Page 11 of Silent Heart

He didn’t. He merely chucked my chin and wished me a good day as he ambled back to the attached car garage where we kept my grandma’s nice sedan.

“Harley, didn’t you hear me?” My grandma insisted.

“I have to go.” I ripped open the door of my Volkswagen.

“You’re being ridiculous,” Granny insisted, putting her hands on her hips. “And Kayla told me about your deal with the new owners of the McTavish place. What are you thinking? Swimming lessons? With a football player?”

This is the woman who took you in and raised you.I squeezed my eyes closed and took deep breaths. “We’ll talk more tonight, Gran. I promise.”

She continued to rattle off opinions on my choices as I cranked the Passat on, put it in gear, and backed out of the drive. I gave her a wave and peeled away. It took the entire fifteen-minute drive to the veterinary clinic to calm myself down. My grandmother didn’t mean to tear into me. But the choices I made were so foreign to someone like her who’d lived in the same area her entire life. Lifting my gaze to the Staff of Asclepius, the snake wrapping around it, and the letter V, I sighed. Was I crazy to want to be a vet? The biggest changes would Doctor in front of my name, a fancy degree to hang on the wall, more work, and a bit more money. That was what my grandparents saw. To me? It was the journey. Becoming a veterinarian was a goal, something to accomplish.

“Like swimming,” I whispered. A smile spread over my lips. The gold medal wasn’t the prize. It was the hours of practice, the hard work. And knowing I could swim across the damn lake with ease, whereas no one else around here could say the same.

“I’ll be a doctor,” I promised myself. “No one in my family has ever reached so high.”

Cutting the engine, I hurried into work, instantly relaxing as the routine of prep, patients, and cleanup consumed my day.

Chapter 5 – Kolya

The encrypted communications flashed on my screen. Karl Adler was no longer in Illinois. His number two would remain behind to oversee the operations near the Springfield branch of the S&O Railroad. My molars ground together. It would be an easy road trip down there. After a short scouting expedition, a well-deserved sniper round could find its way into the number two’s skull. I could be in and out without anyone knowing.

Which was exactly the kind of trap I would set to catch a ghost like me.

Hang a tantalizing prize like the number two in my neck of the woods and hope I come crawling out to bite. And it wasn’t like I could have anyone else be the bait for the trap, while I hid in a ghillie suit to take the shot. I wouldn’t risk the lives of my family for this fight. Not when the odds weren’t in our favor. Springfield was out of my family’s reach. Venturing that far from our Chicago territory would cause a lot of trouble, and any local organizations running the state capital were probably in on the venture to capitalize on human flesh.

At least Adler isn’t looking around Chicago anymore.

I drummed my fingers on the kitchen island. Was it good or bad that the regional head of operations had returned to his home base in the southwestern United States? Adler had come north to dig up information about the ex-military vigilante who was hunting sex trafficking rings after an unfortunate incident revealed my face to his operations. A sudden episode had caught me off guard, and I wasn’t able to hunker down until the exhaustion and confusion passed. Pictures of me aimlessly wandering near the southwest trafficking operations were obtained by the bad guys, and because of my military background, they traced me to Chicago. My government paper trail wasn’t linked to the bratva, my uncle and then my cousin Kazimir made sure of that. Adler suspected I worked for one of his competitors. He spent days digging for my true identity. Now he was trying to lure me back into the fray.

My days of being a ghost were gone.

There was a target on my back, and I couldn’t lead the vile scum to my family. But I also couldn’t fight with the same stealth I had been using.

“Damn it,” I hissed.

Useless. Every soldier’s worst fear. I was benched, out of moves.

All because I couldn’t seem to snatch a decent night’s sleep. One bad night, one sleep-walking-blackout-episode and the bad guys had the face and information about the ghost hunting them.

Fucking hell….

Clicking around the computer’s screen aimlessly and not even seeing what the mouse tapped on, my mind spun with options. There was always the final blaze of glory. I could take out the regional head, and most of his supporting staff, before they killed me. It would cripple their operation—for a time. But thenthey would divert enough money to reestablish the trafficking circles, and I would be gone.

I wasn’t vain enough to think that I could stop them all.

When Kazimir first enlisted me to start this hunt, it was personal. Take out the filth responsible for kidnapping, trafficking, and ultimately killing the younger sister of Kazimir’s wife. I did it with pleasure, loving how easily the players fell at my hands.

But the exercise opened my eyes.

Peddling human flesh was a lucrative business. And I was one man against a vast infestation.

My stomach growled. Shutting my laptop, I wandered to the cabinet where the packets of meals were lined up. Looking at the beefaroni, my insides twisted.

“I shouldn’t go there,” I muttered, dropping the foil package on the counter and staring at the unappetizing prospect. Having another hot meal was tempting, but the pretty little thing bringing it to me…damn. People would talk if I returned yet again. I was becoming a regular at the bar and grill. Another rumble of my stomach proved it was a losing fight. I couldn’t stay away. “If I’m going to be a dead man soon….”

Snatching my keys and wallet, I left the mansion to find something hot and fresh. In my line of work, there was no telling when a meal might be my last. That was why I was going to the local bar and grill on the lake. No other reason, certainly not to see the pretty little water sprite waiting tables in those cowgirl boots.

Chapter 6 – Harley

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