Page 126 of Angelic Vengeance

Pulling my own balaclava over my face, and leaving only my eyes visible, I grabbed the machine gun from my bag. I was about to step away from the shadows, when a familiar silhouette did it first, entering my field of vision and turning my blood to ice.

“I’m going to ask you one more time.Where. Is. It.”

Nothing.

Ruiz pulled her arm back before smashing it into the captive’s face. Despite the force of the punch, there was no response. “Let’s get moving! I want all of the narcotics gone by the time the feds get here!” Her words faded as she left the warehouse, taking the others with her to search outside.

The weird itch which had been bothering me my whole life in regards to Ruiz, suddenly evaporated. I’d always known there was something about her that I couldn’t put my finger on. Even after she confessed ‘everything’ in the Cuban Embassy three years ago, I still had a feeling there were many things I didn’t know.

Hidden truths, bold lies and lingering betrayal. Maybe that’d been why I felt little to no guilt when I decided to work with Francesca as her contractor and to double the government.

Ruiz had been doing the same thing all along.

Maybe in some twisted, fucked-up way we were the same. She had been the one to raise and train me all these years after all.

But now, I was going to kill her. With the same moves she once taught me.

And unlike Cuba three years ago, I wasn’t going to be nice enough to deliver a mere shot to the head.

With my face covered by the mask, I stepped into the eerily lit warehouse. I must’ve made it five steps before I got stopped.

“Angel? What are you doing here?”

My stomach churned as I turned around, only to see Rooster; another fellow federal agent.Well,fuck me sideways. Never thought this one had it in him to two-way the U.S. government.

However, when my eyes met the eyes of another soldier, and another, I realized they wereallagents.Dirty federal agents.It wasn’t just Ruiz who’d been lying to me, but my whole team. And they were all part of it. What had I gotten myself into? I should’ve never signed that goddamn contract in Cuba.

“I just got appointed.” My voice came out unbothered; maybe even bored.

“Ruiz didn’t mention you were finally joining us.”

I’d been right all those years ago. I was dealing with a goddamn sociopath.

“Since when does she tell you everything?” I was always the favorite agent on the team and they all knew it. If fuckingRoosterwas in on it, then no doubt Ruiz would’ve turned me too.Why hadn’t she already?Would I have accepted?

He cleared his throat. “Right.”

A deep, muffled chuckle came from my side. I turned to the captive.

Rooster smirked and signaled for me since I was standing next to the tied-up collateral. “He’s your kill now, Angel.”

I internally groaned. Couldn’t he have just kept his fucking mouth shut? Now, I had to hurt someone on Francesca’s team.

Out of reflex, I lifted the machine gun. “Que sueñes con los angelitos,” I said to the Italian captive, who’d have no idea what I was saying, before hitting them in the face with the back of the gun, knocking them out cold.

Rooster’s voice filled the large warehouse again. “You know… I still think Ruiz would’ve mentioned it.”

I faced him, not saying a word. It wouldn’t have mattered if I did, because within a split second, he exchanged a knowing look with the others and reached for his gun.

On instinct, I raised my gun and shot him first, then three others before hiding behind a cement pillar and taking the rest out one by one. Less than ten seconds for federal agents?Pathetic.I could now understand how Ruizhad been able to rob such a large criminal organization – she stabbed them in the back. It was her specialty after all.

However, when I stepped in the clear and took in the massacre, the reality of the situation kicked in. For the first time in my life, my hand shook while holding a firearm. Slowly, I lowered the weapon, analyzing the irreversible damage in front of me.

Six federal agents lay dead on the dirty floor in front of me while the criminal was merely knocked out. Forty-two confirmed kills.

What the fuck had I done?

The lightest thud echoed behind me. I twisted in the speck of a second and pointed my gun to find what I had expected; Ruiz at the end of my muzzle. Despite her best efforts, I recognized the faintest alarm in her eyes. She hadn’t expected me to hear her.