TIGERLILLY- THE BRAVO BOYS [book two]

Chapter SIXTY TWO

River O'riley

The blinking pin of the GPS signal on Fei's car had led us to the red-light Anchorage district on the southside.. We'd found the SUV in a shitty part of town and an even shitter neighbouhoo, parked beneath the Southbank overpass.. From there we followed the blood back to a small hovel of two story buildings where Kempsey's men lurk in and out of sight in the upstairs windows..

The steel ladders creak as the three of us climb the fire escape of the rundown brownstone, Killian takes the lead position while Deyton follows up behind me and the adrenaline flowing the my veins is the only thing that is keeping me going..

My temperature drops and rises fast and I am caught between shivering cold and sweating.. Every step I take and every movement reminds me of the round that lurks somewhere in my guts and the intensity of the pain around my ribs is like being stabbed over and over again..

But I press on.. In just a few minutes all this will be over and I'll get to see her one more time.. When I know she is safe, then I can worry about me.. Until then, Frankie is my primary concern..

Killian stops at the top of the escape and holds up a closed first, motioning back to us to hold our position and wait.. Drawing a hunting knife with a brown hilt he bites the blade between his teeth before stealthy and slow he slides open the window and hauls himself up over the ledge, disappearing inside..

Two seconds later he pokes his head out with a harsh whisper and a wave to summon us forward.. "Clear.."

I reach the window and struggle to pull myself up sideways with a hiss as my ribs crack..Behind me, Deyton shoulders some of my weight, pushing me the rest of the way and I fall in through the window to land flat on the floor with a thud..

Fuck it hurts..

I blink in the darkness letting my eyes adjust and beside me I see the corpse of one of Kempsey's men, dispatched by the Wolf, his throat is slit..

On the far side of the room Killian wipes his hunting knife clean on his jeans while he scopes the way ahead, peering through the cracked door..

Deyton lands on his feet behind me and immediately reaches down to grab me by the arm, helping to haul me back up..

"I got it.." Agitated, I shrug off his assistance even though I need it..

The Wolf points to himself and waves two fingers ahead before indicating downward to Dey and me.. I understand the direction easily..

He wants us to go downstairs while he finishes up on the second floor..

We all creep in formation out of the bedroom and Killian crosses the landing to clear the second upstairs room while Dey and I break off and begin to descend to the first floor level..

The sound of a TV playing an old western movie grows louder until we are on top of it and I can see a thick necked goon dozing on the sofa with his back to me..

Deyton raises his pistols but I quickly grab his wrist and shake my head at him..

We do this quiet and nobody else needs to get shot.. I really don't feel like taking another bullet tonight..

The characters on the screen prattle on, launching threats at each other as I reach down to unbuckle my belt, carefully not to make a sound.. Deyton watches me with a puzzled expression right up until I wind the leather up in my fists, that's when realisation dawns on him and he takes a step back..

Taking two paces forward and fast as lightning I swing my arms over the guy's head, pull the strap tight.. Lifting my knee to dig in between his shoulder blades, I jerk the belt and crush his trachea in one swift motion.. The guy barely has time to respond by clawing at his throat but the death he receives in turn is about as quick as I could give him without a gunshot..

"Fuckin' hell.." Deyton mumbles..

A Marine he might be but he has never gotten his hands dirty like me.. He's so used to hiding behind his weapon, a gun between him and his kill.. That detachment is nothing to the sensation of taking a life with your hands..
Up close and personal..

We are different animals him and me..

Having cleared the second floor, Killian makes his way down to where we wait on the first.. There by the door that leads down to the basement the sounds of agonised wails trail up the staircase to my ears and I just know The Red Dragon is being tortured to death down there..

I'd know the sound of a man dying anywhere..

I take a careful step down, ducking my head to peekn into the dungeon-like space and to my relief I see only one torturer and no sign of Frankie.. But then my stomach sinks when I realise, I don't see Johnny either.. He's not here..

Where is the sonuvabitch?!

All this was for nothing..
She's not here..

Where the fuck is Frankie?!

Pissed off I take another step down, then another, reaching behind my back for my pistol.. The heavyset gangster downstairs turns around at the sound of my sneakers on the stairs..

"Hey! Who the fuck are y-"

The reflex is intuitive as my finger daws back and the firing pin pops..

BANG-BANG-BANG

I put one through his neck and two in his chest before taking the final step down into the basement and turning my barrel on Fei Xiao..

"Where is she?!" I bark as Killian moves in behind me to dead check the Triad with the cattle prod that had been probing the Mafia boss without mercy..

"Gone.. She's gone.. He took her.. Took her to get the money.." Blood spills from The Dragon's lips as he speaks and it's clear to me he's been shot in the chest..

"What money?!" I shout, beginning to feel sick and dizzy.. I don't have much time.. I don't have much fight left in me.

I'm tired.. So fucking tired

"The money in the safe, she said.. The safe.." Fei wheezes.. "Li Jun had a safe.."

"The dollhouse.." Deyton calls out from the top of the staircase.. "Lucy told me about how Jun kept a safe in the basement back at the dollhouse.."

"Kill me.. Do it." The Dragon lifts his defiant black eyes to mine and in them I can see myself.. Exhausted and ready to give up.. "Kill me, or I'll come for you.."

My finger itches against the trigger and for a selfish second I consider him, ready to end it now.. I could kill the head of the Chinese Mafia right here in this room and nobody on the street would know it was me..

Killian growls in a voice of reason.. "O'Riley? Kill him.. Otherwise we gotta call it in.."

Fuck..

I can't do that to Frankie.. That isn't the kind of monster I want to be.. I won't take anything else away from her..

Running on fumes and struck by guilt, I lower the Sig with an exasperated sigh.. "Call it in.."