“Shit! Intruder!” A voice screamed in the darkness, way too fucking close for my liking.
A stream of bullets from my automatic cut the fuck in two the instant he was in my sights. The fuckers were no sloths, though. I hit the cold metal floor as suppression fire came my way.
One of my men got hit clambering up the ship. Poor fucker's scream was cut off long before he toppled back into the waves, dead in an instant. Hoped like hell we'd get at least four out of seven up here. Rossini had a small advantage in numbers, but we had surprise on our side, and we used it like a five dollar whore.
The assholes weren't expecting a full on assault by more than a couple guys, much less at night. Gunfire rattled the entire ship, lighting up the night all directions. One thing was for sure: after tonight, this fucking ship was never gonna carry a millionaire client again. They'd be lucky if a few floors and walls escaped being turned to Swiss cheese.
“Keep your fire hot, boys. I'm going in for the big target.” I tapped my radio on my collar and ran, crouching low and weaving close to the scant storage containers on deck for cover.
One lucky hit would've put me down. The assholes kept firing my way even when my boys trained all their fire on the upper deck, but I wasn't stopping for nothing.
It was all in destiny's hands now. Besides, the desperation in their shots told me I was heading the right way, closer to the man they were protecting. Closer to my woman.
I hit the floor and rolled just inches from the door. A fat round zipped past my head, screaming like an angry hawk.
My rifle cracked the glass window and I reached in to unlock it from the other side. One quick jerk of the knob and I pushed in.
Gunfire continued exploding behind me. Thank fuck we were so far out to sea the Coast Guard wasn't likely to come sniffing around so far from the Jersey shore during a storm.
I ran down the hall, turning tight corners and aiming my gun at the empty spaces. The fuckers above must've been overwhelmed with the battle, directing all their manpower there to fight my boys. I still expected Rossini to have a few guards somewhere below decks.
So far, nothing.
I stopped outside a gold plated door that could only belong to the chief asshole. Pressing my ears to the it, I listened for voices, hoping to hear somebody inside I could kill or rescue.
It took about a minute. There!
I'd recognize the faint, unmistakable pitch of Anna's voice anywhere. She was talking to her old man in hushed, scared whispers.
Fuck. She was gonna be terrified when I broke down the damned door and swung my gun at his rotten face, but prolonging this shit a second longer than necessary would only make things worse.
No more delays. I twisted my rifle high overhead and smashed it against the door as hard as I could.
Anna screamed. Rossini yelled and there was a blur of fierce blue motion as I broke in.
The old goat was a quicker draw than I ever would've guessed. I saw the bastard for the first time since I'd had a knife to his evil throat. Only this time I had my rifle pointed at him, ready to cut his guts in two, more than a match for the pitiful nine millimeter he aimed at my chest.
The armor underneath my jacket would let me absorb a shot. I doubted he'd thought that far ahead.
“Drop the fucking weapon now, asshole,” I growled. “Whatever's gonna happen between us, you let her go. She doesn't deserve to be caught in the crossfire.”
Old man Rossini stared me down. His lips twitched. He said nothing as his hand went down, lowering the gun. I nodded, satisfied, and was about to pull the trigger when Anna moved, stepping diagonal away from her corner.#p#分页标题#e#
Okay, whatever. The girl deserved a few seconds to get in another room before I turned the fuck-face who'd raised her into gory mush.
I watched her sweet fucking body cross one half of the room and stop. Right in front of my gun.
“What the fuck? Move, Anna.” My heart dived in my chest and came back up like a rocket.
She stared at me with hard, conflicted eyes, just standing right in front of her old man. Fuck!
Girl left me no goddamned choice but to lower my gun.
Then she said the words that ripped into my soul. “You can't shoot him, David. Tell your men to put a stop to this fighting.”
I looked at her a good long minute. I was shaking my head before the words reached my lips. Christ, what the fuck had he done to her here? Did some asshole crack her on the head when she was taken from the casino? Had she forgotten what he was, the fact that he'd tried to off her himself?
“Babe, I dunno what you're thinking, but you need to step aside right now.” I paused, listening to the distant explosions above us. There weren't nearly as many as before, which told me my boys had made good progress.