Skulduggery Pleasant: Raising Cain

Chapter 148 - First American Mission

Chapter 148

Only a few hours later, Valkyrie very quietly got herself ready in her combat gear, tied her hair up, gave Nadia and Laila kisses on the cheek and left the room. Downstairs were her brothers. Saracen, Dexter, Ghastly, Erskine and Anton. They were also dressed in combat gear and weaponing up.

When she entered they nodded to her. On the coffee table was a new holster – her new gun holster. She put it on, Ghastly helped her adjust it, and she loaded up. This was not her first mission with a gun, and it wouldn't be her first mission she may have to kill someone by a long shot, but it was the first time she was so well armed and prepared going in. The holster felt very official.

Silently, they loaded in the minivan leant to them by the American Sanctuary and set off. It was only three in the morning but this was necessary. It took them two hours to get into the nearest major city where their suspect was. They parked not far from his building and Anton and Erskine, covered up so their combat could not be seen, left the blacked-out van and took a stroll around to the other side of the building. Valkyrie and Dexter jumped into the front seats after them.

Next was the waiting game. They were still and patient, waiting for any sign of someone leaving or returning. They didn't have a description of their guy, but they were told it was a male working alone from this building. They had to trust the American detectives knew what they were talking about.

Their half-hour of scoping went by. No lights went on, no sounds, no inklings of knowledge from Saracen. A whisper through the headpiece from Anton and they were out of the car.

Quick as they could, Valkyrie and Dexter jumped from the car and ran at the building, Valkyrie slamming the front door open with her boot. She screamed for everyone to put their hands up, but no one was in the front hall. She and Dexter ran through the front of the house and met with Erskine and Anton in the middle. There was an upwards staircase and a downward one. Saracen came in behind them and indicated there was two upstairs and two down.

Valkyrie and Dexter went up, Ghastly backing them up, while the other three went down. It was living quarters upstairs but that didn't stop them being armed – a large man, extremely large, almost twice the size and weight of Anton, jumped out in front of Valkyrie and grabbed the end of her gun, yanking it painfully from her hands. She barely even lifted her eyes to see his face before it was gone.

Ghastly and Dexter responded with gunfire but the man's clothing was bulletproof – his face and feet weren't as it was discovered. Valkyrie grabbed her gun back from the very dead man as he fell down and put it back up as another man came through the door holding a pinned grenade.

"Stop!" She demanded, and the man hesitated. He was a scrawny man, pale, of Asian ethnicity. "Drop the weapon and get down on the floor and we won't shoot!"

The man started shaking in fear but it didn't otherwise move. He was the only other person up here, and Valkyrie didn't want all her suspects killed.

"Drop it! Now!"

The man did, but it caught on his finger and the pin came out. She could see the shock, horror and fear on the man's face as he watched it fall but Valkyrie was already moving. She booted it into the room, a small bedroom with just a mattress, and pulled the man out, closing the door behind her. Her brothers had already grabbed the man and were running, Valkyrie coming after them. A moment later was a house-racketing boom.

The poor man had peed himself in fright and was relying on her brothers to frog march him downstairs as his knees were shaking so bad. He kept saying something in another language but Valkyrie didn't understand. It could be a ploy, but she suspected he was a prisoner or a slave, brought here only to work for whoever was in charge - not unheard of in any country. She patted him down and did find a single bullet but no guns. She threw it to the floor and looked him in the eyes. There was only fear reflecting back at her. She was satisfied with his innocence, such as it was.