Three men sat in a dingy room, one smoking a cigar. They passed around a file that contained a plethora of information. While two of the men read what the file held, the third moved to a bulletin board that hung on a brick wall.
“How many new soldiers have you recruited?” the man standing asked.
“We’re up to eighteen, sir. Most will arrive this week.”
As the man spoke, the one standing pinned up photos on the board. When he finished, there were six overall. On each person’s head, he deliberately drew a red target. Then his lips stretched into a nasty grimace. The other two men shivered. “Good. That should be enough to accomplish my goals. These two here.” He drilled his finger into the pictures he was referencing. “These are the first two you’ll be taking out.”
One of the seated men asked, “The brothers then. How do you want it done, boss?”
“I don’t give a damn. As long as it’s clean and accurate. Leave nothing behind is all I ask.”
“Explosives work the best for that. Neat with nothing left.”
The boss appeared pensive for a moment. “Fine, but I want it to occur in their pretty headquarters. That should make a point with them and those connected to them.”
The other two men glanced at each other and nodded. “Not a problem. We can make it as big as you want if that’s what you’re interested in.”
The boss glared and gritted out, “What I’m interested in is having them dead. I want them to pay. After you take care of those two, go after these two meddling fuckers.” He slapped his palm on the photos of a man and woman. “Make another grand point with them, especially this nosy fucker.” He stabbed a finger into the picture of the man.
“Boss, that might be a bit more difficult. Their building is as tight as a virgin’s pussy.”
The boss spun around, scowling. It never boded well for them when he was in a mood such as this. “Then fuck it until you loosen the damn thing up.” Bending over, he slammed his hands down on the table, spittle flying out of his mouth. “I want them both to feel my pain. Do I make myself clear?”
“Y-yes, boss. No problem. We’ll come up with something,” one of them added quickly.
“Not just something, dammit. I want the fires of hell to burn those motherfuckers down.”
“Got it, boss. You can count on us.”
“I can count on you? I’m not just counting on you. If you don’t get this fucking job done and done right, I’ll find someone to fill your goddamn shoes.”
“Right, boss.” By now, they knew they’d better get it right the first time, or they’d be at the wrong end of an explosion.
Then an evil grin spread across the boss’s face. “I’ve saved these two for last.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“The perfect weapon.” They watched as he pinned another picture to the board. This time it was that of a baby.
“A baby? That baby is a weapon?”
“Not just any baby, you idiot. It’s their precious daughter. When I threaten to slit her throat, the other two will crawl out of their hole and come running. That’s when you’ll strike. I want the kill to be outrageously horrific. Do you understand?”
“Absolutely, sir. We got it. How soon should we start?”
“When the rest of the men arrive, bring them up to speed and get this done. Then we’ll resume all operations. Nobody fucks with the O’Briens. They think they’ve gotten us, but they’re mortally wrong. They didn’t realize they left the most ruthless son of a bitch behind.” Aiden’s vicious laugh filled the cavernous room they occupied and his two men glanced at each other. One of them felt sorry for those people whose pictures he stared at. They would soon experience a bloody nightmare.
Chapter One
Scottie
The screen on my computer blinked as I waited for the information to load. As the newest hire at Wolfe Investigations, I reflected upon how I’d ended up here. As a former DEA agent, we’d been working on a case to locate a suspected mule who was running cocaine and heroin out of the tunnels from Mexico. This one was in Arizona and had been nothing but one tremendous pain in the ass. We’d shut down most of them, but this mule had somehow eluded everything we’d done.
One of our team suggested hiring an outside company, which ended up being Wolfe Investigations. His former experience with them had been stellar. After running