Billionaire's Killer

by Brooke Shelby

  “You’re right. I’m going to head back down, make sure those guys don’t try anything stupid like open the door.”

  “How big is the rig, Mac?” Delilah armed herself with ammunition, slinging an automatic weapon over her shoulder even as she tucked more handguns into the jacket.

  “About the size of a cigarette box.”

  Delilah nodded. “It’s dangerous, but it won’t take down the whole building. It will kill anyone in the vicinity though. Don’t open that goddamn door, Mac.”

  Mac nodded. “I won’t. We’ll be careful; you be careful too.”

  “I will, Mac, and whatever happens, thank you for tonight. Without you …”

  “No, don’t you go saying your goodbyes. We’ll still have a beer in a few months and talk about this night.”

  “I hope so, Mac.” Delilah smiled. She had been so focused on killing Carson Royal for years that she hadn’t ever really made any friendships. Knowing she could rely on Mac tonight, she wondered if she could have friends after this.

  Could she walk away from this and lead the normal life she had never wanted? No, she couldn’t, she thought to herself. She couldn’t walk away from this until the woman that had caused her sister’s death paid.

  Jeanine Gibson was one target Delilah had to find before the night was over. Now the question was, who was she going after first? The person that she had blamed all these years and had come to care for, or the person she didn’t know and who had escaped before justice could be served?

  Delilah took a deep breath and turned to Mac. “I’ll see you on the other side.”

  Mac laughed, shaking his head. “You’re unlike any woman I’ve ever met before; just don’t tell my wife I said that.”

  Delilah smiled at her new friend a last time before she started for the door. She pushed all thoughts of Mac, Carson, and Jeanine aside, knowing that if she was going to do this, she needed to be completely focused.

  And utterly ruthless.

  27

  She felt the blade of the knife before she heard the threatening whisper. “I’ve been looking for you.”

  Her heart jumped into her throat, knowing that she was in trouble. She tried to remember the self-defense class she had taken years ago. Solar plexus, instep, nose, groin, but before she could lift her left foot to even attempt to get away, she felt the searing pain as the knife nicked her throat. “You ain’t going anywhere this time. Razorback wants to see you.”

  Jeanine walked carefully in the direction he shoved her. She knew one wrong move and he would cut her throat. Ace was as ruthless as Clown and Razorback; she didn’t doubt for a moment that he would kill her. She had seen the bloodlust in his eyes during their first meeting and knew the only reason he hadn’t killed her yet was because Razorback held him on a tight leash. But if she tested that leash, she knew she would lose.

  “Please, Ace, I’m begging you, don’t hurt me,” Jeanine pleaded as she walked. “I’m one of you …”

  His breath stank with alcohol and smoke as he laughed. “Really, are you now? Then why did you disappear when that prick came to save the guests? Let me guess? You wanted to kill him yourself.”

  “No, I just … I thought I could help if I knew where he was taking them,” she lied through her teeth.

  “Let’s see what Razorback thinks about your thinking. As far as I know, you weren’t supposed to think tonight; in fact, you weren’t supposed to be here at all.”

  Jeanine felt the tears of fear burn the back of her eyes. One mistake, one mistake in the name of making history, had cost her her reputation, and now it was going to cost her her life. She had known the AI car wasn’t ready for testing, but she’d wanted to push; she’d wanted to push to be the first to make history. If that test drive had been successful, she would’ve won a Nobel Prize; she would have been famous. But no, suddenly, humanity cared about one life in the name of invention. One life.

  How many lives had been lost when they had developed airplanes, submarines, and so many other inventions? This was all Carson’s fault. Instead of backing her, he had fired her, chased her away like stray dog, and told her to make sure he never heard her name again.

  They approached the doors of the ballroom and dread coursed through her as Ace opened the doors. There were even more bodies spread through the room than when Carson had rescued her. She glanced around nervously and noticed Carson kneeling on the floor a short distance from where Razorback and his idiot teenage girlfriend were talking.

  “Razorback, I found you a little present,” Ace said as he shoved Jeanine towards Razorback.

  Razorback laughed as he moved towards her, the knife glinting in his one hand, his gun steady in his other. “Why did you leave the party so soon. Get bored?”

  “No, Razorback, I can explain,” Jeanine pleaded, hoping Carson would try to help her; instead, he just glared at her, shaking his head.

  Razorback stepped forward and brushed the knife against her temple. “It seems to me you forgot that I’m running this show and that no one leaves until I fucking tell them to.” His voice was low; low enough to make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she looked into his lifeless eyes. “Maybe it’s time I gave you a reminder that if it wasn’t for me, none of this would have happened. You’re just a washed-up old fucking hag out to get revenge on your old boss. I’m the man that made this happen for you. I’m the person that pulled this together, not you.”

  Jeanine cried out as the blade sliced along her cheek. She felt the hot blood trickle down her neck as the tears started to stream over her face. “Please don’t kill me,” she pleaded as the knife kept slicing until it reached her chin.

  “Kill you? Why would I do that? It’s much more fun to make my mark.” Razorback laughed as he wiped the blade of the knife clean across her chest. “Every time you look in the mirror for the rest of your life, you’re going to remember me. You’re going to remember this moment.”

  “Are you done fucking around?” Devilbunny called from behind Razorback.

  Jeanine knew the young girl had been brainwashed by Razorback; he had groomed her for his purposes in such a twisted way that Jeanine actually felt sorry for her.

  “Why? Would you like me to fuck around with you instead?” Razorback asked, shoving Jeanine to the ground. Razorback moved back towards Devilbunny, and Jeanine took the moment to glance around the ballroom. Some of the Rabble had taken off their masks due to the suffocating heat; some had even started to remove some of their armor. She wasn’t in charge anymore; she wasn’t even part of the team executing the heist anymore, but she knew things weren’t going well for Razorback. His gang was falling apart, tired, and pissed off because they had been holed up for hours instead of the thirty minutes they had planned.

  She turned her attention back to Razorback and Devilbunny and could hear from their hushed voices that they were arguing. She sighed, knowing Devilbunny was so twisted, she was probably jealous of the attention Razorback had given Jeanine, if you could call scarring someone attention.

  “You had one fucking job,” Razorback shouted, slapping Devilbunny hard enough that she fell off her chair. “One fucking job.”

  “I’ll fix it,” Devilbunny cried quickly, coming to her feet. “I promise, I’ll find a way to fix it.”

  “Then get to it, or you’ll have something to remember this night by as well,” Razorback seethed before grabbing an open bottle of wine and gulping it down.

  “We’re in.”

  Lieutenant Walters turned to the hacking specialist, surprised. “What do you mean, you’re in?”

  “There are two systems in the hotel. The main system and the system in the control room. I’ve been trying to hack both since we got here, but they locked us out. I just managed to hack into the main. I’m blocking them out.”

  “We’ve got eyes?” he asked.

  “Yes. I’ve got eyes inside.” She pulled up all the camera screens and headed straight to the one in the ballroom. “This is the ballroom. It se
ems they have gotten all the hostages together here. I think that’s Razorback.”

  Walters leaned closer, narrowing his eyes. Maybe it was finally time he went for an eye test like his wife had been nagging him for months. There was a guy in the center of the room, smacking a girl off her chair. He wore a Mad Mac costume and as he moved, everyone shied away. “That’s definitely him.”

  “What now?”

  “Now we can devise a plan to get inside. If they don’t have eyes, they won’t know we’re coming.”

  One of the SWAT team members returned from a reconnaissance they had done of the exits. “Most of the doors are rigged with IEDs.”

  “Shit.” Walter sighed. Every time he thought he had a step up, he was shoved about four steps back.

  “Yeah. We can’t diffuse them from the inside out, and we don’t know if we should trigger one. What if they all go?”

  “Yeah, don’t do that.” Walter dragged a hand through his hair. He just needed a plan. He glanced up at the Pearl Plaza. If there was one thing the hotel had in excess, it was windows. A smile formed on his mouth as the plan started to form in his mind.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m thinking it’s time we finished this,” Walters said as he headed over to the blueprints again. Too many people had already lost their lives tonight; he wasn’t going to let one more person lose their life. “Do you have sound on the cameras?” he called back to the girl that had hacked the cameras.

  “No, but I’ve got over forty cameras.”

  “Good. We’ll need every one of them.” Walters turned back to the blueprint, knowing it was just a matter of time now. The element of surprise was what they needed, and without them having control of the cameras, Walters had just that.

  28

  Delilah crept through the hallways, knowing she was going to need all her training if she was going to save Carson. She was worried about Mac and the other hostages still hiding in the service corridor, but she couldn’t think about them or that now; she needed to be focused on Carson and what she needed to do.

  She almost didn’t see the two men coming out of a room wearing masks. They turned their guns on her so quickly, it took a split second for Delilah to fall to the floor, retrieve her gun, and fire. They both went down before they even realized she wasn’t one of them.

  She passed the room, noticing a woman crying inside. Her heart tore to pieces for the woman who had no doubt been violated. She pressed a finger to her mouth as she closed the door, hoping the woman wouldn’t scream.

  Delilah retrieved the men’s guns as well before she continued towards the ballroom. The closer she got, the more men she encountered. Every time, she thought of them as a target, and every time, she shot before they managed to aim. Many times, she had cursed her mentor for his perfectionism, but tonight she realized if it hadn’t been for him, she wouldn’t have survived until now.

  She was just around the corner from the ballroom, careful to proceed because she could hear various men talking. They were guarding the doors, and if she wanted to get through those doors, she would need to get through the men first. She grabbed the automatic she had slung over her shoulder in one hand and her trusty polymer gun in the other when she felt the cold tip of a gun pressed against the back of her neck.

  “I see you have big plans. I have even bigger plans.” Delilah ignored the taste of fear that flooded her mouth as he pressed his dick against her back. She took a deep breath and knew she was taking a risk. She twisted just enough to dislodge his gun against her neck before pulling the trigger on hers. Within seconds, she heard footsteps and men shouting as they rushed towards her. Delilah turned back and started firing. She aimed for the head with her polymer gun, grateful she had been trained to use her left hand as well as her right hand. With the automatic, she aimed for their shoulders, ensuring they couldn’t pick up their weapons again.

  Delilah knew she was in the thick of it now; there was no turning back. Razorback and his gang inside the ballroom would probably rush out to see what the hell was going on. She kept moving forward, step by step, shot by shot, hoping she would have time to reload before she walked into the ballroom. By the time she reached the doors, she had killed almost twelve men and injured about half a dozen more.

  She took a moment to reload her weapons, knowing that was all she had. Grateful she had changed out of the dress, she kicked in the ballroom door.

  Razorback had heard the shots firing outside and rushed to Devilbunny the moment they started. He was certain it was the police that had breached the foyer. “How far are those fucking transfers?”

  Devilbunny shrugged. “I’m trying my best, but the connection is slow. A few more minutes at least.”

  Razorback cursed, turning to Ace and Clown. “Make sure they don’t get through that fucking door.”

  Ace and Clown moved towards the doors, calling the rest of the Rabble that were still in the ballroom to join them. Around them, the hostages shrank against the walls, seeking cover from the bullet rain that was about to start. Carson didn’t move. In fact, he was still sitting on his haunches beside Jeanine, the blood still streaming down her face.

  Razorback didn’t like it when things didn’t go according to plan, especially the plan he had devised with the fucking cop. They were supposed to let him go, not come in. He picked up his radio and shouted into it. “You think you can fucking cross me, cop? You just made a big fucking mistake.”

  The radio crackled for a few seconds before the cop’s voice came over the line. “We’re not crossing you; we’re working on getting your chopper. What the hell is going on in there?”

  Razorback threw the radio against the wall, it crashed into pieces. He didn’t even have eyes inside the fucking building to know who the hell was making all that noise outside.

  “This is your goddamn fault,” he shouted at Devilbunny, feeling the control he held onto so tightly start to slip. “I knew you’d fuck this up.” He started walking towards her, feeling his hands twitch to squeeze the fucking life out of her.

  She looked at him with wide eyes, shaking her head. “I’m trying! Just give me a little more time.”

  He stuffed his hands into his pockets, knowing he had to wait. If he killed her before she got him eyes again, he wouldn’t get eyes on the building at all. “I’ll give you five.”

  The doors to the ballroom were kicked in. A guy in a skull mask walked through the door, firing as he moved. Razorback knew it wasn’t one of his men; none of his men wore fucking chef overalls. This was someone playing vigilante. “Clown, Ace, deal with him.”

  Clown and Ace ducked onto the ground for cover, recognizing the firearms the man was yielding. They were lethal, and only one shot would do enough damage.

  29

  Carson recognized her body through the chef’s overalls. It was Delilah, without a doubt. A smile curved his mouth as he found new courage to get through the night. With Razorback focused on Devilbunny, and Clown and Ace ducking for cover, he took the opportunity to grab a knife that was lying only a few feet from him. Within a few seconds, he had cut through the zip tie securing his hands behind his back. He dived for a weapon of his own before he started running towards Delilah. He felt the bullet almost knock out his breath as it slammed against his bulletproof vest, but he didn’t stop running.

  Hostages screamed in terror as bullets danced across the room. Clown went down with a bullet in the knee. Carson saw Ace rush towards him.

  He knew if Ace reached him, he would never get out alive. He aimed the gun and pulled the trigger at point-blank range. Ace fell back, a tiny trickle of blood seeping from the wound just above his eyebrow. It took Carson a moment to recover from the shock of killing someone before he heard Delilah’s voice call over the chaos.

  “Carson!”

  He ran towards her, firing at the gang members trying to stop him as he moved. Even as he ran, he couldn’t help but appreciate the way she fought them off. She moved with the swiftness of a snake
and the stealth of a tiger as she fired at them. They reached the door at the same time as Razorback started after them. Carson wanted to go back for him, but he knew getting to safety was more important.

  As they rushed out of the ballroom, they heard glass shatter in the distance. Carson glanced back to see SWAT members diving through the windows, armed, and ready to take control of the ballroom.

  Shots were fired in their direction and Carson knew they wouldn’t be safe if they stayed. The SWAT team had no idea who the real criminals were, and no one would be safe until Razorback was in custody.

  Carson followed Delilah into a service corridor. As soon as she slammed the door shut behind them, he moved towards her. He captured her mouth with so much raw passion, it stung. He knew there wasn’t time for words or explanations, but he couldn’t go anywhere without tasting her mouth first.

  He pulled back and noticed for the first time how breathless she was. “Are you injured?”

  Delilah frowned, looking down at her clothes. “I don’t think so. Come on, we’ve got to keep moving.”

  Carson didn’t argue as the sound of all hell breaking loose came through the door.

  Razorback refused to be intimidated as the SWAT team rushed in through the doors of the ballroom. He started firing, killing some of his own men as he did, but that didn’t bother him either. He needed to get out, and he was going to kill anyone that stood in his way. He noticed Ace’s body on the floor and anger surged through him. Not because Ace was dead, but because of the time it had taken to train him. The time he would need to train his replacement.

  He scanned the ballroom and saw no sign of Clown. Cursing under his breath, he fired back. Too many times to count, he missed his target. He refused to admit it was because his hands were shaking. He had never been this close to capture and didn’t intend to be caught now.