch
“Psst!Dutch!”TurninginCruz’s arms, I groan pitifully. Testing my limbs, I find the pain isn’t as bad, and I can move, even if I still feel weak. Cruz shifts next to me, sitting up with a sigh. When this is over, I think we’ll spend a week in bed.
Blinking my eyes open, I prepare myself for the Olympian task of sitting up. I’m pleasantly surprised to find it’s not as difficult as I thought it would be. Peering out of the cell, I find the whole Scooby gang ready and waiting. No, my mistake, Trey and Rebecca are missing.
“It worked?” I croak. “Our plans?”
Tessa grins widely at me, bouncing lightly on her toes. “It did! The guards are all dead or gone, your father’s holed up in a panic room—Trey and Rebecca are guarding it—oh, and we’ve made you some food.”
I scrub my hands over my face and offer her a weak smile. “Thank you.” Cruz slides off the bed and unlocks the cell door, letting everyone pile inside. Susannah and Tessa take the chairs, while the rest lean against the bars or take a seat on the floor.
Nate hands me and Cruz each a large bowl of pasta. It looks like some kind of spaghetti with various vegetables thrown in. Whatever it is, it’s delicious. Eric hands us a bottle of water and an energy drink each, while The Duke offers me my choice of Advil or codeine.
Fuck Advil, I’m taking the good stuff.
While we eat, the others take turns telling us about the raid. Something pricks at my mind, and it’s not until Susannah laughs at something Tessa’s saying that I realize it. “Hey! You were supposed to stay behind!”
Susannah narrows her eyes at me. I’m in trouble. “Not some innocent bystander, Dutch. I’m as highly trained as you are and have every right to see justice done for my sister and Rebecca. Now shut up and eat. We’ve got revenge to do.”
I blink at her, feeling a smile stretch across my face. “Good for you. Did you stow away?”
Her cheeks flame red as she mumbles, “I hid in the helicopter.”
For the first time since I set foot in this miserable place, I laugh.
Once my stomach is full, I’ve downed both drinks, and the codeine kicks in, I start to feel more like myself. There’s still some stiffness and pain, but it’s bearable. Trudging up the stairs, I realize for the first time that I’ve been staying on the second level.
“Has anyone checked out the first underground level yet?” I ask.
“I cleared it when I first went up,” The Duke answers. “Your father certainly has an affinity for torture. Each level has a section for it, but the first level is ridiculous.”
“I wonder why he has so many different areas,” Jase wonders aloud.
“There are cells on each level too. Probably so he wouldn’t have to move people up and down the stairs. It’s harder to control them,” The Duke replies.
We fan out into the first level, and I get my first look at it. Jesus. As The Duke said, it’s fucking ridiculous. It’s like Vincenzo went to Torture ‘R’ Us and ordered one of everything in the store.
There are wooden devices that look as if they were stolen out of a medieval castle. Some look futuristic, while others are more familiar. One wall is lined with cells that are very similar looking to jail cells; the bunk bed with requisite two-inch sagging mattress, and a metal toilet and sink combo with a metal mirror screwed into the wall above it.
It’s fucking depressing. But to be honest, this whole place is. The Duke explains that there’s a clean-up room on the third level, but the one on this one surpasses it. Besides the dissolving tub, there’s also a kind of cremator, one that uses fire instead of heat.
There’s a separate tiled room with a huge drain in the floor and cupboards full of all kinds of chemicals. It’s a psychopath’s wet dream.
Breathing in a deep breath, I let it out slowly, then turn to the others. “I know there are a few of us that want revenge on Vincenzo. Rebecca, Susannah, and I are the main three. But I don’t want to cheat anyone else out of their turn. I need to know now, is there anyone else here that also needs a few minutes alone with him?”
