Cold Brew and Bullets (Part 1 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 27- Have Your Men Ready

My brain didn't process what I had done at first. It was clean, clinical, an execution. I didn't even blink.

I mechanically switched the safety back on and handed it back to Alessio gingerly so that neither of us touched the burning metal. There was a shocked silence in the room as I rubbed the sleeve of my shirt over my face, trying to remove the blowback that had hit me.

I frowned at the even more bloody mess in front of us, only held up by ropes still binding him to the chair. "A better death than he deserved."

Time suddenly felt a little sluggish, and I knew that everyone's eyes were still glued to me. Alessio's words next to me sounded muddled, like I was hearing them underwater through a deep ringing. "I want his body dumped where the Russians will find it. It can be on their front step for all I care, but let them know that what they did isn't going unchecked."

My feet took me to the stairs without much of my consent. I hurried up them, hearing someone not far behind me. From the footfalls, I knew that it was Alessio.

Opening the door to the main floor was like walking outside on a cool night, like I could breathe again. What terrified me about my actions was that I felt the rush of emotions and anxiety that comes with killing someone, but I didn't feel guilt. Remorse wasn't even a thought in my mind when I did it, but shouldn't it have been? It wasn't normal.

Lucia running down the steps with a blanket around her shoulders was what eventually caused me to stop walking. Alessio may have been saying my name, but I didn't hear it until Lucia came down the stairs. She seemed excited about something, but a slight look of confusion crossed her face when she saw the blood on me.

Lucia didn't question it, instead holding her laptop out, "I may have found something."

"I had complete faith," I grinned back, feeling a shake in my throat but knowing my voice would be stable.

Alessio stepped forward, casting a quick look at me before the computer, "What did you find?"

"Don't ask me how I did it, since it's not entirely legal-"

A man walked by with a cup of coffee, wearing a policeman's uniform and looking exhausted, "Because none of you ever have ever broken the law."

Alessio nodded, "Luca."

"Sir. You said something about an interrogation?"

"We got what we needed, but I wanted to make sure there would be no missing person report filed, or if a body turns up that no one can explain, you can make sure it's taken care of."

The man named Luca ran his hand through his hair and mumbled something that sounded oddly like 'I'm going to lose my job one of these days', but then nodded. "Just please don't tell me that you used a cop piece to end it."

"No," I offered. "I don't think it'll be traced back to you."

The man named Luca stared at me oddly and I shrugged, "It was a Sig, and don't cops in this town use Glocks?"

I saw Alessio try to hold in a smirk before nodding to the man, "If you would like to check the situation yourself, he's still in the basement."

Something seemed off to me, like I was supposed to recognize this man but I couldn't. Not until he rested his hand on his belt and took a casual stance. It was him, that police officer that was at the coffee shop after the Russians attacked us and shot Ezrah.

"I shouldn't be surprised," I muttered as he begrudgingly made his way past us towards the basement. "You literally don't leave anything to chance, do you?"