Page 64 of Deadly Sights

A forceful breath in my ear warns me I’m not going to like what happens next.

“What gives? I’d like to know that, too. But when I’m told to do my job and not ask questions, you know what I do?”

“Your job?” I answer seeing where this is going.

After all, Gary is a handler. He’s a middleman whose job is to manage me. He doesn’t call the shots and probably doesn’t haveaccess to the organization’s bigger picture. If I have suspicions, I’ll have to take them up with the higher-ups.

“And you know what I don’t do?” he grumbles.

“Ask questions.”

“That’s right, and the least you can do is offer me the same courtesy. Now, can you do the hit or do I pass it to someone else?”

I glance at Julian as an idea unfurls in my head. “With little time to plan, it might get messy.”

“Messy is good. The client wants to make a statement. They’re paying ten mil.”

As Julian listens in, his lips wobble.

I mouth to him, “You said I needed a distraction. What better way to clear my head than to clear someone else’s right off their shoulders?”

He turns away, but his shaking shoulders betray his amusement.

“So are you in?” Gary asks.

“Yeah, send me the details. Douglas is three hours away.”

“Already in your inbox.”

I hang up and spin Julian’s chair with more enthusiasm than I had earlier. “Murderventure anyone?”

“If we keep this up, we should start taking assignments as a team.”

His suggestion makes me consider the possibilities. I’ve gotten so used to working with him I already think of us as a team, in sync with each other’s rhythms and inseparable.

“If you hate the idea?—”

“I love it,” I interrupt Julian before he tarnishes the vision in my head. “We’ll be the assassin’s version of Misty Knight and Iron Fist, the comic book version.”

“Instead of fighting crime, we’re… how does that work exactly?”

“You’re ruining it. Point is, we’ll be the best killers out there.”

“Like Kate but black, and John Wick. I dig that.”

“Kate? Really? Doesn’t she get poisoned?”

“Well, obviously you won’t die. I’m not putting that shit out in the universe to come through. We’re going to keep taking contracts even in our golden years.”

I eye him up and down. “So you’re in?”

He pulls me from my seat. “Try to keep me away.”

“We’ll need to pack and get on the road.”

“Minor correction.” Alastair enters the basement. “You’ll just need to get on the road. I’ve already equipped the Land Rover with what you’ll need.”

I glare at Julian who shrugs in response.

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