Page 69 of Brutal Truths

“Suit yourself.” I slam the boot and head for the tall grassy field directly in front of us.

Zander falls in behind me without hesitation.

Silas, however, heads for the road. When he realizes we aren’t, he questions our sanity again. “What the fuck are you doing now? I’m not about to walk in through that shit. We’re taking the road like reasonable blokes.”

“Not me,” I say right before disappearing into the overgrown meadow, leaving him behind.

“Me, either.” Zander slips in behind, a quiet snicker following. “You think he’ll follow us?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care.” I move with practiced ease through the tall grass, careful to avoid any rustling that might give us away.

“Goddammit, you wankers are paying for my dry cleaning and buying me new shoes,” Silas grumbles as he tramples his way through the grass, swatting at it like it’ll move out of his way if he hits it hard enough.

“Stop.” I catch his arm and lock it in place. “The key to this working is not to alert the arseholes waiting to shoot us we’re coming. That means we move slowly. You keep doing that and you’re going to ruin the element of surprise. Now get behind Zander and step where he steps.”

He jerks his arm free, finger jabbing into my face. “I should shoot you for talking to me like that.”

Refusing to be intimidated, I confront him. “You can shoot me later. Right now, get behind Zander and shut the fuck up. No talking.”

He won’t last. He never does. The man loves the sound of his own voice.

Five minutes later, Silas proves me right. The wind picks up and a flock of birds takes flight three hundred yards out.

“What the fuck was that?” He raises his gun, then lowers it when he realizes it’s just birds.

I throw up my hand, fist closed, the universal signal to stop. Not that Silas would know that, but Zander does. He plants a hand against Silas’s chest to halts him.

Birds don’t spook just because the wind shifts. Something else set them off. The question is what?

“Why the fuck didn’t you drive us up to the barn?” With a grunt of annoyance, Silas slaps Zander’s hand away. “Jesus, look at my loafers. They are fucking ruined. Do you know how much these cost? Five thousand pounds. Bet you wish you’d driven us, don’t you?”

“Hush,” Zander grunts, a warning low and firm.

“Don’t fucking tell me to hush.” Silas’s voice climbs, his words sharp and edged with irritation.

The crunch of footsteps walking along the gravel road has Zander tackling Silas to the ground. On the way down, he clamps a hand over his mouth, making his next words come out muffled.

“What the fuck, man? Get off me.”

“You want to get shot?” On his knees, Zander points to the road. Two men stand there, aiming their guns at where the birds took flight. “Now shut up.”

We hold our positions. No one moves until the men head back up the road toward the barn.

Once they are far enough away, Zander leans closer. “Think they saw our vehicle?”

“No.” I flick my hand forward. “You parked far enough down the overgrown road. It’s hidden. Move.”

“I know what I’m doing.” Zander snickers and then grunts when Silas shoves him from behind. “Do that again, and next time I’ll let you get shot.”

I turn around. Both men are giving the other a death glare. “How about you both wait until after we get this shit taken care of before you go killing each other?”

“You two are on my shit list,” Silas snaps, nodding us forward. “Perhaps it’s time to let our newest bonesmen throw some punches your way. Haven’t had a proper street fight in ages. How many do you think you can handle at once? Four? Five?”

Neither of us bothers to answer. He’s blowing off steam, reminding us he’s the warlord. And he is, even if he doesn’t always act like one. One day he’ll take over. Hopefully, by then, I’ll be long gone.

The rest of the walk is torture. He doesn’t shut up. Grumbling on about respect, loyalty, and what happens when you cross him. Threats wrapped in ego. At one point, he even jabbers on about demoting us back to the bottom and making us work our way back up.

Jesus, I’m tempted to shoot him just to shut him up.