“You wanted to see me, Boss?”
Sal’s face turned green, and the poor bastard looked as though he would pass out any second. “Please don’t do this,” he begged. “It won’t happen again. I-I’ll make sure of it.”
Emilio shared a look with Felix. The other man nodded, signaling he understood the silent order.
Standing behind Marcus, Felix silently pulled his weapon free of its holster.
“What’s wrong?” Confused, Marcus turned to his cousin. “What’s going on?”
“Please,Emilio,” Sal continued to beg.
But Emilio was focused on Marcus. “What’s going on is a lesson in following orders. Hopefully one your cousin will take to heart.”
With a final glance at Felix and a slight tip of his head, Emilio gave the order.
Still clueless, Marcus shook his head. “Sal, what’s he talking abou—”
Felix fired his weapon, the deafening sound echoing through the early evening sky. The bullet entered the back of Marcus’s skull before the ill-fated man ever knew what hit him.
He dropped to the ground near his cousin’s feet.
“No!” Sal fell to his knees, the look of sorrow and loss on his face almost enough to make Emilio feel badly about his decision.
Almost.
“I will give you a brief moment to mourn, and then I expect my order to be followed to the letter. Is that understood?”
Silent sobs wracked Sal’s pathetic body as he gave a jerky nod, his eyes never leaving his fallen cousin.
* * *
The plan was a go.
Brett…and God help them, even Danny…knew their roles and were getting into position.
In the back of Garrett’s mind was the gunshot they’d heard several minutes before. One coming from somewhere in the distance.
Garrett’s immediate thought had been of Avery, but then he’d reminded himself that these men needed them alive if they were to get the payday they were expecting.
His next thought was of his team.
But they were trained better than that. The men he trusted with his life wouldn’t start shooting from that far out before first securing entry into the building where the hostages were located.
And if by some chance they’d had no choice, his guys would’ve used a suppressor to lessen the noise.
No, his gut was telling him the shot they’d heard had nothing to do with Avery or his team. Which left two other possibilities he could think of…
Either someone had screwed up and paid the ultimate price, or the HTs were starting to turn on each other.
Either way, that meant one less asshole to have to worry about.
“Who do you think got shot?” Danny looked worried for the first time since they’d been locked away.
Garrett shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. Sooner we do this, the sooner we can get the hell out of here. Now, I’m not going to be able to move until the exact right time. I’m trusting you both to follow the plan exactly as we discussed.”
Danny slapped him on the shoulder. “No worries, man. We’ve got your back.”
“He’s right, Garrett.” Brett gave him a nod. “We can do this. Wehaveto. For Jess.”