Page 79 of Lose to Win: Lost Trilogy: Part 3
“The perimeter of the house is clear. The same car we saw on the cameras is parked in front of Emily’s house. Only Steve and Kenneth Adams went inside with her. No one else came after, and no one else has been here before this.”
“It’s odd that it’s just the two of them,” Sully says out loud what I’ve been thinking as well.
“That’s because the rest of the team of misfits is dead, Mr. Sully,” Devereaux points out.
“The cameras inside the house have been disabled,” I inform everyone. I tried to look on our way here. They all show as offline.”
“It makes sense,” Sully nods my way.
“Yeah. If the person who used to maintain them is dead, these morons most likely don’t even know how to log into the system.”
“Very true,” Malone agrees. “But it makes it more complicated for us now. It would’ve been nice to be able to see what’s happening inside the house.”
The cell phone in Malone’s hand goes off, bringing all our attention to it.
“Talk to me,” he grumbles, listens for a few seconds, then just hangs up.
“What did they say?” I ask when no one else does.
He sighs heavily and has a hard time meeting my eyes, or his boss’.
“There was a gunshot heard from inside the house.”
It takes me quite a while to process what he just said. But when he does, all hell breaks loose. I don’t say anything. I just turn around on my heels and start running the three blocks to Emily’s house.
“Puck,” my brother calls from behind me. “Fuck, wait!”
I don’t wait. I run faster. We wasted all this time chit chatting and trying to formulate a plan while my woman was getting shot inside that house.
Heavy footsteps continue sounding behind me until they catch up. It’s Sully, and he doesn’t attempt to stop me.
“We gotta be smart, okay?” he tells me. “You’ll finally get your turn at him. But let’s be smart.”
I thank God that I am in decent shape because by the time we get closer to Emily’s house, my breathing is heavy, but I am not ready to pass out from it.
“I’m gonna go round the back,” Sully tells me as he tries to catch his breath. “Since they don’t have any cameras working, that’s perfect.”
“Perfect,” I nod at him, hands on my hips. “I’m gonna go right to the front door and distract them.”
We nod at each other, both of us ready to go through with our tasks. We both stop at the same time and turn toward each other.
“I love you, man,” I grin at him. “Be careful out there. We got lots to talk about once this is over, yeah?”
“Your ass better come out in one piece too,” he smirks at me right before turning around and jogging on the alley that’s two houses down from Emily’s. It will give him access to the back yards on that side, one of them being exactly the one we need.
I take a deep breath in and walk fast toward the front of Emily’s house. I take the two steps that lead me up on her porch and to the door. I lean my ear against the hard surface, holding my breath as I try to eavesdrop to whatever is happening on the other side.
It’s quiet for a few moments, and then I hear someone laughing. A male. My money is on Uncle Kenny. I let out all the air out of my lungs and try to center myself. It’s show time.
My knock on the door sounds loud enough to be heard from outer space. There’s some commotion on the other side, but no one is coming to the door, so I do it again.
“Uncle Kenny,” I call out. “I know you’re in there, and I know you’re here for me. Open up.”
I hold my breath when I hear the lock moving, and then the door opens in slow motion. Emily’s body fills the space in the small crack that allows me to look inside.
“Puck,” she whispers, eyes filled with tears, but none running down her face. She is trying to stay strong. I’ve never been prouder.
“Let me in, babe.”
