Page 56 of Ivory

A frown flashed across Cooper's forehead. "No. I was just wondering, that's all."

"We try to avoid unnecessary carnage," I said. "I'm not a fan of bombs, arson, shooting rampages, forcing trains off the tracks, bringing down aeroplanes, stuff like that. I prefer the personal touch of having people killed face-to-face. Or by an assassin if I have to."

"Can you send one of those after Dagen?" Cooper asked. "I mean, he tried."

"If you can call that guy an assassin." Jake curled his lip. "He was about as stealthy as…" He thought for a moment. "Throwing an elephant off a rooftop."

Cooper and I both laughed.

Then Cooper asked, "We don't do that, right?"

Jake stared at him in disbelief for a moment, then started laughing so hard tears rolled down his cheeks. "Do we… Throw elephants… Off…" He slapped his thigh.

His laughter was infectious. I smiled and patted Cooper on the shoulder as we headed through the private door and into Crimson.

"Jake laughs now, but he hasn't seen my to-do list," I joked. "The next item on it is throwing a giant animal off the roof."

"Only if it's a big, black wolf," Jake said between laughs. "Or even a small one."

I snapped my fingers. "I should have invited Alistair Dagen up to the helipad the other night." Not that he would be stupid enough to go up there with me. That would be far too easy.

"There's a helipad?" Cooper asked. "Can I see?" He looked like a little boy eager to open Christmas presents early.

"After I get clean," I said firmly.

He looked disappointed for a moment but then said, "So, can we send an assassin after Dagen?"

Jake gave him the side eye. "Are you volunteering?"

Cooper's mouth opened and shut a couple of times.

I decided to put him out of his misery. "Being an assassin takes years of training. Usually they have to learn to be stealthy and careful. Sneak in, sneak out. If you want to do the training, I can sponsor you, but I hope Dagen is long dead before you finish it."

Cooper gaped at me. "Me? An assassin? That would be fucking awesome." If he looked like a boy at Christmas before, now he looked like several Christmases, half a dozen Easters and a fistful of wet dreams.

"Wouldn't hurt to have a few more on the payroll," Jake said. "I have a feeling you'll be good at it, Murder Puppy. Just imagine, you get to kill bad guys for a living."

Cooper grinned.

That, right there, is a very good reason why he would make one hells of an assassin. No one would see a guy who looked like him coming, until it was far too late.

"Then you could come home and draw a picture of your victims," Jake said cheerfully.

I shook my head at him. "That is some fucked up shit right there. Also, no, don't do that because that's evidence."

Cooper looked slightly disappointed, but he nodded. "Yeah, okay I won't do that."

"And in answer to your question," I said, "I haven't ruled out sending an assassin after Dagen. Right now though, it would be obvious who sent it. He might be trying to provoke a war, but we aren't there yet."

Jake looked like he wanted to argue, but I gave him a firm look.

"He has his toe on the line, but he hasn't crossed it. None of us died, and he hasn’t blown up anything we own. Until he does, then we just keep doing what we're doing, and be careful.”

"Fine," Jake said. "But if he sticks his toenail over, I'm going to chop it off. And his toe. And then the rest of him."

"Get in line," I told him.

Jake looked thoughtful. "I'm a wolf, I don't really do ‘getting in line.’ How about we do it as a pack?"

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