Page 116 of Rise of the King (Checkmate 5)

Subject: re: re: Reconsidered?

How do I know this goes away if I pay?

“Got him!” Eric turns away from my laptop with a feral hiss and moves toward the hall. “Motherfucker. He’s willing to pay ten million bucks to have his kids buried and his enterprise selling little girls left alone.”

* * *

I make Colum Bishop wait. Three days from first contact, we make him wait in a shitty hotel not far from town while he bites his nails, bounces his knees, and his mental state suffers as he wonders whether we’ll hold up our side of the deal.

WhetherAcewill hold uphisside of the deal.

He fucked with his boys when he was supposed to be a father, not a drill sergeant, so this is my small rebellion to make that a little better.

The ten million dollars arrived in the account I had set up for this within thirty minutes of my final email. Ten million, just like that. He sold children for that money, and now he’ll give it away like their lives truly didn’t matter.

I hate him so much that he makes my hands shake.

“Alright, girlie. You ready for this?” Eric stands at my back and straps an extra pistol into a specially designed holster that can be worn under a light coat and barely be seen.Barely. But a gun’s a gun, and it can’t be completely hidden on my body. “You know the drill?”

“Yeah, I got it. Drive out there. Pull Kane out of my trunk–”

“I especially love that part of the plan,” he snickers. “I’m so excited to shut the trunk in his stupid face.”

“Shut up, asshole!” Kane walks past with a hell of a lot more firepower than me and clips them into his holsters. “This is the plan. We’re sticking to the plan.”

“Pull him out,” I continue on a sigh. “Hand him over. But then you guys turn up, arrest the asswipe, send him to prison, and we all live happily ever after.”

“Basically,” Eric chuckles. “The chief has been briefed on everything, so he’s going to meet you out there. We’re keeping it all aboveboard. Admission of guilt, exchange of prisoner, arrest, everyone walks away with a clean conscience.Capiche?”

“Got it.” Turning when Eric taps my shoulder, I come face to face with Jay and smile. “You doing okay? Your burrito staying put?”

“Yeah, stomach of steel, baby. You know that. Now let’s get this show on the road.”

A thirty-minute drive, an earpiece nestled in my ear and Jay’s soothing murmurs of comfort, one prisoner in the backseat – he refused the trunk – and one plan to confront the man responsible for hurting my sister.

Eight years have been building up to today. Eight long years, minimal sleep, too much food, and a hell of a lot of anxiety, all because a man wants power the way others just want happiness.

“You okay up there, Sugar Plum?”

Slowing on the highway and turning onto dirt, I make my way toward the drop point and nod. “Yeah, all good here. Love you.”

His breathy smile crackles in my ear. “Love you too, beautiful. You’re looking good. I have eyes on CAB. I have eyes on you. You’re three miles out.”

“Weapons?”

“Loads of ‘em,” he rumbles. “This won’t go smoothly unless you convince him it has to. You’ve got backups; you’ve got fail-safes; you know the drill.”

“I know the drill.”

“I wish you’d let me be with you, Sophia. I want to stand beside you when this goes down.”

“But you’re dead.” I peek in the rearview mirror when Kane growls behind me. He has an earpiece, too, and we’re all wired into the same frequency. “You can’t come out. You know the drill.”

“Mmm. One mile out, Sophia. Stay sharp. I’ve got eyes over the whole valley, and I can’t see anyone else out here. I expect him to have a sharpshooter, so the fact he doesn’t is concerning.”

“You hot up there in that ghillie?” Kane rumbles. “It’s hot as Hades out today.”

“Yeah, but there’s a small breeze,” Jay replies. “I got him in my scope; can’t I just make the shot and put him down?”

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