Page 66 of All Your Pain
The door’s already unlocked and we sneak through. There’s no cameras inside the property, that was one of the first things I checked when it came down to deciding to do the kill here away from the public eye. The only camera is on the front gate but I disabled that ahead of time.
There’s no sign of the remaining guard as we make our way upstairs. The house is silent and dark, perfect for sneaking around but then I start to worry that Abato might not even be home and this whole night has been a waste of time, until I see a faint light coming from under a bedroom door up ahead.
I give Bones a nod as I grab the door handle and slowly turn it. Bones rushes in first with his gun drawn.
We both stop short as we see two people in the room. Abato is asleep in bed, having not even stirred from our stealthy entrance and on the floor at the foot of the bed is a woman, naked and chained to the bedpost.
Her pitch black hair obscures her face but I can see the bruises that litter her body. As we step closer she doesn’t move, I can only just see her chest moving from here so she’s alive at least. Right now, I’m not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.
Bones shoots me a look but I shrug. I haven’t a fucking clue who she is or why she’s here. She wasn’t part of the plan. I leave Bones to deal with her as I go to Abato.
“She’s drugged,” Bones whispers, sounding way too angry about the situation than he should.
“You know her or something?” I ask and Bones shakes his head. “Why do you care then? She’s probably some whore. Either kill her or leave her.”
I hold my knife to Abato’s throat, surprised that he’s still not woken up and Bones suddenly snaps, “wait!”
“What the hell?” I hiss quietly.
“We should question him. Find out who she is.”
Is he fucking serious?
I shake my head and turn back to Abato but Bones rushes over, yanking me away from the man and inadvertently waking him up.
“What the—,” Abato says, his breath stinking of stale booze. I press my hand to his mouth before he can call for help but it’s too late. He’s already managed to reach for the security button on his nightstand.
“Fuck. We have about ten minutes to get out of here. We don’t have time to fucking talk.”
“Where’s the key?” Bones asks as he ignores me. Abato starts to panic and begins to flail as he tries to fight me off.
He’s a burly man, in his late fifties. Using his size against me he manages to land a few hits, knocking me back enough for him to be able to make a run for the door.
“Shit!” I chase after him down the hall and propel myself forward on the balls of my feet so I can stab my knife into his back. I manage to get him just below the shoulder and he cries out as I steer him towards the wall.
As he howls in pain the elusive security guard finally shows his face from down the hall. He shouts out a warning for me to move away and when I don’t he fires off a few rounds, I manage to maneuver Abato in front of me as a shield and one of the bullets hits him in the stomach.
What sort of shit show security is he hiring that they'd open fire like that?
“No, stop!” he shouts to the guard as we’re both knocked back by the force. My side connects with a corner of a small table, throwing me off balance and I lose my grip on Abato. He lands with a loud grunt and doesn’t stop groaning as he rolls onto his side clutching at his stomach.
Bones finally joins me in the fight and sneaks up behind the guard, planting his palms either side of his head and twisting sharply to the side. He tries to fight Bones off but his own struggles only aid in Bones's manoeuvre and his neck snaps, his body dropping to the floor. “Shit, Carver, did he get you?”
I give myself a quick feel over. There’s an odd feeling in my side, I assume from knocking into the table, but I don’t have time for a thorough check right this second. We’ve only got a few more minutes to get out of here. “I think I’m good.”
Bones goes back into the bedroom and returns with the girl in his arms. “What are you doing with her?”
“I can’t just leave her,” Bones says with unease in his voice. I shake my head as I get to my feet, then I roll Abato over with the tip of my boot and pull my knife from his back.
“Please! Please, don’t! I have money, you can keep the girl and I’ll give you whatever you want!” he begs me but his pleas fall on uncaring ears.
This whole night has gone to shit and I didn’t even get to enjoy myself. I had the whole image of how I was going to flay Abato ready in my head.
With a sigh I plunge my knife into his heart and hold it there until he goes limp. After pulling it out I wipe it off on his cheek and snap a photo of his corpse.
“If any of this gets connected back to us, I’m blaming it all on you,” I say, pointing my knife at Bones.
He doesn’t take his eyes off the girl in his arms. I know that look all too well.