Seven
1032 Words
EDGE
Tonight was the night. We had the target’s thumbprint, it had come up perfectly. We'd watched him enter the building just an hour ago, and he hasn't been seen leaving.
We had him.
We needed this to go smoothly, so Clara was on the ground with us for this one too. Three pairs of hands are better than two, after all. Despite her love of explosions, this needed to be as tidy as possible, so I’d insisted on her bringing a silenced rifle in addition to her signature shotgun. If she needed the shotgun, something had gone horribly wrong, and I’d rather that didn’t happen.
Edith had packed her handgun and more knives than I could keep track of, and I’d gone for just a silenced rifle and a sword that sat tidily along my spine.
Edith carried out one last sweep of the outside of the building before we moved in. Clara went straight for the lock on the door with me covering her. Fortunately, all Clara's hard work paid off, and the door opened without a hitch.
I motioned to Edith that we were going in. The plan was that she would be keeping watch outside. We didn't expect this one to be quite as smooth sailing as the delta job, so we needed eyes and ears everywhere.
We cleared the building, it was perfectly empty. Too perfect, almost.
The last room is where we expected our dear friend to be keeping the girl. And that was his office.
Clara stood with her back against the wall next to the door, waiting for me to make my move. Before I could kick the door down like I planned to, footsteps appeared behind me.
“Well, well, well. I knew you'd come for me.”
“Nathan. I believe we haven't had the pleasure of meeting before now.”
“Perhaps, but I know exactly who you are, Edge. I also know it was you who took the shot that killed James.”
“Then you know why we're here, Nathan?”
He smirked.
“You're here for the girl.”
“Exactly that. We're here for the girl. Let my colleague here get the girl out of here safely, and then you and I can talk the rest of this out.”
“I know you'll just try to kill me, Edge. I'm not stupid!”
Here we go again…
“I never said anything of that nature, Nathan. My priority is getting the girl back to her parents. Will you let the girl go if I lay my gun on the floor, and step back from it?”
He hesitated. Fortunately he might have known my name, but he didn't know me at all.
“Fine. But only because I want you more than I want the girl.”
“Fine by me, Nathan.” I turned to Clara. “Please escort the girl back home, Clara. Take her straight to her parents, have her checked over. I'll meet you there soon.”
“On it, Edge,” she replied, voice strong. On the way past once she'd untied the girl, she whispered back to me. “I hope you know what you're doing.”
“Now she's safe, Nathan, why don't you tell me what is going on here? Why did you kidnap her?”
“Leverage, Edge.”
“For what?”
“I lost my rank. I want it back.”
“You lost your rank, so you kidnapped the beta’s daughter?”
He scowled, looking down.
“Edge!” Edith shouted down the radio. “Company!”
I swore at the sound of glass smashing all around us. Armed individuals were coming in through every window, and there were a lot of them. How on earth has this lot snuck up?!
“Clara,” I shouted down the radio. “Where are you at?”
“Safe,” she replied. “The girl is safe.”
“Come back, we need the backup. Be ready with the shotgun.”
“I have grenades too, boss, will be there in a mo.”
Of course Clara packed grenades. For once though, I was grateful.
Nathan stood frozen in the middle of the room, a smirk on his face. He knew we were coming tonight, he wanted us to get separated, and the girl was just a happy accident.
“Who was James to you, Nathan?”
“My brother in law,” he growled.
That makes sense. Revenge mission.
We could hear wolves howling in the distance, and those howls just getting louder.
Taking advantage of the distraction, I whipped the sword out of the sheath at my back, taking out the two individuals rushing me in one fluid motion.
I dove under flailing arms and kicking knees, grabbing my rifle from the floor.
This job had taken a turn for the worse. Cleaning up was going to be a b***h.
By the time Clara reached us, Edith was caught up outside fighting her own battle, and Nathan had made a run for it.
I swore under my breath, diving out from the fight and out of the building, following Nathan's scent trail. I caught up to him, gun at the ready. He spun to face me, pistol drawn. I got two shots off in the time he got his one, mine perfectly hitting his chest, dropping him to the ground instantly.
His shot hit my wrist, ripping a hole in the flesh.
“f**k!” I shouted, digging the shrapnel out of my arm.
It would heal, and quickly, but that didn’t make it hurt any less.
By the time everyone and everything was taken care of, daylight had broken, and now we had to somehow get back to HQ without drawing too much attention to ourselves.
Clara had already done her thing with proof of success with the client, and we’d been assured the last payment would be made by the time we got back to HQ. Edith had made the calls to get the chaos cleaned up, and I’d gotten rid of Nathan’s body.
And the bullet he put in me.
- Writer
