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.”
“We need to search Stuart’s office too,” I put in.
“We can do that later… after everyone is dead.”
I nodded and gave him a smile. We weren’t going to leave without going through his shit. This man had haunted our lives for ten years. He’d made mine a living hell. We needed to find out everything we could before we razed this place to the fucking ground.
Francis dug the things we needed out of the bag and handed them to Prescott and Drake. Then we were looking over routes and moving out. I held West back for a moment, eyeing the safe with suspicion.
“Do you think we can get this open?”
He looked at it, then at his sledgehammer.
“We’re better off finding the combination. Would take too much time.”
I nodded and followed him out. Whilst I wanted to know what Alex was trying to access, in the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t important.
“What are you two doing?” Drake asked, crossing his arms over his chest as we emerged from the security room.
“Nothing, let’s go,” West said, adjusting the hammer on his shoulder and walking off in the direction of the staff living room where we’d identified a few people who had lost their battle with consciousness.
Drake and I walked after him, me gripping the crowbar tight in my fist. I wasn’t planning on killing anyone else with it, but it made me feel safer.
“Are you okay?” Drake asked after a moment.
“I guess so. Being back here is… difficult.”
I was keeping my memories at bay, trying not to think too hard about what was done to me here. Killing Alex had been cathartic, but I wouldn’t feel okay until everyone who had hurt me here was eradicated from the world.
He reached out and tucked me up against his side as we continued walking. I nuzzled his jumper, feeling his warmth and presence surrounding me. Drake could be cold, but with me, he’d changed. There was tenderness and affection in his gestures. He had more than proven he was willing to do anything for me. The fact he’d stood up to his mother in the face of her disapproval over our relationship spoke volumes. Not to mention him allowing Francis to sleep in his bed with us last night. After he’d relaxed, he’d drifted off quickly, leaving me between two slumbering men I loved fiercely. They were my shelter. My safety. And I’d fallen asleep knowing they’d protect me until their dying breaths.
The five of us would be each other’s guardians. We’d fight until the very end.
“I know this isn’t easy for you, little wisp. I want you to know I’m proud of you for coming here.”
I held back the emotions swirling in my gut from his words.
“You’re going to make me cry,” I whispered.
He leant down and kissed my forehead before straightening.
“When we’re done, you can fall apart and we’ll put your pieces back in place together as a family. Okay?”
I nodded, knowing I had the strength of my four men behind me.
We reached the staff living room and stepped in after West, who was surveying three of the people in here.
“Who are they?” he asked, swinging the hammer down and placing it on the floor with the handle sticking up.
I walked over and checked each person.
“Norman, Granger and Mirabelle.” I pointed at each of them in turn. “Why?”
“Do you want to kill any of them?”
I bit my lip and shook my head. They were the groundskeepers and had never given me any trouble. West cracked his knuckles and dug out his knife.
“Then allow us to do the honours.”
Drake flicked out his own knife, then the two of them approached the three groundskeepers. They were dispatched with ease. One quick strike between the ribs to the heart. Drake taking the first two and West the last one.
“Right, where do we put them?” Drake asked, looking over at me with a smile.
I tossed my crowbar from hand to hand, having memorised the room assignments. It was time to stage the bodies.
“Follow me.”
Thirty Six
Scarlett