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Murphy
“Oh shit.”
“Fuuuuck.”
“What the hell?” I scowled.
“I knew Creed wasn’t going to be able to keep his mouth shut,” Apollo laughed.
We had arrived at the gas station next to the motel Brandt was staying, and Leo was there instead of just Creed greeting us. And he did not look happy.
“Uh, I think I’ll just stay in the SUV,” Princeton muttered.
“Coward,” I laughed. The list of people I was cautious and slightly afraid of was short, and Leo was at the top of that list.
“I just don’t get how he found out we were coming,” Apollo grumbled.
Leo moved to the SUV. “Might as well get this over with,” I muttered. I opened my door and stepped out.
Apollo and Princeton followed suit, but none of us were moving fast. We gathered in front of the SUV and all cased the area before anyone spoke. It was a busy gas station, but no one seemed to be worried about what we were doing.
“Is this what you assholes are going to do now? I give an order, and you decide to do your own thing?” he demanded. “I told you I would handle Brandt.”
“That’s bullshit, Leo. There’s no reason why you have to take Brandt down on your own,” Princeton pointed out.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “We all want to put him in the ground. Why should you get all of the fun?”
Leo shook his head. “Because if anything happens, I’m the only one who goes down for this.”
“Again, why?” Apollo asked.
Leo growled and looked at each of us. “Because you have families, women you care about.” His eyes flashed at me. “Women you would die for.”
“I’ve been with Greer for years,” Apollo pointed out. “Why the sudden change of pulling us from taking care of business?”
“I’ve been pulling you for years, Apollo; you just never caught on to it.”
Creed tipped his head to the side. “Now that you mention it,” he drawled. “There were a few times I was pissed off that Apollo got to hang back when we went in guns blazing.”
Leo nodded. “I may be a ruthless and heartless man when it comes to business, but when it comes to you guys, I will do anything to keep you spinning around on this planet for as long as possible. Sending you three away while I took care of business was my plan this time, but obviously, you three didn’t fall in line.”
Princeton held up his hands. “Sorry, Leo, but at the end of the day, we’re family, and family comes first. We weren’t going to let you do this yourself.”
Leo ran his fingers through his hair. “Alright,” he grunted. “I can’t go back and fix this, so we’re just going to have to handle this together.” He nodded to Creed. “Creed has been watching the place since we got word he was here.”
“Anyone with him?” Apollo asked.
Creed nodded. “He’s got two guys with him. One was in the back and one in the room with him. The guy in the room is keeping watch over the front door.”
Brandt hadn’t picked the best motel to shack up in. He was on the ground floor, and each room had its own access to the parking lot.
It would have been easy to take down Brandt without a guy watching the door.
“I’ll take the guy in the back,” Creed offered. “Two of you can take the front door of the room. Brandt’s grunt drank four cups of coffee this morning and should be needing to use the head soon. He’s got the blinds pushed back enough to where we can see into the room.”
“This is going to be like shooting fish in a barrel,” Apollo laughed. “You would have at least thought the idiot would keep his curtains shut.”
Leo shrugged. “I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. We know Brandt is more lucky than he is skilled. We get in the room, take him out, and we are out of here before anyone can remember our faces.”
Simple, but simple was always best for these types of things.
“Apollo and Princeton take the door,” Leo ordered. “Once you’re in, Murphy and I will follow.”
“Let’s get it, boys. It’s time for Brandt to see just who he had been messing with.” Apollo nodded to Creed. “You’ve got three minutes to revitalize the back before we move on to the front door.”
Creed smiled. “I’ll only need one minute.”
“Let’s go,” Leo grunted.
We loaded into the two vehicles and drove around to the motel parking lot.
Creed crept around to the back, and the rest of us waited.
“I bet he’s already got him,” I laughed. “You know Creed don’t mess around with shit like this.”
“Yeah, you’re more than right,” Apollo agreed.
A loud whistle sounded.
“How the hell is he so fast?” Princeton wondered. “That wasn’t even a minute.”
I didn’t care that Creed was quick; it just meant we could handle this quicker.
We watched the window of Brandt’s room, and like clockwork, the guy on the door got up and went to the bathroom.
“We’re gonna be home by dinner,” Apollo laughed.
We moved out of the SUV. Apollo and Princeton approached the door while Leo and I stayed by the SUV.
“You don’t need to do this, Murphy.”
I glared at Leo. “What the hell are you talking about?” I asked.
“You finally got what you wanted. Tatum is back in your life, and I don’t want Brandt to mess it up any more than he already has.”
I shook my head and held my gun at my side. “Brandt isn’t messing with my life anymore. He’s got about five minutes left of sucking air, and then he’s dead. I’m not missing it.”
Leo shook his head but didn’t argue.
“You’re family, Leo. All of you. I’m not going to turn my back on you because I have Tatum now. If anything, it makes me want to stand up more to the pieces of shit who think they can take knock us off.” I shook my head. “No one is going to take what we have. Brandt is going to be an example of what happens when you try to mess with the Banachis.”
“Fine,” Leo muttered.
Apollo and Princeton kicked in the door to the room, and shouts interrupted from the room.
“It’s showtime,” I smiled.
We quickly jogged to the room and met Creed on the way.
We shut the door behind us, and Creed closed the curtains.
“All good in back?” Leo asked.
Creed nodded. “Taken care of.”
Apollo walked out of the bathroom, wiping his hands on a towel, and tossed it in the sink. “Asshole shot himself before I could even lay a hand on him.”
“It’s always nice when the trash takes itself out,” I laughed.
Princeton had Brandt pinned to the floor with a knee in his back and a gun to his head.
“Fuck you!” he yelled. “Fuck you all!”
“Was he always this charming?” Apollo asked.
“Flip him over,” Leo ordered. “I want him to look me in the eye when I take his life.”
Princeton flipped him over, and Apollo moved to help hold him down.
“Stop flailing around,” Apollo grunted. “You’re just gonna make this worse.”
Brandt kicked his leg and missed Apollo’s head by a couple of inches.
Leo moved over him and drew his gun. “You couldn’t just leave us alone,” Leo drawled.
Brandt spat at Leo and cussed him out. “Fuck you, asshole. You think you own everything and everyone, but you don’t! You don’t even know what’s happening right under your nose.”
I tipped my head to the side.
Leo glanced at Apollo.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I demanded. “You think we don’t know what you were up to?”
Brandy laughed manically. “You didn’t have a fucking clue what I was doing until I grabbed you and that bitch woman of yours.”
I landed a kick to Brandt’s side, and he groaned in pain. “Even think about my woman, and I’ll shove your dick down your throat, asshole.”
Brandt moaned and groaned.
“What do you mean I don’t know what’s going on under my nose?” Leo demanded. “Tell me what that means.”
A slick smile spread across Brandt’s lips. “You think you’re so slick, and your business is clean.” Brandt shook his head and bucked under Creed and Apollo. “For years, you’ve had a traitor,” he screamed. “How do you think I was always two steps ahead of you? I knew you were coming here before you even did.”
Leo glanced at Creed. Candace was the one who had given Leo and Creed the place to stay in Minnesota.
“Putting it together?” Brandt called. “All along, you’ve had a snake just living with you, Leo. She knew your every move; all she had to do was tell me. I can’t tell you how many times I could have taken you out, but I didn’t.”
“Shut the fuck up!” Creed screamed.
“You can kill me, but she’s not going to stop. She’s not going to let you go.” Brandt laughed manically. “My sister is going to kill you each, one by one. When you least expect it, she’s going to kill you. For fifteen years, she’s watched and studied you. It’s only a matter of time–”
Leo pulled the trigger and shot a bullet right between his eyes.
Brandt instantly went limp, his eyes open and mouth agape.
“Holy fuck,” Apollo gasped. “Candace is Brandt’s sister?”
“How the fuck did we miss that?” I demanded.
Leo shot at Brandt again, this time at his heart, and then dropped his arm to his side. “Clean this up, and let’s get a move on.” Leo looked at each of us. “We’ve got some exterminating to do back home.”