Hard to Get (Killer of Kings Book 4)(41)

They wandered around the main floor, trying to decide on their next move.

“Does anyone know how to turn off the fucking alarm?” said Chains. The constant grating sound kept the sense of urgency at the surface.

Viper pointed out the kitchen window. There was a large pool house in the near distance, bigger than Shadow’s house. They all moved without speaking, passing the massive infinity pool that overlooked a forested valley.

Bain kicked open the door, the crash shattering the silence, wood splinting inwards. Immediately, the familiar scent of blood caught Shadow’s attention. The moonlight reflected off the blood pooling on the floor, the dark crimson liquid the only witness to whatever the fuck killed Boss.

“Check the lights,” said Shadow. When the overhead lighting snapped on, the body swinging from the rafters, draining out on the tile was a morbid sight. There were other rooms, so he started to investigate the ones to the right. He knew better than to let down his guards, even if the leader of Killer of Kings had already been taken down.

“Check it out!” he shouted after entering a large guest bedroom.

The other three men came in behind him.

“Holy shit,” said Viper. “What a fucking freak show.”

There were bodies everywhere, in various states of dismemberment. The floor was covered in blood, flies buzzing around the corpses. Shadow had killed a lot of men and been to countless aftermaths, but nothing compared to this.

“Someone’s coming,” Bain whispered, pulling out his 9mm. He leaned against the inside wall, waiting to strike. Whoever walked through the living room, passing Boss’s body, was not trying to be quiet. Bain pressed a finger to his lips. The second the man appeared in the entryway, Bain had his gun pressed to his temple. “Try anything and I’ll blow your fucking brains in.”

“Spade?” Shadow lowered his weapon. It was one of the regular guys from Boss’s west end cleaning crew. He usually didn’t come up this far north. “Who the fuck called you?”

“Boss. Who else?”

“When?”

“Hour ago.”

Shadow pushed past him, Bain still keeping him at gunpoint. When he reached the body handing by its ankles, Shadow spun it around to get a good look at the bloodied and beaten face.

It wasn’t Boss.

“Boss called you—what did he say? Where is he?” asked Shadow.

The big boy shrugged and scratched his balls. “Said to make it spotless. The mess was contained to the pool house. He said something about not fucking up his marble floors.”

It sounded like Boss all right.

“Where is he? He pulled a code black.”

Spade pointed to the bedroom when Lola came in the front door, stepping over debris, dragging a mop and bucket with her. “I just clean, Shadow. Ask someone else.”

Lola passed by, winking at him. “When you taking me on a date, Shadow?”

“Not going to happen, Lola. I have a woman now.”

“Promise I’m better than her,” she said.

“Ain’t gonna happen.”

“Shit, are none of you still single anymore?” she complained as she moved to the bedroom, cursing when she saw the disaster in the other room. “Spade, you need to call Mikey. This is going to take a while.”

As soon as Lola mentioned a date, Shadow’s thoughts immediately went to Riley. He still owed her that date he promised, and she was cuffed to a radiator.

Shadow was confused as hell. The bloodbath in the pool house was courtesy of Boss, he had no doubt about that. So where was he? Where was Killian?

Until he knew more, he’d head home, then contact Maurice and see if he’d dug up anything on their locations. At least he had hope that Boss had made it out of this alive.

They cautiously made their way back to the main house. The alarm was no longer whining, and the lights were on. Shadow had his gun at the ready. Bain moved in front.

El Diablo was in the front foyer, a bloodied knife in his hand. “I want my money,” he said, tossing the knife on the tiles.

Viper and Bain rushed in, ready to bring El Diablo down. Chains approached him. “You make that mess out back?”

“What mess? Boss said I’d get paid for every head. Since there’re five in my trunk, I’m here to collect.”

“Where the fuck have you been?” asked Chains. “You left without a word.”

“Cleaning up this guy’s mess.” He nodded to Shadow. “And now I’m done.”

Shadow gave him the middle finger.

“Boss is MIA, so until we find him, there’s no payday,” said Chains.

El Diablo ran a hand through his hair, blood smears on his arm and cheek. “I saw him this afternoon. He told me where I could find the last half dozen.”

“You said you had five.”

“Boss wanted me to let one live, so that pinche culero only has gunshot wounds to the kneecaps. This Boss of yours is one twisted fuck.”

Shadow couldn’t stick around. He needed to get home, wanted to get home. Riley would be waking up soon, and he didn’t want her to panic when she found herself bound.

“I’ll contact Maurice,” said Shadow. “He must have picked up something on Boss or Killian by now.”

He took a breath once seated in the driver’s seat of his car, calling Maurice on his cell phone.