Beautiful But Deadly

Chapter Fourteen

XIV
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As I crawled through the vents, I tried my best to make as little noise as possible while also moving as fast as I could. It took a few minutes of crawling before I finally was able to find a grate that looked down on a room.

I took balanced breaths as I gently unhinged the grate and lifted it up silently. Once I had moved it out of the way, I checked once more to make sure no one was in the room, and silently dropped down to the floor. I took in my surroundings as I crouched down to avoid potentially being seen through a window.

I readjusted the shirt I had wrapped around my still bleeding forearm, wincing in pain as I struggled to tie it tight. Knowing I had to get a move on, I disregarded my blood-covered arm and made my way over to the door, slipping my gun out of my holster. After screwing on the silencer, I twisted the doorknob and slowly opened the door.

I leaned my head out and checked the hallway. When I didn't see anyone, I kept a firm grip on my gun and slowly made my way down the grey hall, staying crouched down as I did so. When I heard voices approaching, I immediately slid into an inlet and listened.

"I think it's too big of a risk," one of them said. "Our guys are turning up dead, we need to relocate before-"

"Before what?" Another voice snarled, this one deeper. "You're assuming whoever's killing these guys would make it past our perimeter. Our location is secured, and you can bet your ass it better stay that way. Or it's your head."

Yeesh.. someone's having a bad day.

"But you heard what Carl said-"

"Carl doesn't know what the fuck he's talking about. Now keep your voice down," the deeper voice scolded again. "Price won't be top dog for long. Not after we execute our plan for the stepson."

The stepson.. Blake? I continued to listen intently as they stopped in front of a door a little bit down the hall from me. They couldn't see me from where I was, but I could hear them clear as day.. even as they whispered.

"How do you know that will even work?" The other voice questioned, skeptical.

"Because I've known Carl my whole life. He doesn't give a flying fuck about that little stepson prick of his, but you know who would. And he does give a fuck about her. She's his only weakness, and he's made the mistake of showing us that. We can grab the bull by the horns on this one, but I need your full compliance," the deeper voice whispered back, intense and full. My eyes widened. Are they talking about Blake's mom? Is she still alive?

I needed answers from these two. I just needed to time it right.

"You know I'm with you. 100 percent," the other man responded, "let's just grab these girls, finish this last trade, then take what's ours."

"Amen," the deeper one finished and they opened the door. I heard the faint sounds of muffled whimpers once the door was open, and immediately knew that's where they were holding all the girls.

I think the fuck not.

I peered out of the inlet and saw them both walk into the room, and I didn't waste a moment. I silently made my way over to the, now open, door. The two guys had their backs turned to me, and the girls were all tied up against the wall struggling. I made eye contact with one of them, and her eyes widened drastically before few tears fell from them.

I knew that the one with the deeper voice was on the left, since his demeanor was bolder and more confident, so I knew I had to kill him first. The weaker one would be much easier to interrogate.