by Samantha Bee
But fuck, this girl is weak as shit. She lifts her chin higher, meeting my assessing gaze and I can see the strength burning in her, “Will you teach me?” As I study her and the fire burning in her eyes, I realize I may have miscalculated her age at first glance. I thought she couldn’t be any older than seventeen but now I’m not so sure. It’s impossible to really tell but I think she could even be close to the same age as I am.
I smile at her, a small but genuine one, “Yeah, sweetheart, I can. Let’s get you girls out of here first though, okay?”
“She’s fucking terrifying,” Ryder whispers to Kade and I hear a rumbling of agreements come through the comms but ignore all of them in favor of the trio of girls in front of me.
She nods and the two other girls both start getting up on their feet. Neither of them can be any older than fifteen and my heart hurts at the obvious trauma they’ve lived through. I can see the scars and still open wounds all over their small bodies. The first girl seems to be in the worst shape of the three girls, with open wounds across her chest and down her arms.
“He’s telling the truth,” she tells me, “it’s not a trap. She’s just a kid,” tears track down her face. “We tried to protect her,” she chokes out, “but it only made it worse.”
I step closer and pull her against my chest, “Shh, sweetheart,” I murmur to her as I stroke her hair, but I make a point to meet the eyes of both other girls, “It’s not your job to protect her. Not any of your jobs. Okay? You did the best you could. I’ve got you now, okay? I’ve got all of you.”
All three girls have tears streaming down their faces. “Hush now,” I murmur, releasing her, “we have to get you all out of here and I’m going to get that little girl.”
“Joe, we are going to need some help getting them down the ladder. Be ready. Mikey, Ronan, one of you be ready to bust into this bitch. We should be fine but just in case. The other keep an eye out for any more incoming.”
I hear confirmations from all three men and Luca starts filling me in on the positions of the guards upstairs. There are four men upstairs, but Romano’s son is not one of them. Pity, I would have loved to behead that mother fucker.
Maybe another day.
“Scar, I don’t see a girl. Ask them how many guards were here.”
I repeat the question to Ryder as we each help one of the girls back towards the closet as quietly as possibly. Now that they’re moving, I can see the adrenaline kicking in and their movements growing stronger. They should be fine to get out of her without slowing us down too much. The taco joint really isn’t that far either, less than a mile through the tunnels.
“There were ten altogether when we first arrived. Mini Romano and his right hand left as soon as we got here, plus the two you dispatched, so there should be six guards left.”
I nod to myself, that makes sense. It would follow the schedule I overheard them discussing when I was gathering intel. Mini Romano also is apparently well known for enjoying the benefits of this business but not wanting to be around it for longer than he has to be.
“Any guards visible from outside?” I ask.
Mikey’s voice rings out, “No, movement on the outside.”
So, we are missing two guards and the little girl, that is not a good sign. I need to get up there.
We get to the closet and I reach in and open the floor before looking at Ryder, “Do you want to help lower the girls down or switch with Joe and catch?”
“I’ll stay up here and help,” he answers. I arch a brow, but I don’t have time to argue.
“Don’t forget my threat,” I meet his eyes. “I’ve gutted people for less than leading me into a trap.”
He swallows thickly, “I don’t think I’ll be forgetting your threat for a long time.”
“Shit, kid, me either,” I hear Joe mumble and I give the new guy my most deranged smile, so he knows he’s not just dealing with a good samaritan but a certified psycho. He shudders as he looks down at my blood splattered shirt and shakes his head mumbling something that sounds suspiciously like “false advertising.”
I smirk, confident my message was received.
I look at Kade and point to the gun in my waistband, he nods and pulls his out. Stealth may not be as important now, we need to be quick and eliminate as many threats as quickly as possible, but we also don’t want the little girl to get hurt if they get spooked.
I’m assuming the two unaccounted guards have the little girl in one of the offices. They usually never get used so we don't have cameras set up in all of them. Only the largest office tends to get any use.
We move quickly and silently as we head back past the cells and up the step to the second level. There’s another door at the top of the stairs that’s closed. I know there’s a guard stationed right outside.
Fortunately, the door opens towards the stairs and not the other way around. Kade and I both nod and Luca starts the countdown. As soon as he gets to one, I yank the door towards me and snake my arms out and to the left where I know the guard is.
I wrap my arms around his neck and effectively get him locked into a chokehold, cutting off his air supply. Luca continues a steady stream of information about the location of the other guards. So far, none of them have noticed our presence.
The guy in my arms is putting up a good fight but he can’t get a good purchase to break my hold. He tries to use gravity against me to shake me off, but my small size actually gives me the advantage here, he can’t use my weight against me.
I feel the fight slowly drain out of his body as his face starts turning purple. It won’t be too much longer before he passes out from lack of oxygen.
Kade moves ahead of me towards the old kitchen where Luca has said one of the guards is.
“Second office on the right,” Luca says, “One of the missing guards just walked out and is headed towards the kitchen.”
I nod my acknowledgement and lower the now unconscious guard to the ground. I grab the blade at my hip and stab into his chest and sharply twist it, ensuring his disgusting heart stops beating, before following after Kade.
One guard down, two in the kitchen, two at the front, one in the second office on the right with the little girl. Easy.
We reach the kitchen just as the second man steps into it, “Patrick,” he starts to call out but with his back to us, it's easy for Kade to walk right up behind him and snap his neck. The second guard, Patrick, I guess, drops his coffee at the sight of Kade but I deftly throw my blade and watch with satisfaction as it hits it’s mark in his throat. The words die on his tongue as he starts gurgling and choking on his blood.
I move around Kade and retrieve my blade and meet the shocked eyes of the dying guard. Patrick, I scoff to myself. What a stupid fucking name. I pull the knife out of his throat and smile as I slice into him, sternum to naval. I let out a low nearly silent chuckle as he hits the ground clutching his midsection as his guts start to spill out of him.
“Dear lord, Scar,” Luca laughs.
“What? I said I would gut these fucks, right? Just following through on my word.”
“Fuck, Ladybug, he’s still alive,” mumbles Kade as he runs his fingers through his hair, but I don’t miss the note of amusement in his voice. He gets off on this shit just as much as I do. I can just about guarantee we will have sex before we even wash all the blood off of us.
“Not for long,” I snicker.
“Can we watch the footage of this before you delete it?” Ronan asks.
Joe laughs, “Movie night?”
The four of them continue to joke and banter about my bloodlust but I tune them out. Listening only well enough to catch that Joe is leading the girls and Ryder to the taco joint. Kade and I will be able to catch up with them easily. I can hear some of Ryder’s awe over our tunnels and I can’t blame him. Kade was shocked shitless the first time we brought him into the system. Everyone is their first time.
Kade and I split up as he heads towards the two remaining guards stationed at t
he front while I head to the office Luca pointed out to me. I’ve been in it before. It's just a plain small square. No closets, one door in, one window, looking towards the bay. The door opens into the office.
Unfortunately, I have no way of knowing where they will be in the room. I know they haven’t brought much furniture or supplies into the building so it's safe to say the cover will be minimal. I reach into my waistband and grab my gun, make sure the silencer is attached and click the safety off. I take a deep breath and wait for Luca once again.
Kade and I are going to want our attacks to be as in sync as possible so we both get the most out of our surprise advantage. We can’t see each other but Luca being our eyes and ears really helps in moments like this.
He gives us the go ahead and I quickly rush the room and raise my gun, level with my chest. The guard is smoking a cigarette looking out the window while on the phone, nodding with whatever the person on the other line is saying. Out of the corner of my eye I see the little girl curled in a ball on the floor in the corner closest to the door.
He turns towards me as soon as I open the door but I’m already moving in between him and the girl. He drops the phone and reaches for his gun but I'm already firing my own weapon, hitting him in the shoulder.
I vaguely register the subdued sound of another gun being fired with a silencer on it. Despite the name, they don’t actually silence the sound of shots, but they do muffle them, make them less noticeable or recognizable.
The guard in front of me is already lifting his injured arm to fire back at me, I fire again hitting him in the same arm but I’m a fraction of a second too late and feel the hit in my arm.
Fuck. At least it went through. Digging bullets out is the absolute fucking worst. My attention is split in too many directions. I shouldn’t have gotten hit at all. I need to finish this quickly. Before he even has a chance to react, I’m shooting again but this time I hit him dead between the eyes and it’s lights out.
I walk over to his slumped body and pick up the phone he dropped, ending the phone call he was on and cutting off the screaming voice.
“What the fuck, Scar?”
Chapter Ten
“Fuck. Mikey, Ronan, be ready to tear out of here as soon as I give you the all clear. This fucker was on the phone with Mini Romano. They’re gonna be sending in backup. Let’s move it.”
I listen to all their confirmations as I walk over to the little girl still curled up in a ball on the floor. She’s fucking tiny. Her slender arms are wrapped around her skinny little legs and are littered with cigarette burns. Her legs are battered and bruised.
“Hi, sweetie,” I whisper, doing my best to not scare her but we have to get moving, “Do you think you could do me a huge favor and look at me?”
This poor little thing is shaking but I know she has fire in her because she lifts her head and looks me dead in the eyes. She has beautiful, bright, blue-green eyes, round and framed my gorgeous long lashes. “Good job, sweetheart. Can I help you?”
She just stares at me. Fuck. She is stunning, like a broken, little angel. She must be the most beautiful child I have ever seen. Every feature is perfectly proportionate, with the right blend of soft and hard. Her hair is dirty and knotted but it looks to be a beautiful ash blonde color with champagne blonde highlights. A color that women spend hundreds of dollars to perfect in the salon.
She’s fucking small though. Her face still rounded with childhood innocence. She can’t be older than six and that’s being extremely generous, my guess is closer to four. I think I’m going to be sick. She’s the youngest victim I have ever personally saved.
“I know you have a lot of owies,” I coo to her in a gentle voice, “you can see mine,” I tell her as I show her the scars on my arms. “I had owies all over my body too, but they’ve healed now. Do you think I can help yours heal?”
She studies the scars and slowly starts to sit up. She examines me for a few moments, and I can hear Luca and Kade arguing over the comms, but I ignore them in favor of winning over this little girl. I need to earn her trust so we can get her out of here without traumatizing her more.
She starts to reach out and I move my arm closer to her so she can trace the scars. “I can show you more,” I tell her, and she nods eagerly, clearly wanting to see someone else as damaged as she is.
“Good job, sweetheart, would it be okay if I carried you out of here?” I ask her. She studies me and moves slightly closer before dipping her head in agreement.
“Good girl,” I coo, keeping my voice gentle and movements slow and letting out a constant stream of praise as I stand up and curl her small frame into my chest.
“Good, now can you wrap your arms around my neck?” Her little arms wrap around me tighter than I thought she would be capable of. “Wow, good job,” I praise her, “You’re so strong. I think you might be the strongest little girl I have ever met.”
She presses her little face into my neck and it almost feels like that got a small smile out of her.
“Alright, strong girl, we are going to get out of here okay?”
She nods against me.
When we walk out of the office Kade is standing there waiting for us. Luca must have told him not to interrupt us. Kade runs his eyes over the both of us and grimaces as he takes in her small frame pressed against me. I subtly shake my head at him. She hasn’t noticed his presence yet, and I don’t want to scare her.
“I have some friends with me, okay? They can look a little scary, but I promise you they’re nice. They’re going to help me protect you, okay? I’ll tell you their names and all about them as we walk. That way, they won’t seem so scary anymore. Just keep your eyes closed and focus on my voice.”
I feel her little body tense against me, but I keep a constant stream of chatter, telling her about all of the guys and telling all the most embarrassing stories I can think of. I keep it up all the way through the building, down the stairs, and back towards the closet. I feel a little more tension bleed out of her with every step and story. I don’t get any more smiles that I can tell but she has relaxed into my arms comfortably.
As we walk, Kade and the others are discussing the little girl and how old she might be. I can tell the exact moment Luca sees us through the cameras because he unleashes one of the most violent string of curses I’ve ever heard and that’s saying something. I just continue to ignore them as I try to keep the little angel in my arms distracted.
We run into our first problem when we hit the ladder. She doesn’t want to let go of me and refuses to let Kade touch her, but she’s too small to climb down by herself.
Ronan and Mikey can’t leave until we get this door closed and locked, and we are taking far too long. I gesture for Kade to go first but he just shakes his head at me. I know he’s worried and raging about this little girl, but we don’t have time to argue about this.
“We don't have a choice, move it.”
“Go Kade,” Mikey’s burly voice comes through the comms, “you know she won't change her mind. Just get them out of there.”
Kade sighs and finally gets his ass moving down the ladder.
“Okay, sweet pea. I have to use my arms to climb down the ladder so we can leave, okay?” She nods against my neck. God, she is precious.
“So, we are just going to swing you around on to my back, okay? Like a silly little monkey, yeah?” She nods again.
“Great job, sweet girl, here we go,” I gently maneuver her until she’s resting on my back, “Good, now wrap your legs around my middle okay? And hold tight, you won’t hurt me.”
Fuck, that’s a lie. My arm is burning and aching but it’s okay. I’ve dealt with this. I can push through a little gunshot wound.
She nods, keeping her little face pressed into my neck.
I turn around and slowly start moving down the ladder, “Kade, you’re gonna have to climb back up and make sure it’s latched properly, I can’t.”
“I got it, babe, just focus on getting down on solid gro
und.”
We make it safely to the ground and let out a breath of relief at having both feet on solid ground. As Kade climbs back up with the key I gave him, I ask the little girl, “So sweet girl, we have to go on a little run now. Do you want to stay on my back like you are? Or do you want me to carry you like before?”
She nods against my neck. Well shit, I don’t know what part the nod is for.
“Can you use your words?” I ask gently but she’s shaking her head before I even finish. “No worries, sweet girl. Just yes or no questions, then. Got it.”
She nods and I smile.
“Do you wanna stay on my back?”
She shakes her head.
“My front?”
She nods.
“You got it, sweet girl.”
Kade chuckles as he watches me adjust her back to my front and she curls around me again.
“Hmm, so do you like tacos?”
She nods.
“Oh good, we are going to go eat lots and lots of tacos together, okay? You can have as many as you want.”
She nods eagerly against my skin and I smile. That’s the most energy she’s shown so far. I can’t blame her. I love tacos too.
“Ooo, what about churros?”
She nods even more emphatically.
I grin at Kade, “Good job, sweet pea. You and I are going to eat as many churros as we can.”
This time there is no doubt that I feel a grin spread across her little face.
A tear slips out of my eye and I’m glad she can’t see my face. Kade reaches over and brushes it off my cheek, careful to not touch her anywhere, he leans over and kisses my forehead.
“You want to hear more funny stories about the guys you’re going to meet for tacos?”
She nods and I start telling her stories about all of us. After a few minutes Kade starts telling his own embarrassing stories about me. At first, she tenses at his voice, but she gradually relaxes the more he talks, getting used to the sound of his voice.
