Sister Death (Acid Vanilla Series Book 4), Matthew Hattersley [best book club books for discussion .TXT] 📗

the wall and stretching his arm out to try the handle. It was open. Holding the pistol the correct way around now, he slid across the front of the door and leaned against it, easing it open and leading the way with the muzzle of his gun.

The long hallway was empty as he stepped through into the house, but he could hear voices floating down from Delgado’s luxurious lounge in the south-facing wing of the property. He paused, mentally travelling through the layout of the building. The office, where Acid was being held, where the eggs were, was all the way to the end of this corridor and through a door leading off to the right. With muscles tense, and creeping as softly as his frame allowed, he moved down to the end of the hallway. The voices were louder now and he could pick out Delgado’s booming baritone amongst gruff Eastern-European accents. They were speaking English, but it was difficult to pick out precise words. He glanced around the corner, seeing the door to the lounge open a few inches. In front of the immense, Bond-villain-esque fish tank that ran the length of one wall, sat Luis Delgado with his henchman Hugo and two other men. They talked and laughed whilst a line of young, skimpily dressed girls paraded about in front of them.

Dirty bastards.

Danny’s finger twitched on the trigger of his gun. The only time he’d ever come close to firing a gun was at a funfair, or on his Xbox, but despite his lack of experience the firearm felt comfortable in his hand. How wonderful it would be right now, he thought, to walk in there all guns blazing and put a bullet in all four of their sick skulls.

Save the girls. Kill the baddies.

But no.

That wasn’t the plan.

Focus, Danny. Focus!

The mantra Acid had drummed into him all morning, all afternoon too whilst they planned the heist, echoed around his head. She was correct, of course. If he lost focus now, he could get them both killed. They were here to get the eggs and get out without making a scene. That was it. The start and end of the plan. So whilst it was shitty for those poor girls – like Acid told him – you can’t save everyone. If he started shooting up the place, Delgado’s men would be on him in seconds. He’d be no use to anyone dead. Then what would happen to his poor ma?

Wrenching himself away from the scenes in the lounge, he glanced both ways before moving silently along the next corridor towards Delgado’s office. Once there, he tried the doors but they were locked. He stepped back to better examine the set-up. The two heavy iron bolts top and bottom were easy enough to get open, but a large mortis lock front and centre, not so much. No key.

Where was the damn key?

“Acid,” he whispered through the narrow gap between the doors. “It’s me. You there?”

He heard movement behind the door, then, “Yes, I’m here.”

“Did he hurt you?”

“No, but I need to get out of here. Where is he?”

“Entertaining some guys down the way. He must have the key on him… or wait…”

“What is it?”

He pushed against the doors and they gave way a little with the pressure. “Ya reckon I can bust it open?”

“Reckon you can do it without drawing attention?”

He glanced down the corridor as Delgado and his cronies guffawed vociferously at something unseen around the other side of the door.

“All right, here goes nothing.”

As more laughter emanated from the lounge he took a step back and launched himself at the double doors, barging his shoulder against the lock. He heard a satisfying crack of splintering wood, but the lock remained.

“Come on, ya bugger.”

He raised the pistol, half expecting to see Hugo running down the corridor. But the occupants of the lounge seemed oblivious to any commotion. No doubt they were too engrossed in their sordid little fashion show to notice. With his heart in his throat, he went again, pushing off from the opposite wall, smashing into the doors with all he had. The impact sent a judder of electric pain shooting through his body, but with a loud crack the lock gave way and he burst into the room with a flourish of energy.

Feck yeah.

He’d done it.

He grabbed Acid’s hand as she ran over to him, feeling suddenly like he could take on the world, feeling like Arnie, Indiana Jones and James Bond all rolled into one.

“Come on,” he growled. “Let’s get those eggs and get the hell out of here.”

Forty-Seven

Acid stared open-mouthed as Danny yanked at her hand. “We need to move. Now.”

She swallowed back a ball of emotion. To say she was impressed by how expertly he’d negotiated her rescue would be an understatement, but there was more going on than just that. The dark presence that had been lurking on the edge of her awareness was finally rising to the surface, threatening to consume her.

She swallowed again and found her voice. “Wait, there’s a problem. Only one of the eggs is here.”

Danny scowled at the display cabinet, then back to her as she opened her purse to reveal the single Fabergé egg. “Righto. That’s the Hen with Pendant egg,” he said. “Not the one I stole originally. D’ya think…”

“…Magpie’s still got that one? Yes. I know she has it.”

She watched his expression, the excitement on display as he’d burst into the room now fading as the realisation hit home.

“Can’t be helped,” he said. “Let’s worry about that once we’re safe.”

They hurried over to the door and peered around the frame. No one in sight. “You got a location on Delgado?” she asked him.

“He’s entertaining some associates at the far end of this corridor. The lounge. It’s big. Open plan. Looks to be doing some sort of deal. It’s not good.”

She turned to look at him. “How do you mean?”

“Girls.” He grimaced. “Young girls.”

The dark presence inside of her let out a