One Night Only

Chapter 18

✳✳✳Owen Carter✳✳✳

The place is a complete mess. Dead bodies lay everywhere, surrounded by pools of blood. They hit us harder than last time and I wasn't even here. I'm mad at myself for agreeing to visit the other house when my priority is the Bellevue house. This is where the people I care most about are. Thankfully, I know Bryant is okay because he made it to the safe room before it all went down. But Madison hasn't answered her damn phone. Aubrey comes around the corner, bumping into me. Just fucking fantastic. "Hey," she says, pressing her body up against mine.

"You need to take several steps back," I demand.

She looks surprised as she takes a quick step back. "Sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"Get me a drink," I sigh, walking past her.

The men have already searched every room and released the safe rooms. Thankfully they were smart enough to tell the women to help with clean up and the daycare to keep the kids overnight. I don't have the energy to deal with any of this right now. "Where's Dominic?" I ask one of the men as I pass by.

"His room."

Walking down the hallway, I stop at the security room first. "Prepare the videotapes. I want to see all of the footage."

"Yes, sir."

The next door is open and I lean in the doorway, looking into Dominic's room. Madison is asleep on the couch, while Dominic concentrates on his phone. I clear my throat and he looks at me, quickly standing up. "Owen," he says, glancing down at Madison. "She was pretty shaken up and fell asleep so I just left her in here so I could keep an eye on her."

"It's fine," I mumble.

"Mr. Carter," Aubrey says from behind me. I put my hand out and she passes me the glass. "If you need anything else just let me know," she says, caressing my arm.

I steal a quick glance at her from over my shoulder. "Keep the drinks coming."

Nodding, she turns and saunters away. This woman is something else. Shaking my head, I glance at Dominic. "Get me if she wakes up."

"Okay," he nods.

Straightening, I go into the security room where I close the door. "All the footage is ready, sir."

"Do you have a zip tie or anything similar?" I ask, rubbing my jaw while setting my drink on the desk.

He obediently jumps up from his chair and opens the cabinet. "Of course. I use zip ties to keep the cables together," he says, grabbing one.

Shoving him into the cabinet, he groans in pain as I take the zip tie from him. "What took you so long to turn on the alarm? This is your only fucking job."

"I - I was on the phone."

Securing his hands together, I quickly put him down. "With who?"

"My sister," he says quickly.

"Where's your gun?"

"Your fiancé took it," he answers quickly.

I furrow my eyebrows in confusion. Why the hell would she take his gun? She doesn't even know how to use it. I push him towards the chair located in the back corner. "Sit down and don't move or I'll fucking shoot you."

Sitting at the desk, I press play and lean back, my eyes searching the monitors. A few seconds later, an SUV crashes through the front gate followed by four more. This is the exact moment when he should have set the alarm off but didn't. I shake my head slightly, taking a sip of my drink as I continue watching. Men pour out of the vehicles, shooting the men at the front gate before continuing inside. My body heats in frustration so I slam my glass down and shrug out of my jacket. Finally, a whole two minutes later, the alarm begins going off. On another screen, I see Madison sitting at the bar with Dominic. I watch as she walks to the security room and sigh in relief.

The door opens behind me and I see Aubrey's reflection in the screens. She places the drink in front of me and I turn my focus back to the monitors. She begins massaging my shoulders and they drop, welcoming the feeling. When I see two sets of men coming towards Dominic from either side, I frown. Most of the men have gathered outside and have begun going room to room on the other monitors but Dominic has no back up. There's movement in the monitor beneath the one I am currently watching. My eyes widen when I realize it's Madison. Sitting up, I shake my head. "What the fuck are you doing?" I mumble to myself.

"Lean back," Aubrey says sweetly.

"Get the fuck out," I snap, glaring at her over my shoulder.

Huffing in annoyance, she exits the room and I turn back to the monitor. Madison is now crouched down beside Dominic and the men in the other screens stop before turning around. I search the screens for any clue of what may be happening but don't see anything. Why would they just turn away like that? It can't be this easy. Madison and Dominic both look up but I can't see what or who they're looking at. The way the camera is angled, you can't see behind the bar in this corner. Whoever it is gives the two instructions which they follow. And after what feels like forever, Montano enters the view of the camera. Madison's back is to the camera so I don't see what he does to her at first. When I finally watch what happens, my blood begins to boil. Dominic takes over, shooting both men before helping Madison and I stand abruptly, withdrawing my gun and aiming it at the security guys head. "How long have you been working with them?"

His eyes widen in fear. "I don't work for them. I swear."

Taking a quick step towards him, I press the gun to his temple, gritting my teeth. "How did they know where the blind spot was? Huh?" He doesn't answer so I wrap my free hand around his throat. "Answer me!"

"I don't know!" he tells. "They could have hacked us."

"Your job is to make sure that shut doesn't happen."

"I swear, I didn't know. Please," he begs.

I shake my head. "There's no fucking way they hacked our system. It's nearly impossible. They had inside help."

"They threatened me," he tells. "There was nothing I could do."

The gunshot rings in my ears as I watch the blood trickle down his head. Stepping away, I put my gun back in its rightful place before grabbing my drink. The crew is still cleaning so I head into the empty strip club where I drop down onto a couch. It's the quietest place in the house at the moment. I place my drink on the table before taking my tie off and unbuttoning the first two buttons on my shirt. I see movement on the wall ahead of me and I realize it's the reflection in the mirror. Aubrey stands behind me, placing her hands on my shoulders. "Aubrey-"

"I'll keep my distance," she says. "You're tense. Just relax."

Sighing, I close my eyes and attempt to forget about the day.

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