Page 78 of Broken Wheels

“What was in that whiskey?” Vreeland demanded, his voice cracking. He drew his gun from its holster, his hand shaking, then dropped it to the floor, where it landed with a clatter.

“The whiskey? Nothing. We drank it, same as you. Why?”

Vreeland’s face contorted in a grimace.

He shook his head. “You were worried about the whiskey, but you completely ignored the ice. That tells me how sloppy you’ve gotten. It also confirms why I decided we need to part company.” He regarded the soon-to-be ex-assassin with raised eyebrows. “Something wrong? Fingers and toes tingling?” He gave a satisfied nod. “That’s one of the signs of poisoning from a Cloak of Gold toxin derivative.” He smiled. “Now, be a good man. Tell me how it feels. Science must move forward, after all, and we need thorough notes for our team.”

Vreeland’s face reddened, and the cords stood out on his neck. He clutched his throat, eyes bulging, mouth opening and closing, the only sounds issuing from it a strangled wheeze. Then he collapsed on the floor, his body racked with multiple spasms.

He glanced at his phone, then watched as Vreeland gave one final croak. “Thirty seconds. Not bad, but also not as fast as I anticipated. I was told it would take fifteen seconds or less, so I expect that to be the benchmark.”

Mordaunt stood. “I agree.” He glanced at Vreeland with an impassive expression, then turned his back on him. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll get to work.” He offered a humorless smile. “And I won’t give you excuses.”

“Before you go?” He pointed to the body on the carpet. “Clean up the mess. You know what to do with the body.” He scowled. “He used to be the best, but he’d gotten sloppy.”

Mordaunt snorted. “I’d say drinking that whiskey was pretty sloppy.”

“Exactly. What kind of assassin trusts anyone that easily?” Not that it mattered. If he hadn’t drank it, he would have been shot before he left the room.

He made sure he had Mordaunt’s full attention. “Either way, he had too many failures to allow him to continue in my employ. He became useless in life, but maybe in death he can redeem himself. Once you’ve dealt with him, get onto the research team. Thirty seconds is good, but I expect them to improve on that.” He smirked. “Let them know if I’m not satisfied with the results, their status may change from that of lab rats to guinea pigs.”

Chapter 24

His phone’s incessant ringing was starting to annoy Dix. He hadn’t been in the office for more than an hour, and he’d already dealt with six calls, including one each from Michael and Gary to see if Josh was okay.

Except it wasn’t the calls that occupied his thoughts—it was the fucking ache in his ass.

Yeah, last night had been amazing, but in the bright light of the day? He smiled. Quit griping. You know you wouldn’t trade it for anything. Doc had been responsive, eager—maybe a tad overeager—and had done his best to please Dix. Somehow, he never let Dix think he wasn’t in charge. Never before had Dix topped from the bottom.

And never before had his bottom ached from getting topped so thoroughly.

The phone rang again, jerking Dix’s thoughts back to where he needed to be. He glanced at the screen and groaned when he saw Chalmers’s name. Now? It’s too goddamn early in the morning. There isn’t enough coffee in this building to get me ready to talk to him.

The fact that he was calling at this hour was not a good thing.

He swiped a finger over the screen and brought the phone to his ear. “What the hell do you want?” Okay, that came out way brusquer than he’d intended.

“Why, Dixon Meeks. And how are you this fine sunny morning?”

Dix bit back a groan. Happy Chalmers was even more annoying than Asshole Chalmers. “What do you want?”

“Oh, you know me. The sun is shining, the birds are singing. I asked myself, what could make this day better? Then I realized. I could touch base with you.”

Dix could almost hear the grin in his voice.

“We both know that’s bullshit. Now, tell me what you want, or let me get back to work.”

Chalmers clucked his tongue. “You’re such a cold man, Dixon. I’d go so far as to say you’re heartless. Has anyone ever told you that?”

Dix snorted. “Yup. I even have a list of them in my room. I can email them to you later, and you can all swap notes. Now, if you don’t have anything important to say?—”

“So, you know that property where you found Tanner’s body?”

Dix stilled. Oh God, now what? “Yeah.”

“The same property where we found the detective?”

Why the fuck is he asking such stupid questions? “Is there a point to all this?”

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