Shellshock (Spent Shells, #2) Read online

  A creaking in the hallway kills his smile. He stands and waits for more noises. Typing into his phone, he’s likely checking on Neri. His reaction softens, and he sits back down.

  “We might need to share a single room,” he says as Anika and I eat a cracker. “Have you two and Neri sleep while Cobain and I take turns keeping watch.”

  “Okay,” I say, feeling dumb and useless.

  Kai’s eyes suddenly light up. “Did you ever watch Disney movies as a kid?”

  “Yes, I think so.”

  “Many of them aren’t suitable for someone like Anika,” he says and smiles at my little girl when she hears her name and grins at him. “The moms and dads always, well, you know, go away. She won’t understand, but I think we can find a few that aren’t so sad.”

  “The last movie I remember watching with my mom was ‘Frozen.’ Is that still around?”

  Smiling wider, Kai joins us on the bed and finds the movie on the tablet. Anika doesn’t pay attention for the first twenty minutes, but I’m entranced.

  For so long, this part of my life—a childhood where I watched this movie with my mother—felt like a lie. I started to second-guess my memories. At the homestead, I heard over and over how my old life was filled with suffering and sin. My mom wasn’t a good person. She didn’t love me. I wasn’t happy there. Eventually, I began to doubt everything.

  Maybe Kai realizes how the movie awakens a long-dead part of me. He rests the tablet in his lap and wraps one of his arms around my shoulders. I know he probably doesn’t care about the movie. Kai just wants to make me happy. His goodness proves the evil of the Children of the Black Sun. They hate him and everything he stands for, yet he is the best person I’ve ever known.

  ≫TWO SPENT SHELLS≪

  KAI

  Around nine, Cobain, Neri, and the dog join us in the bedroom. Anika is mostly asleep while Sunny watches me with half-open lids. As much as she wishes we could share a bed like last night, I can’t lower my guard.

  Cobain must agree because he offers little complaint when I suggest they join us. Neri rests her weapons on the nightstand and climbs in next to Anika. The three of them fall silent on one end of the small room while Cobain and I sit in chairs on the other.

  “You should sleep first,” he says.

  Having grown up with a man unwilling to bend, I don’t argue with Cobain. If I ever disagree with any of his plans, I’ll just ignore them and do my own thing. Debate is never an option with men like Cobain and Papa.

  In the quiet room, I doze easily. The dog rests in front of the door, blocking entry. I don’t know if Cobain convinced Robin to sleep there, but I appreciate his location.

  Cobain doesn’t entertain himself on his phone. He instead stares at the bed where my sister sleeps. I can’t imagine what he’s thinking. Well, I could possibly guess, but I’d rather not.

  I doze for a few hours before waking and allowing Cobain to rest. He says nothing before closing his eyes. The room is silent, and I feel restless. My mind finally zeros in on a mental image of Sunny and Anika exploring the beach near my home. I see Mama and Neri, walking hand in hand like they do when gossiping. Papa watches over us all, always protecting his family.

  Around three, I notice a text from my father. I smile as if he sensed I was thinking of him. Reading the text, my smile fades.

  “My contact at the Company says the cult put a bounty on you. AMC won’t take the job. The ones at your safe house are not them. Get out. Trust no one. Burn it all down if you have to.”

  I read the message twice before reaching over to wake Cobain. He opens his eyes as if he hadn’t been sleeping despite hours passing since he last stirred.

  “We have a problem,” I whisper.

  Cobain looks at the message and rubs his eyes. “Give me a few minutes to find out when the kill order went out, how much the bounty sum is, and what info they have on us. That way, we’ll know what the assholes in this house know.”

  As he texts his contacts, I silently walk to Neri’s side of the bed and wake my sister. She flinches, eyes wide like a child startled from a nightmare.

  “We need to get out of here,” I whisper in Spanish.

  Neri follows me over to Cobain, and we speak quietly in the corner.

  “A hundred grand for the two of you,” Cobain says.

  Despite the sizable sum, I never worry he’ll turn on us. I’ve seen the way Cobain looks at Neri. Killing her isn’t something he can do now.

  “They want the child back alive if possible. Sunny is more optional. You two dead will get any mercenary the majority of the bounty. The kill order went out an hour ago. It’s not being claimed by the Arizona Moving Company, meaning their contractors know about it but aren’t required to act on it.”

  “What about the people in this house?” I ask.

  “They aren’t in any network. It’ll take longer for them to get the information. But the bounty is for anyone willing to do the deed. There are dozens of militias in this state and in nearby ones. They’ll be on our asses for the easy money.”

  “Easy,” Neri mutters.

  Cobain glances at the bed and then back at my sister. “The cult still thinks they’re looking for Kai, two women, and a child. For a lot of people, that sounds like an easy paycheck, even if they knew who your father was, which they don’t. Probably best not to throw his name around, though. Gator made enemies. No reason to have more assholes hunting for you.”

  “What do you suggest we do if the people in this house don’t know yet?” I ask.

  “We kill them. Rest up and move on.”

  “Rest up?” Neri asks. “In their house?”

  “It’s a building,” Cobain says, frowning at her question. “Once they’re dead, it has no owner. When we were bringing in supplies, I overheard them talking. It’s just the three of them. There’s a fourth guy currently out of the country. They were arguing over whether he got to keep a quarter of the money we paid.”

  “This house is wired, and one of them must be up keeping watch,” I say and glance at Sunny and Anika. “We can’t sneak up on them.”

  “True, but they don’t speak Spanish. I tested them by saying shit to you about the man being a dog fucker. None of them reacted. We can communicate with each other over the comms without them understanding our plans. If we wait until sunrise, more than one will be awake. And they’ll know they can make ten times as much money by killing you two and taking them. I’m just collateral damage.”

  Neri yawns, proving we need more rest before returning to the road. “Do you really believe we can kill them and take control of the house?”

  “There are three of them and three of us. We’re organized. They won’t be. We have the element of surprise. They don’t. I sensed one of the men wasn’t a professional. More like a druggie who fucks the woman. He’ll be easy. The woman is likely former military. The man seems like a petty thief who went pro. They aren’t properly trained to take on the three of us.”

  “We have flash grenades,” I mutter, organizing a plan in my head. “Regular grenades too. With Sunny and Anika hidden in here, we rush the hall and create a distraction. Draw them to us.”

  “What if they have a failsafe like you did?” Neri asks Cobain.

  “No fucking way is this house wired to blow. This isn’t a professional sanctuary. It’s just a house run by a few local criminals, looking to make extra cash by offering a layover for people in trouble. They aren’t amateurs, but they might as well be.”

  Cobain’s confidence rubs off on my sleepy sister. Meaning she won’t appreciate what I’m about to say.

  “You need to remain here with them.”

  “No,” she says instantly. “There are three targets, three of us.”

  “If they somehow get the jump on us, you’ll be the only one left to protect Sunny and Anika.”

  “Or kill them before they’re taken back to that hellhole,” Cobain mutters.

  Neri and I frown at him, but he ignores us. Though I kn
ow he’s right, I’m working with only a few hours of sleep. We’re about to wage war on people that might be standing outside the bedroom door waiting for us. His flippant manner irritates me.

  “I can’t focus if I’m worried they’re in danger,” I tell my sister.

  “Then you can stay with them, and I’ll go out with Cobain.”

  “No,” the big man growls. “No fucking way.”

  “Why?” she demands, lifting her chin and meeting his hard gaze.

  “He can’t focus if you're in danger.”

  Cobain shoots me a dirty look as if I’ve broken the Bro Code by stating the obvious. My sister, though, seems genuinely surprised to realize he might stumble if her safety is on his mind.

  Despite understanding the situation, Neri wants to be part of the assault. Her nature is to charge forward rather than hide. However, she’s always been smart enough to put her ego aside for the sake of a mission.

  “Do we go now or what?” Neri asks.

  “I have to piss,” Cobain announces. “Let them see our door open and my trip to the toilet. It’ll make the door opening again less startling. If we’re lucky, the asshole in charge of surveillance is asleep or playing with his dick.”

  “Charming,” Neri mutters and goes to the suitcase full of weapons.

  I walk to the bed where I tenderly wake Sunny. She smiles when her eyes open and find me.

  “You’re so beautiful,” I whisper, so her first thought is pleasant. “I need you to wake up and stay with Neri.”

  “What’s happening?” she asks, sitting up so fast that she nearly knocks me off the bed.

  I kiss her rather than explain. She’s agitated, and I know words won’t help. Sunny relaxes in my embrace and remains calm when my lips release hers.

  “We have to deal with these people. Neri will watch over you. Do what she says. Anika can remain asleep. Just be ready to wake her if necessary.”

  My little girl loves to sleep. Waking her when it’s still dark out will only inspire tears, and quiet is our best ally right now.

  Sunny grips my hand, but she doesn’t complain or ask me to stay. Like Neri, she understands how her emotional needs must take a back seat to more pressing issues.

  I slide on my Kevlar vest and strap on a few gun holsters. Cobain is already decked out and ready to use the bathroom. Once he returns, we’ll make our move.

  COBAIN

  Kai tosses a flash grenade down the staircase and charges without hesitation. I need the fucker to act like a pro. So far, he does, but I don’t want him in the lead. I trust I can take a bullet better than the pretty boy.

  He opens the house’s front door but doesn’t move outside. Instead, he disappears into the shadows of the dark living room.

  The woman appears from the hallway with her weapon at the ready. She points it at the front door, assuming that’s where the attack originated. Despite Kai knowing how to distract a target, I assume the second generation badass won’t put a bullet in a woman.

  His shot hits her between the eyes, ending her life instantly. I throw a flash grenade into the hallway where her body rests on its back. Taking the lead, I storm through the dark.

  Almost immediately, a Rottweiler charges at me, but I wrestle the monster into a small bathroom and slam the door shut.

  Kai steps around me before rushing into a dark room where one of the men opens fire. Neri’s brother kneels down, finds his target through the inferred scope, and shoots twice. The safe house asshole falls silent. The eerie quiet is only broken up by the barking dog in the bathroom.

  I tap Kai’s shoulder, moving past him and finding a second hallway. I’m unsure which direction to take. Kai signals he’ll move left, and I ought to go right. After clearing two rooms, I locate the security setup and use the cameras to search the house for our final target.

  “Kai, he’s in the kitchen next door to you,” I say in Spanish over our shared radio link.

  The final target must hear Kai approaching. He runs for the back door, finds it locked, and then charges toward the front. I watch Kai take a shot that just misses his fleeing target. The final asshole gets spooked and heads up the stairs rather than through the open front door.

  “Fuck,” I growl, knowing he’ll use the women as leverage. Radioing Neri, I warn, “The asshole is coming straight for you.”

  With no security cameras in the bedrooms, I can’t see if she reacts, and her comm remains silent. Kai reaches the bottom of the stairs by the time the guy arrives at the bedroom where Neri, Sunny, the kid, and my dog hide.

  “Shoot now, Neri,” I demand.

  I spot a flash as she fires through the door. The asshole falls to the ground, though I can't tell in the dark if he’s still moving. My mind pictures him managing to shoot through the door and killing Neri. There’s a moment where I can’t breathe. If she dies, am I still willing to see another sunrise?

  Kai fires into the man in the hallway and hits the light switch. “The electricity is out,” Kai radios to me.

  Once Neri’s shadowed figure appears next to her brother, I regain my bearings and locate the house’s light controls. The woman shut them off to give herself an advantage. Unfortunately, she underestimated her enemy and overestimated the useless twats watching her back.

  Once the lights are back on, I search the security cameras for signs of life. The only enemy still breathing is the huge dog trapped in the bathroom. I don’t know what to do with the barking beast, but he’ll be fine in there until we’re ready to leave.

  The outer perimeter looks quiet, and I find no recent communication to or from this safe house. They hadn’t heard of the bounty yet, but the phone I find in the woman’s pocket does have an unread message from someone asking if she’s seen two foreigners and the Children of the Black Sun apostates.

  Once I’m certain the house is clear, I close and lock the front door. Upstairs, Kai plays softie with his people. Down here, I’m on my own while cleaning up two dead bodies.

  I hear Robin growling before I see Neri. Holding her weapon at the ready, she moves through the living room to where I wrap the woman’s body in a blanket I found in a downstairs bedroom.

  “Is it clear?” she asks in Spanish.

  “Yes.”

  “Why didn’t you answer when I asked over the radio?”

  I don’t respond to her question because I honestly just fucking forget they need to know shit. Even with Neri always in my thoughts, I lose track of how I should communicate with her. Robin knows what I want without me saying a word. Sure, the dog ignores my commands, but that’s not the point. He never expects me to explain shit.

  Sliding her weapon in her holster, Neri leans down to help me drag the woman to a back room. While I think to tell her to fuck off and go upstairs, I’m too relieved she’s alive to argue. Besides, she’ll just bitch about wanting to help and ask why I’m so afraid of teamwork. I’ll growl and call her a name. She’ll smile like I’m an idiot. Then we’ll end up doing what we’re doing now anyway.

  KAI

  My heart remains cold when we hunt down the people in this safe house. Despite being raised with love, I still know the truth of human nature. We’re most willing to kill, die, and sacrifice for our own tribe. That’s why I’ll destroy anyone to allow my sister, Sunny, and Anika another day on this earth.

  Once removing the man’s body from the hallway, I wash up and join Sunny in the bedroom. Anika woke from the flash grenades and gunfire, but she doesn’t seem bothered. Loud noises lack meaning. She doesn’t know to fear them and is ready to return to sleep.

  Sunny, though, stares at me with wide, fearful eyes. Neri firing through the door scared her. The violence was so close, and she felt powerless. Yet, she relaxes when my arms wrap around her.

  “Are we leaving?” she whispers as Anika cuddles under the blankets with Duck and Doll.

  “No. We’ll rest up and figure out where to go next.”

  “I don’t understand what happened. Why did they attack?”


  Rather than explain how we preemptively killed them, I tug the blanket over Anika’s little bare shoulder. Her shirt doesn’t fit well, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she wiggles herself out of it by morning.

  “The cult offered a reward to anyone willing to kill Neri and me. They want you and Anika returned to their compound.”

  Breathing increasing, Sunny stiffens in my arms. She opens her mouth, but nothing comes out. I nuzzle her forehead with my lips.

  “Ending a life is ugly. I don’t relish doing it, but killing runs in my blood. My father hunted foul people since he was your age. It’s all he was any good at until he found Mama. It’s what Neri and I do when there are problems that can’t be solved in other ways. Now we face people who wield death. We will meet their violence with our own. It’s what we do,” I explain and then brush my lips across hers. “You’re like my mother, who has no taste for violence. Mama’s the heart of the family. That’s how you’ll be. Neri and I take after Papa. We’re the fists of the family. As weapons, we’ll kill whoever threatens those we love.”

  “I feel like your home gets farther away every day.”

  Staring into her fair brown eyes made darker by the dimly lit room, I whisper, “It might be a week or even a month before we reach our destination. I won’t rush and make a mistake.”

  “What can I do?” Sunny asks, and I smile at how she wants to do more than be saved.

  “Eat, drink, and sleep. You need to stay healthy. Getting run down is common when under stress. You can’t stay focused if you’re running on empty.”

  When Sunny nods, her gaze loses its earlier edge. She rests her cheek against my chest and sighs. Sunny’s thinking isn’t so different from my mother’s. Like Mama, she needs the world broken into small, easily understandable parts. Explaining the obstacles between our current location and home will only confuse and agitate her. It’s not as if she can do anything about our problems anyway. No, Sunny’s job is to keep Anika calm. I doubt my sister can tolerate being trapped in a vehicle all day with a screaming child.