Free Reckless (Wrecked) by Elle Casey Page B

arm.  “But what about that murderer?” she asked, her voice an octave too high.
    “Good point,” he said, picking up the knife in one hand and the lamp in the other.  “Jon … arm-up, dude.”
    Jonathan picked up a gun from the floor, examining it a little before letting it hang down at his side.  “Ready.”
    Sarah ran over to him and hugged his neck, kissing him on the cheek.  “Hurry back.  We’ll be right here waiting.”
    Jonathan nodded, following Kevin out of the room and up the stairs, the now steady thumping and banging coming from the girls’ room making him want to run in the other direction as fast as his feet could take him.
    ***
    Kevin threw the door open, hitting the guy in the head.  The murderer had somehow managed to wiggle his way several feet towards the entrance.
    “Arrrrrrr!” yelled the guy on the floor, a string of probable cuss words following, but unintelligible due to the sock in his mouth.
    Kevin closed the door and swung it open again hard, knocking the guy once more.  “That’s for attacking my family, asshole.”  He pushed the door against the guy’s head until it moved him far enough back to free the entrance completely.  Kevin and Jonathan stepped inside, Jonathan going over to the closet to retrieve the girls’ dresses and shoes from inside.
    Kevin squatted down next to the guy who was still completely tied up.  He hooked his finger under the wire going across the guy’s cheek and pulled it down.  He took the sock out of his mouth, waiting for him to stop hacking and wheezing before asking his questions.  “Who sent you here?  Why did you try to kill us?  Why did you kill those agents?”
    The guy glared malevolently at Kevin, making him want to flinch; but he held his ground.  He wasn’t going to let this guy intimidate him.
    “You’re so fucking dead, man.  When I get out of here, I’m going to hunt you down and cut your fucking tongue out of your throat!”
    Kevin held the knife up to the guy’s nose, making him cease his struggles immediately.  “No, dude.  You’re not.  Because I’m going to call the cops and have them come arrest you for the murder of those four agents downstairs.”
    The guy jerked back and forth some more.
    “Just tell us why you want to kill us so bad,” Kevin continued.
    “I don’t question my contracts!  I just fulfill ‘em.  Now let me go, and I’ll agree to let you live.  Otherwise, you’ll be dead by tomorrow.  It doesn’t matter if I’m in jail, they’ll just send someone else.”
    “Who will send someone else?  Who?”
    The guy laughed.  “Oh, that’s rich.  You’ve pissed off Baskov and you don’t even know how.  Stupid kids.”
    Jonathan stepped over, his arms full of taffeta and silk.  “Baskov?  That’s Russian.  We don’t even know any Russians.”
    “You don’t have to know Baskov to get on his bad side,” spat the guy.  “You just have to interfere in his business operations.”
    “What operations?” asked Kevin.
    “If you don’t know, it’s not for me to tell you,” he growled through gritted teeth.
    Kevin reached out and pushed on the nail file that was sticking out of the man’s shoulder.
    “Aaaaaaaggggahhh!  Fuck!   That hurts , man!  What the hell?”
    “Just tell us the answer and we’ll leave you alone.”
    “Drugs!  Prostitutes!  Sex slaves!  Gambling!  Laundering!  You name it, he does it!  Fuck , now leave me alone.  I have to get out of here.”  He struggled against his bonds.
    “You’re not going anywhere,” said Kevin, before reaching up to take the lamp Jonathan had set down on the nearby dresser and bringing it to hover over the guy’s head.
    The guy rolled his eyes.  “Oh, for chrissakes, man, gimme a break.”
    That was the last thing they heard from him before Kevin smashed the lamp down on his temple, sending him back into la-la land.
    “Wow.  Was that absolutely necessary?” asked Jonathan, the dresses making rustling