Page 80 of Declan

“What kind of crimes?”

“Crimes against humanity mostly,” he answers easily.

“Make them pay how?”

“Depends on the severity of their crime,” he says with a smile. “But most often, they pay with their lives.”

Her eyes widen, but she seems more curious than horrified as she whispers, “They murder people?”

He laughs, and Tony joins him. I do my best to hide my smile, and I see Matt doing the same thing, and it’s Matt who answers, “Most of the time, they’re practically begging for it, so I’d call it more of a mercy killing.”

Dare throws his head back and laughs even harder as I choke, and Tony cackles beside me. Jessica has a bemused look on her face, but then realization dawns on her, and she frowns and elbows Matt in the ribs as she sputters, “Oh my god. Stop.”

Matt is still watching the phone screen, but he smiles good-naturedly, not even bothering to defend himself.

We travel in silence for a few moments, and then Matt says, “Exit here,” and Tony slows, taking the exit and continuing to follow Matt’s instructions without question.

After a few minutes, we end up near an industrial park, and Tony pulls off the road, out of sight. Dare is grumbling in the backseat, and Tony snorts beside me and says, “Dare gets grumpy when he sees any building even resembling a warehouse.”

“Shut up, Tony,” Dare snipes. “You’re not any fonder of warehouses than I am.”

“What’s wrong with a warehouse?” Jessica asks.

“He probably has PTSD,” Tony retorts, and Dare puts up his middle finger and waves it.

I roll my eyes, opening the car door as I say, “Let’s get serious, guys. We have work to do.”

I exit the vehicle, and they all follow suit, following me to the back, where I open the trunk. Then, Tony asks, “We gonna do this old school or are we going in guns blazing?”

“Shouldn’t we do some recon or something?” Jessica asks with a frown.

“We’re going to kill two birds with one stone,” I reply. “We’ll go in prepared for anything and then decide how to handle it once we know what’s going on.”

I yank the carpet up in the trunk, exposing a fingerprint sensor, and Matt grins and says, “How is that thing working out for you?”

“It’s slick. I haven’t had to use it for much of anything so far, but it’s nice to know I have options if I run into problems.”

Jessica steps in close to me, looks down at the secret compartment, and then says, “For Christ’s sake, Declan. Is that really necessary?”

“You’d be surprised. I’ve been in a few tussles, where having this handy would’ve saved me a lot of trouble.”

She sighs and asks, “Which one do I get?”

“Do you know anything about guns?” Tony asks.

“I was raised in the backwoods of the northeast,” she replies dryly. “I can hold my own.”

He nods appreciatively and says, “Ladies first, then,” indicating for her to choose her weapon.

She steps forward, looking over her choices briefly before picking up a Glock, checking to see if it’s loaded, and then grabbing extra mags before she steps back.

Matt’s watching her with an odd smile on his face. I elbow Dare, motioning to Matt with my chin, and Dare laughs. Tony, noticing what we’re up to, also laughs and whispers, “That poor bastard.”

We all laugh, and Jessica looks up questioningly, her brow furrowing as she asks, “Shouldn’t you guys be a bit more serious, given the circumstances?”

We all shrug, but we manage to stop laughing, and Matt responds, “Probably, but misplaced humor is how we cope with stress.”

I nod in agreement and add, “It’s been proven that we can be looking down the barrel of a gun and still crack a joke. It’s a blessing as well as a curse.”

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