Benny could be mean and bitter at times. It was difficult to tell what made him tick. But one thing's for sure, his cynicism, skepticism, and suspicion definitely rubbed off on me. I don't believe happiness is a farce, and I also don't believe our little bubble is going to float peacefully through the air forever. You don't just escape or evade the people I work for, even if you are related to them. Sooner or later, everything is going to go pop!
That exact moment I witness the bubble burst. The gunshot rings aloud, and Baz goes down.
My skin prickles from my lower back to the tip of my scalp as I scream inside. I don't utter a sound, though. I just do what I've been conditioned to do. I fight back. I hit the floor as bullets fly through the windows, shattering the glass. My main concern is Baz, so I pull out the two automatics I stashed under the sink, stand up, and open fire out the broken window. I didn't see the trajectory of the bullets, but I can guess where it came from. I send a spray out into the woods as Baz Army crawls across the dirt to the door. Relief briefly flutters in my stomach as he moves in my peripheral vision. I provide cover long enough for him to slither inside.
"Stevie," he calls my name, holding his shoulder.
"I'm fine." I continue pulling the triggers until I'm out. "I think there's more than one." I base my assumption on the amount of shots fired into the house in the short period of time and the locations of the bullet holes. Unless that one hitter is packing some kind of monster of an automatic. Not likely. "We need to move. Upstairs." I drop the guns in the farmhouse sink and creep over to Baz, making sure to keep down. We need to move quickly.
"Upstairs?" he questions as I hook my arm around his and lead him to the stairs. "We'll get trapped in."
"No, we won't," I argue. "We'll have total visibility of the house from the second floor. The floor plan is too open to hide. We'll draw them into the house and then pick them off." We start up the stairs on all fours, keeping our heads down. Another shower of bullets flies through the house just as we make it to the second floor.
"Fuck, they're closing in." I draw Baz into the master bedroom and shut the door. We never discussed an escape plan if something like this ever happened, but it doesn't mean I don't have one. "Show me your shoulder," I demand in a hurry as I pull a sniper rifle and shotgun out from underneath the bed. Blood is seeping through his fingers covering the wound.
I cock the shotgun in one hand as I inspect the hole in Baz's shoulder. "It went straight through." Thank God.
"It hurts like a son of a bitch."
"Now's not the time to be a pussy. I assume you know how to use this." I hand over the double barrel.
Baz takes the gun with an incredulous expression on his face. "You're lucky I love you, you know that?"
I smile cheekily. "Let's go kill some bad guys and get the fuck out of here. The honeymoon is over." I head to the door. "Stay behind me."
"You're being very bossy right now," Baz whispers.
I glance back at him and smirk. "Two very important people's lives are at stake. I have the right to be bossy."
I drop to the floor and inch across the wood, slipping the neck of the rifle through two spindles of the banister. From this angle, I can see the front door and still be hidden from anyone creeping around the wall to come up the stairs.
"Stevie?" Baz mummers.
"Yeah?" I look through the eyeglass, getting ready.
"When did you hide firearms under the bed?"
I smile, exhaling into a comfortable position, my finger resting on the trigger.
"I told you I don't like to be blindsided."
When Baz told me there was ammo underground, I took it upon myself to go snooping. I found a hatch door under a rug in the back of the house by the washer and dryer. When I climbed down into the hidden room, or should I say warehouse, I discovered the motherload. It was like walking through an armory. If it maims, kills, or blows up, it was down there. I helped myself, stashing all types of guns around the house wherever I could. Baz may hate Benny, but he can thank him for making me paranoid.
I inhale a deep breath when I see the barrel of a gun sneak around the wall to the staircase. Let the duck hunt begin.
I hold still, maintaining my patience until a head follows the floating gun. I pull the trigger as soon as a man's face comes into view.
Bullet straight to the temple.
I hear Baz's choppy breathing and uncomfortable moans behind me.
"You better not be dying on me back there."
He huffs. "I'm good, killer."
The nickname sends a cold shiver down my spine. Baz has never seen me like this. In my element. And I'm not sure how I feel about that.