Cataclysm (Four Horsemen #4)(80)

The only reason I knew about Alex’s proclivities was due to overhearing two guards complaining about walking in on him masturbating in here. There were a lot of things I’d heard in the past ten years I probably shouldn’t have. I stored it all away. When you lose your memory, keeping your new ones becomes imperative. I never wanted to forget anything again. Guess it worked in my favour. I could tell the boys information about the estate they couldn’t have found out any other way.

“I… I… only a few minutes before you got here. I was…”

“Wanking.”

“Yes.”

West snorted but didn’t say anything. Why was I not surprised? For all Stuart’s paranoia and security protocols, he hadn’t employed the most vigilant of men to do the job.

“Well, it’s too fucking bad for you. If you’d been paying attention, maybe you would have seen us kill your fucking security at the gate. Now… you’re going to die too because of your own stupidity.”

I brought the crowbar down on his other hand, making him scream again. Tears slid down his cheeks, but I didn’t care. This man wasn’t worth my pity or regret. He was worthless scum. He’d taunted me more times than I could remember. Sometimes when they threw me in the cell, he came in and beat me further for good measure. He made my life hell. I wasn’t going to let him get away with it. No one here deserved my mercy.

“That’s it, Alex, cry like a little fucking baby. Maybe in your next life, you won’t try to manhandle women like they mean nothing, you worthless piece of shit.”

The way he blubbered had me watching him for a moment. I gripped the crowbar at the end with both hands and swung it, smacking him across the side of the head. The crack of his skull sent a shiver down my spine, but I didn’t stop there. Blow after blow came until he was bleeding profusely from the shattered side of his face. His eyes were open, but dull and lifeless.

I looked at the bloodied crowbar. A sick sort of satisfaction washed over me. Francis’ words from the day I first killed clicked into place. The thrill of taking another life. One who had hurt you. Who had given you too much pain.

Justice. This is justice. Every part of it.

Reaching out, I used Alex’s shirt to wipe away his blood from my weapon. West had let go of him after the first blow came, knowing it would have knocked him out. He leant back against the desk, watching me with pride.

“My little warrior has sharp claws.”

I shoved the chair with Alex in out of the way before stepping up to West. Placing the crowbar on the desk, I looked up at the man I’d loved my whole life.

“Your little warrior is a goddess.”

He brushed my cheek with his knuckles.

“My goddess of the night.”

“If you two are quite done mooning over each other,” Drake’s voice came from behind us. “We’ve got to find out where the fuck that cunt has got to.”

West wrapped an arm around me, pulling me away from the desk to give Drake room. He strode right up to it, but not before giving me a smile as if he was proud of me too.

Prescott whistled as he walked in and saw Alex. He nudged Francis when he followed and indicated me and West with a nod of his head.

“Peas in a pod, those two.”

Francis rolled his eyes and went over to help Drake. They’d obviously heard Alex screaming and knew what to expect when they came in.

Prescott came over to us. West kept his arm around me, holding me to his chest as if letting go would tear him in half. Prescott, on the other hand, leant down and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

“My brave little lamb.”

“More like your murderous little lamb.”

He laughed.

“That too.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Drake ground out, making me turn to the screens.

“What is it?”

He pointed at them.

“They’re all over the place, not in their rooms. We’re going to have to stage everyone and that’s going to add time.”

My eyes scanned over the screens, finding he was right. The staff had all passed out where they stood. Gio had drugged the food and spiked drinks. We’d got him the drugs to knock everyone out, but we knew there would be outliers like Alex he wouldn’t be able to get to. I was sure there would be other security guards in the building too. We just had to find them.

“There’s a plan for the building, along with everyone’s room assignments,” I said, pointing at the board to their right. “We can’t afford to leave them where they are. Now, where’s Stuart?”

Drake flicked between more cameras until we came across a room with two people passed out inside. Stuart and Phoebe were both slumped on a sofa. It would have taken time for the drugs to work through their system.

“Here.”

“That’s their private sitting room.”

Drake stared at the screens for a long moment. Then he straightened and turned to all of us.

“We only have limited time before the drugs wear off. Francis, I want you to restrain Stuart and Phoebe. Take Pres with you. If you find anyone along the way, you know what to do with them.”

We needed to take their lives. Everyone here would die. It was the only way we could guarantee no witnesses. No one would ever know the truth of what we’d done.

“West and I will start dealing with the rest of the staff and make sure all the security is dead. Scarlett, you can direct where everyone goes. Remember, we need to make it look like they were all in their beds, okay?” He pointed at Alex. “This fuck can stay here. He was meant to be watching the screens all night.”