Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 16396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 82(@200wpm)___ 66(@250wpm)___ 55(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16396 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 82(@200wpm)___ 66(@250wpm)___ 55(@300wpm)
The Palace, as Vincent calls it, is a hideout mansion like something out of Scarface. It looks like a house a frat boy would buy if he suddenly woke up with a hundred million dollars. Gaudy, tasteless, and if I remember right, registered to some shell company owned by Vincent that he does business through.
I’m crouched across the street in the bushes like a wild cat, surveying tonight’s security, which seems sparse. I only see two men by the gate and one patrolling the grounds. Vincent hasn’t had much competition as of late; maybe he’s letting his guard down.
Quietly, I screw the silencer onto my pistol and take aim.
The guard on the left goes down before his companion even has time to notice. He’s reaching for his own weapon when my shot hits him in the center of his forehead, knocking the hat off his head.
He goes down right beside his pal.
Then I’m off, crouched low, stalking across the street toward the gate. One of the men has a keycard in his pocket which I use to open it. Somehow, the man patrolling the grounds hasn’t seen me yet. He’s on the other side by a water fountain checking his phone. Gun down, I stalk closer and wait until I’m right up on him, then press the tip of the barrel to his neck.
“Debbie,” I hiss. “Where is she?”
The man’s body goes stiff, and his right hand expands. I can see he’s thinking of grabbing for his gun.
“Don’t,” I tell him. “Don’t do it. Just tell me where to find Debbie, and we can both walk away from this. Reach for that, and you won’t be so lucky.”
“H-he’ll kill me,” the man replies.
“You got a car?” He nods. “Get in your car and drive. Drive far away from here and don’t look back. This man is not worth dying for, and you know that.”
My captor wavers, then raises both hands above his head and nods. I reach in and take his gun off his hip, along with his cell phone. “For my security,” I tell him. “Now where is she?”
“That door.” He points. “Down the first flight of steps. Two doors down. She should be alone, or she’s with Vincent.”
I grit my teeth. “Let’s hope so.”
I wait until the man has gone out the gate before following his directions. Through the door he pointed out, down the flight of stone steps into a dimly lit hallway, and then two doors down.
There’s a woman’s voice coming from within, so I ready my gun Then, with one swift motion, I kick the latch and force my way in.
Inside is a woman, thin with blond hair, sitting on a bed with her eyes glued to a television. She’s talking to the television, not Vincent. She barely even looks up when I enter.
“Let me…guess…” she says, almost laughing. “She…said…no?”
Oh, Christ, she thinks I’m Vincent. And she thinks I’m here to punish her because Josie didn’t put out for me. I quickly rush to her side and take her hand in mine.
“Debbie, my name is Magnus, not Vincent, I’m here because—”
“Magwhat?” she asks.
“Magnus,” I repeat. “I’m a friend of your daughter’s. I’m here to get you out of here.”
This house may be a mansion, but this room is barely a prison cell. A bed, a television, an attached bathroom that’s been stripped of everything but the necessities. Vincent really is a piece of shit.
“Friend of my…who?”
Great, she’s out of it. Well, if that’s the case, I guess I’m just going to have to do this myself.
I tuck my gun into my waistband, grab Debbie around the thighs with both arms, and hoist her over my shoulder like a sack of grain.
“W-what are you…?” she tries to protest, but I’m already on the way out, back through the hallway and up the stairs to the yard. The last guard is gone like he said he’d be, and I make my way out the gate and across the street to where I parked my truck a few blocks down, the whole way Debbie making some strange noises, trying to formulate a sentence.
Once we’re there, I lay her in the passenger seat, get in, and take off. The mission may have been a success, but you never know when someone else may show up at The Palace—someone else including Vincent himself, and there’s no point in getting in more trouble than necessary, especially with Josie’s mom with me. The last thing I need to do is endanger her.
Right now, all I need to do is get her home to Josie. We’ll get her clean, and we’ll all be a family. One free family.
7
Josie
I almost can’t believe it when I see Magnus pulling up with my mother in the passenger seat. It’s been months since I’ve seen her, and as I focus on her, I realize that a part of me actually never expected to again. I guess I was just never able to expect that.