Series: Sean Moriarty
Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 113805 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113805 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 569(@200wpm)___ 455(@250wpm)___ 379(@300wpm)
“What’s going on?! Why can’t I get ahold of Simon!” Meredith demands as she and Beth come jogging over from the other side of the street.
“Jesus Christ,” James grumbles. He tries to lean away from his car, putting his right foot down, but immediately winces in pain. “Just what we fucking need.”
“Well?!” Meredith says shrilly and looks at the men accusingly. Her eyes a bit wild and scary looking. “I can always get ahold of him!”
Turning towards her, Nathaniel says gently, “You should head back to the—”
“Fuck that!” Meredith screeches at him like a crazy banshee. “What the fuck is going on! Fucking tell me!”
The three men exchange looks and no one seems to want to answer her at first.
“James!” Meredith practically screams.
“Fuck! Fine!” James huffs in defeat. “The Russians are attacking the warehouse. Everyone not here is there… for a… business thing.”
“But they’re okay, right?” Meredith asks expectantly, staring hard at him.
Something dark flashes over his face before his jaw tightens. “The men are under heavy fire and we lost contact five minutes ago.”
There’s this terrible moment of silence as his words sink in.
Then Beth moans, “No…”
Turning white, she sways on her feet.
Meredith grabs her arm to steady her, but she’s just as pale.
Holding on to each other, both women look like they’re about to faint.
My own head suddenly feels light and my ears are buzzing.
Jude is in danger.
Jude could be fucking dead…
Is that why I feel so sick? Why it feels like someone just ripped my heart out of my chest and curb stomped it into the pavement?
As if she’s struggling to find the breath, Meredith hisses, “Then why are you here? Why aren’t you doing something?”
“Because we couldn’t leave until we killed all these Yakuza motherfuckers,” Gabriel growls. “Now we’re leaving.”
Nathaniel shakes his head sharply. “The only place you’re going is surgery.”
Gabriel puffs out his chest and steps up to Nathaniel.
While Nathaniel isn’t a small man by any means, Gabriel is so tall and muscular he looks like he could snap him in half.
Dipping his head until his eyes are level with Nathaniel’s eyes, Gabriel says, “If you want to perform surgery on me so bad, Doc, you can fucking do it while we’re driving.”
Not intimidated in the least, Nathaniel narrows his eyes and pokes Gabriel hard in the chest. “Then who the fuck is going to drive, huh? I can’t fucking drive while I’m working on you.”
“Don’t look at me,” James says just as everyone looks at him. “I can give it a shot, but I took a couple of ricochets. Thankfully, I still have all my toes, but my right foot is fucked. I’ll be able to snipe, maybe, but that’s it.”
“That settles it,” Gabriel says with finality and shoulders past Nathaniel.
Stumbling back a couple of steps, Nathaniel watches Gabriel walk towards an SUV parked further down the street.
Then Nathaniel turns back to us and pleads, “He’s going to die if I don’t stop that bleeding. Someone please talk some fucking sense into him.”
Beth bursts into tears and Meredith looks like she’s doing her best not to. But her lips are trembling and her eyes are glistening.
I look at James and there’s just torment on his face.
“If we don’t go now, we’ll probably all die,” James says to Nathaniel before he puts his right foot down on the ground.
Pain flashes across James’s face but then his brows pull down in determination. Hopping a little as he turns, he opens his trunk and pulls out a long black bag.
Slamming the trunk shut, James slings the bag over his shoulder and glances back at us. “Get back in the safe rooms and don’t come out until one of us comes for you, for fuck’s sake.”
Nathaniel throws his hands up in the air and bellows, “This is fucking insanity!” as James limps slowly after Gabriel.
Meredith finally bursts into tears and hugs on Beth.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” she sobs. “Oh fuck. Oh fuck.”
The weight of everything crushes down on me. My ribs constrict and my throat tightens, making it hard to breathe.
All this shit is partly my fault. I didn’t know or consider all the ramifications when I took my uncle’s job.
Demanded the job.
I agreed to spy on these people to try to get close to them.
My actions alone probably didn’t cause this, but I worked with the enemy.
All I thought about was the money.
I didn’t think about the people who could be hurt. Like the two women sobbing and crying in front of me.
They’re worried about their husbands. Worried about the other men.
They don’t know if they’re dead or alive…
But everyone could still very much be alive.
Jude could still be alive.
But if what Nathaniel says is true, at least one man is going to die.
Gabriel.
He’s willing to die to protect his family.
Jude’s family.
My family.
I’m so choked up, I have to practically cough the words out, “I’ll drive.”