Chapter 2: No Guests

Theo

The mission was a success. We got the information from Buzzard and we mutually agreed that if we were to come across one another. It'd be a bloodbath. No hard feelings.

"Oh man. I can't wait to play Call of Duty. I need my fix of violence," Dean smiles, rubbing his hands in anticipation. The guy always has a smile on his face. It was scary on the battlefield.

"So sorry that we decided to be civil and not kill them," Cole says sarcastically. He's in the front seat staring out the window. I'm pretty sure he's rolling his eyes.

Dean scoffs and shakes his head in disappointment. "We're in a gang. Fuck civil."

"No, we're in a respectable gang,” Cole corrects, “And we should therefore be model citizens."

Dean frowns thoughtfully, seeming to be thinking hard. "We don't pay taxes. Do we?"

They bicker back and forth until Cole decides he's done. That's how Dean always wins. He can go on forever and none of us have the energy to argue with him.

The car ride is silent until Dom speaks up, causing me to scowl. "Theo, you wiped the cameras, right?"

"I'm not an amateur,” I mumble, looking out the car window. Every time we have these "meetings," it’s the same procedure. And after every time, he always asks me the same question. I might be the youngest, but I'm not incompetent.

"We should all relax this weekend,” Dom suggests. “The Gunslingers have been dealt with.”

We all wordlessly agree. It's been some time since we had down time. I'm looking forward to spending some time away from the guys. I love them. They're my best friends and family all in one. Though sometimes I wish they were more, I do value my alone time. If I didn't have my nightclub, I'd go crazy.

The drive is silent again and we continue down the road leading to our secluded house. There's nothing but woods for miles.

I think about how it will be suspicious if I immediately disappear as soon as we get home. Maybe, I should come up with some excuse. "I might-"

"What the hell is that?" Dom cuts me off.

I narrow my eyes and maneuver to see what he’s talking about. In the road in front of our house, a black car sits there, abandoned apparents. Only my car and Cole's car and his motorcycle are supposed to be outside. So, all our defenses are up at the unknown vehicle.

Pulling my phone out, I dial Gina's number.

"Brother?" She answers. She knows I don't like to call.

"Do you or anyone else have guests?" I ask quickly.

It's silent for a moment and I hear muffled conversation. Out the corner of my eye, I can see the guys with worried and impatient faces.

Finally, Gina comes back with an answer. "No. Why, Theo?"

"Nothing,” I say, not wanting to worry her. “Stay inside."

I hang up and take a deep breath, knowing the difficult position we’re in. "No guests," I tell the guys. They become tense and we all share looks of understanding. Then, starting with Cole, we get out and make our way towards the car. We surround it, with Dom and I staying in the back and Cole and Dean taking the sides.

"No one inside," Dean says. His playful nature is gone, but a ghost of a smirk is on his face. He thrives on danger.

Cole pulls the handle experimentally and the doors open. Alarms in my head blare. Someone left this car here and wanted us to open it. Dean and Cole open the rest of the doors and check inside. When they don’t find anything, they come back, shaking their heads.

I put my hands on the trunk and search for the button. Finding it, I pop it open and see a woman inside. She's knocked out cold and she’s beautiful. Her brown skin has bruises around where her wrists and ankles are tied. She's in an oversized shirt and based on her chest, she's barely breathing. There's a yellow folder and a piece of paper on top of her. A soft ticking comes from beneath her. I grab the piece of paper and read the messy handwriting aloud, the three others gathering around me.

"Hello Theodore, Cole, Dean, and Dominic, I have a little gift for you. This girl here is Asma," I can hear Dean gasp, but I keep going. "She killed your beloved Mia. Now, you can get revenge. There's a bomb in the car. Don't try to diffuse it. You'll die. Now you have a choice. A) leave your wife's murderer in the car to be blown to bloody pieces B) take your wife's murderer to safety C) torture your wife's murderer. C is personally my favorite. Tick tock. Sincerely."

My head races with this new knowledge. Whoever wrote this is sick, and this woman in the car is sick. She’s responsible for taking away one of my loves. It’s shocking that she looks like this, but I understand why. She is a cold-hearted killer after all.

It goes quiet for a few breaths.

"Sincerely what?" Dom asks, frustrated.

"That's how the letter ends,” I sigh. “No indication of whom it may be." I stuff the note in pocket to analyze it for later.

"That issue can wait. What's the plan for her?" I gesture at the still sleeping woman.

"Well obviously leave her,” Dean, says like the answer is clear as day. “She can die, and we've got our revenge." He goes to close the trunk, but Cole stops him.

Cole's face is impassive as he stares at the woman. "How is that getting revenge? Someone else is blowing her up for us. I say we take her in and kill her ourselves."

They argue again, but I have no idea what to pick. This woman. This sleeping, vulnerable, innocent-looking woman killed Mia. I want nothing more than to make her pay, but like this? Blown up? The only mercy she'd get would be that she's asleep. But where was Mia's mercy? When this woman, Asma, killed her in cold blood.

"I'm in agreement with Cole,” I speak, causing them to quiet down. “She fucked us over, we fuck her over."

Everyone stares in shock at me, but that goes away when the woman wakes up.

"Please don't curse," she mumbles, blinking wide brown eyes at us. Brown? Brown eyes? Asma's eyes were a golden yellow. I couldn't get those eyes out of my head for months.

Cole, being the first one to break out of our surprised state, grabs her by the shirt roughly and lifts her out of the car. He opens his mouth to speak, but the ticking noise gets louder. We look down to see the bomb has thirty seconds left.

"Is that a bomb?" She asks, her voice much softer than I thought it would be.

Dom, quickly making a decision, begins ushering us away from the car. “We gotta go.”

"No." She refuses. She starts squirming and hitting Cole’s hands. He ignores her and we continue walking towards the house. It looks like she's given up when she slumps in his arm, but then she head butts him, causing his nose to break and for his hold to loosen.

When she's down, she starts crawling back to the car. I, being the closest to her, grab her by the torso, and she twists and turns.

"Let me die," she demands catching me off guard. Instead of listening, I press the pressure point by her neck, and she loses consciousness.