Page 1 of Midnight Racers

Chapter One

Flynn

Three Years Ago

My back rested against the bricks covered in dirt and slime, my clothes filthy from the weeks I’d spent down here in the dark abyss of this dungeon. Rusted metal manacles bit into my wrists, the sores aching down to my bones. At least my socks protected my ankles, even if they were covered in dried blood.

I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling. In my time here, I had counted every brick, named the odd rat that was bored enough to walk through, and counted the cockroaches as friends since they liked to snuggle close at night to keep warm.

Yeah, life was great.

This was supposed to be a quick job. The contract had been online, the hit reasonably easy to access, and the money good. How the hell was I supposed to know there would be another assassin here for the same job? He died in the crossfire, and I was left here to share dry crusts of bread with the rats while contemplating my life choices.

Death had been an easy occupation, and now it had caught up with me.

A muted noise sounded in the corridor behind the opposing metal door that held me in here. There was no need for it, considering they had me attached to the wall. Unless I gnawed my hands off through hunger or boredom, there was no way I was even making it as far as that door.

The noise was louder than the normal rat population unless it was king rat coming to survey his kingdom. The gunshot made my eyebrows rise. That was something new in my otherwise mundane existence. Normally, there was just silence and the sound of my thoughts. There was a scuffle and another gunshot, and that definitely got my attention.

“Stop!” a voice shouted from the corridor.

Whoever it was out there with the shouter obviously disagreed since another shot rang out and then there was silence. A face appeared at the bars in the door. The guy looked around the room before bringing his attention back to me.

“You doing okay in there?” he asked, his eyebrows lifting as he spoke.

“Yeah, I booked in to try the starvation diet since I needed to lose a few pounds.” Technically I should have asked him for help, but the asshole in me was rarely ever suppressed.

He nodded. “Lovely room. The cockroaches are a nice added extra. Do you get any other wildlife?”

“A few rats now and again when the weather’s nice. I think they’re waiting for me to die to gnaw on my bones.” I sat and glared at him. It was bad enough I was sitting here waiting to die, but I didn’t really need tourists looking into my enclosure like I was an exhibit in a zoo.

The guy pursed his lips for a moment. “I’m leaving, so if you need any help, now is the time to ask.”

“Why would you help a stranger?” I barely had the strength to hold my head up, but apparently my attitude was going to be the last of me to fade away. I couldn’t remember the last time I had food, and my water came from licking the walls. At this rate, I would have to resort to eating my cockroach population since I hadn’t named them.

“I doubt you’re friends with the guy who owns this place. Considering I just killed him, I’m not on the guest list for his funeral either. The enemy of my enemy and all that…” His voice trailed off and he shrugged.

“Well, I guess since I only had dying scheduled for today, I could squeeze you rescuing me into my diary.”

He disappeared and the tiny spark of hope that had activated in my chest died. My ears pricked at the sound of keys jangling. His head reappeared a few moments later.

“I knew that guard would come in useful. He had the keys to your room in his pocket. You should thank me because I think he pissed himself when I shot him. I fucking hate body fluids on my boots.” The key clinked in the lock and the door swung open. His grin was infectious and he certainly didn’t fit the description of a hired killer.

“Is there a key on there for my chains?” I tried to lift my hand but the weight of the manacles and my lack of food were not a good combination.

He came closer, using the light on his phone to aid his quest. “No offence, but you stink. But, it’s your lucky day. I’m not normally this generous, but my boots have already been defiled, so what’s another stain?”

He was crazy, but if he let me out of here, it was something I was willing to overlook today. The chains fell away from my hands and feet and a foreign emotion fluttered in my chest.

The stranger held out his hand. “Looks like you need someone to help you out. Don’t be thinking this is the type of person I am. Normally, I’m a grumpy shit with a nasty temper.”

“Noted.” I took his hand and let him pull me up. “Thanks for your help. I’m Flynn.”

“Jordan, but most people call me Jay.”

He helped me out of the room with my arm slung across his shoulder. “At least one of us collected the bounty on the hit,” I said.

“Oh, I don’t kill for money. He pissed off a friend of mine, and I took him out as a favour.”

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