Royally Broken by Elle Boon Page 0,4

were really good. Keys didn’t think they were as good as him.

“Empty, man,” a voice called from inside.

He made note they hadn’t referred to one another as sir or soldier.

“Shit. Does it look like he’s been there?”

At the question, his eyes narrowed. Before the man could come back, a low growl sounded.

“Whoa, easy. Good, doggy.”

Shit! Tom didn’t sound happy. Where the fuck was Lucy?”

“I thought you took care of the dog?” the man growled.

“I did. I’ve got the blood right here to prove it.”

“Clearly you didn’t, asshole.”

“The fuck, man. Either this place is like that fucking movie where they come back from the dead, or he has two because I slit that bitch’s throat.” The asshole’s voice sounded smug.

Keys barely kept from rolling out and shooting every fucker he could see. Tom’s angry growl was closer. Dammit, he didn’t want the dog to get killed but he knew with a certainty he was going to see the same fate as Lucy if he didn’t do something. Where was Burt?

“Just shoot the fucker and lets go. He’s obviously already left this shit hole. Did you find anything in there?”

“No. If he’s living here, he’s cleaner than my aunt on Sunday.”

Footsteps sounded on the steps, his door clanging as if someone let it shut on its own. He stayed where he was, counting feet, waiting.

“What about the old man?”

“This is bullshit. I thought we were told they had money stashed here, enough to set us up for life.”

“Fuck. So this is a dead end? He ain’t gonna like that.”

Keys made note of their voices, hoping his cameras had picked up their images. They may not be able to track him, but he’d find them.

“We gotta burn this place. And kill that fucking dog,” he growled.

A shot rang out followed by a whine. Keys inhaled slowly. Knowing there was nothing else he could do, he moved to the hole he’d dug in the middle of the trailer. He thought of old Burt and sent a small prayer up, then he moved the piece of metal away from the hole, eased in and pulled the metal back over himself. When the fire went out, he’d have to move quickly and get his shit and get gone, again. Fuck, his life was filled with one big shitstorm after another. Only this time, his life got a lot more complicated.

Before he could change his mind, he shoved the cover off his makeshift escape, rolling out from under the trailer on the backside. He looked around, getting his bearings. “Fuck it, today’s a good day to die, motherfuckers.” Keys pulled both guns out. With one in each hand, he stepped around the trailer, spotting several men. One held a glass jar with what looked like a long fuse in it in one hand, a lighter in the other. The deep rumble of motorcycles drew the others attention, but Keys didn’t stop to look. He fired, shooting the glass jar first making the liquid inside spill down the man’s body. His next shot was the man’s kneecap.

In rapid fire, he shot the other men, taking a bullet to the leg and another grazed his arm, neither slowing him. He tried to place the shots he aimed so that they weren’t killing ones, as he moved with the shadows closer to Burt’s trailer. In their neighborhood, cops wouldn’t be coming anytime soon, but he didn’t want to be around when they did show up. At the foot of the stairs, Lucy’s body lay. Anger burned through him at the senseless loss.

He looked back at the men lying in the dirt, their moans as they scrambled for the guns he’d shot out of their hands, made him itch to finish them off. His boots thudded against the stairs as he took them two at a time, the coppery scent of blood hit him when he crossed the threshold. “You stupid, bastard,” he muttered, looking at the man who’d been the only friend he’d allowed himself to have. The living area showed signs of a struggle. Burt’s always organized space had the coffee table overturned. The small end table with the lamp was busted. But the thing that had Keys ready to kill was the sight of Burt in his recliner, his eyes staring straight ahead, a bullet hole in his forehead, showing how his life was ended.

Keys looked around the room, trying to see what, if anything, they’d taken. Not that Burt had anything of value lying around. Why those