Takedown by Heather Atkinson (latest books to read txt) 📕

resounding bang as it impacted on the metal gantry. Despite Ben’s struggles, Vance was able to flip him onto his front. He wrenched his arms up his back while Faith pinned down his legs as he thrashed.

“Kev,” she yelled. “Hurry up.”

Kevin rushed up to them wielding a roll of gaffer tape.

“I can’t find the end,” he exclaimed, frantically scratching at it with his nail.

“Haven’t you just used it to tie up Amanda?” grimaced Faith as she struggled to maintain her grip on Ben.

“Yeah but I dropped it and lost the end again. Got it,” he said triumphantly.

Vance and Faith only released Ben once his hands were taped behind his back and his ankles were tethered together. When he started to yell and complain, Kevin slapped some tape over his mouth.

“Thank God for that,” breathed Faith. She was aching and sore but the night wasn’t over yet. “Are you okay?” she asked Vance.

“Fine,” he panted, still recovering his breath from the savage fight. “You?”

“Fine.” The urge to take his hand was so strong she almost gave into it. Instead she looked to Kevin. “Where’s Caleb?”

“Shoving the other two into the van,” he replied.

“Did they give you any trouble?”

Kevin snorted. “Course not.”

“Let’s put Ben and Amanda in the van with their friends. Jason, you can come out now,” she said into the microphone. “Kev, can you retrieve the two guns that fell into the netting?”

“On it,” he said before jogging back into the room where Amanda was tied up.

“We caused some damage,” said Vance, frowning at the bullet holes in the walls.

“I know,” replied Faith, gathering up the pistols he and Ben had dropped. “But we’ll have to sort it out later.”

Vance looked down at Ben. “Come on dickhead. You’re going to have a reunion with your friends.”

Amanda gasped when she was doused in cold water. Her body ached and her head thumped. It took her hazy vision a moment to clear, eyes still stinging slightly from the effects of the smoke canisters. She found she was bound to a chair, Faith and her brothers facing her. Ranged around the room was who she recognised to be Tariq and four of his friends, who worked for the siblings. All of them were smiling with anticipation. Tariq held a gagged and bound Mickey Gunning, who was slumped on his knees. Ben was on Amanda’s left and on her right were a terrified Rick and Eddie, the four of them in a row. Her three colleagues were similarly gagged and tied to chairs. They weren’t in the laser tag arena anymore. They were in a small warehouse, which was empty, the floor concrete. Most worryingly, she and her friends’ chairs had been placed on plastic sheets.

“Now you’re all finally awake we can begin,” said Faith. “As it’s late I’ll get straight to the point – this ends now. We’re sick and tired of you lot interfering with our business, which you obviously can’t handle. We warned you and you didn’t listen, so we’re left with no choice but to resort to a short sharp shock. Take off their gags.”

Jason and Kevin tore the gaffer tape from the mouths of the firefighters.

“We know you conspired with Mickey to rob us,” Faith told them. She gestured from Mickey to the firefighters. “Line him up with his friends.”

She waited while two of Tariq’s men marched him across the room and shoved him to his knees beside Ben’s chair.

 “Mickey told us everything,” she continued. “About how he got you in deep with an Albanian gang. You don’t need to worry about them anymore. We’ve had a word with the Maguires and they’ve smoothed things over with them. After all, they don’t want them coming here and causing havoc.”

“Smoothed things over how?” said Amanda.

“They used their own machetes against them. They’re still alive but they won’t be needing a pair of gloves anymore.”

“Oh God,” breathed Eddie.

“You’re lucky the same hasn’t been done to you,” said Faith. “It’s only your standing in the community that means you’re still breathing but we have a dilemma – we don’t think you’re smart enough to let this drop, forget about it and move on with your lives.”

Panic raced through Rick when she pulled a gun from the waistband of her jeans. “We won’t mention it or even think about it ever again,” he gabbled.

“What a wuss,” commented Tariq with disgust.

“The problem is,” said Faith. “I don’t believe you. It would be simpler to bury you all, so we can be certain.”

“I swear I’m telling the truth,” said Rick. “It’s over. We’ve learnt our lesson.”

She walked behind him and jammed the gun against the back of his head.

“Please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me,” he repeated over and over, tears sliding down his face.

“I don’t want to,” she said, removing the safety. “But you’ve pushed us to this.”

“We won’t bother you ever again. Promise,” he wailed.

“How can we believe that? If we let you go the next thing we know our houses are burning down with us inside. The only way to keep ourselves truly safe is to get rid of the lot of you. You should have stuck to fighting fires, it’s safer than messing with us because we are the fucking fire.”

“Awesome,” grinned Kevin.

“I didn’t want to do it in the first place,” said Rick. “Amanda and Ben made me.”

“You lying little bastard,” spat Amanda, struggling against her bonds. “You wanted the cash as much as we did.”

“Not this much, it’s not worth dying for. I just want to go home to my family,” he cried before bursting into floods of tears.

“Wow, that’s embarrassing.” Tariq grinned at his friends, who were likewise smiling.

Faith released Rick, grabbed a handful of Eddie’s hair and yanked back his head. “And what about