Page 111 of Rules

"That would make yourselves untouchable."

"That would make a problem disappear," the first voice corrected.

I took a sip of bourbon, buying myself time to think and time for the ladies to track down where this call was coming from. There was no doubt Michael deserved to die for what he'd done to all those women. The official mission was to bring him in alive, but accidents happened in my line of work. I'd be lying if I said they didn't. And sometimes, like it or not, our job has fatal consequences.

But letting these vultures go free, the ones who'd paid to watch women suffer. That didn't sit right either.

"I'll need time to consider your offer," I said finally.

"You have twenty-four hours. After that, we'll find someone else."

"And when I decide to accept, how do I reach you?"

"We'll contact you. Same time tomorrow."

The line went dead.

I stared at the phone for a long moment. Ten million dollars. Enough to retire on, to disappear if I wanted to. And all I had to do was what I was already planning to do. But there wasanother option. I could take down Michael's entire network of clients. The kind of people who had enough power and money to make problems disappear. Including themselves. But did I want to give them an out? A way to walk away from what they've done without facing any consequences? My phone beeped.

Mouse: Heavily encrypted with blocker programs scrambling the signal. We couldn't get a bead on the location.

Interesting. First things first, I told myself. If they want to pay me to catch Michael well, I guess I'm happy to spend their money.

Michael might think he was the apex predator, but he'd never met anyone like me. And neither had his clients.

---