Page 111 of Rise of the King (Checkmate 5)

“Dunno.” Ignoring them, I dig a little deeper into Redmond’s wife’s accounts and come up with nothing. As in, no wife. “He’s not hitched, guys. He’s just setting up extra accounts so he can spread his wealth and not look suspicious. Stupid ass motherfucker, doesn’t he know regular criminals set their money up abroad?”

Jay chuckles and drops a kiss on the top of my head as he passes. “I’m so turned on right now, Tiny Dancer. It’s sexy that you’re a straight-up thug just like the rest of us.”

“Shush.” Selecting a stream of income, I follow it back through three ghost accounts that try to conceal the originating account, but I find it easily enough and nod. “Lieutenant General Colum Anthony Bishop. He’s used this dude before.” Looking up, I meet both Bishops’ eyes and lift a brow. “How does it feel knowing you once lived in that guy’s balls?”

“Ew!” Jay throws a fry at my head and continues pacing. “Don’t make this weird, Sophia. Let’s talk murder and mayhem, but I don’t wanna know about his balls unless you intend to place them in a jar and bury them somewhere in the woods.”

“We fuckin’ should,” Kane grumbles, then smiles when Angelo clears his throat with an angryahem. “We should show him what happens when you piss your boys off one too many times.”

“Focus,” Jess grumbles. Stepping into Kane’s path, she stops him as he tries to pass. “What are you going to do?”

“We’re going to visit Spence’s place, and I’m gonna select a shiny new sniper rifle. I’ll get one for Jay, too, then we’re gonna see who can hit Colum’s retina first.”

“You’re disgusting.” Pursing her lips, she drags him back when he tries to keep pacing. “Maybe we could do this a different way. Why don’t we try this on the right side of the law?”

“Ugh.” Spence throws his hands up and huffs. “That’s boring.”

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From: AcesAndEights

To: Colum Bishop

Cc: Kane Bishop

Subject: It’s hot as hell, huh?

I bet Redmond is hot AF in that ghillie up on the lookout right now. Send the guy a Pepsi, or call him back.

Ps: He sucks at hiding.

Hitting send, I push back at the table and wait for retaliation. Kane’s phone dings first, since I decided to taunt the beast and copy his target in, but it takes only a minute for my satellite imagery to show Colum’s shooter jumping to his feet and hauling ass off the hill.

“I still wish we coulda taken him out,” Spence grumbles. “That motherfucker had my boy in his sights. Why should he get tipped off and a chance to burrow?”

“It’s not personal with him,” Kane answers. “He’s just doing a job, following orders, collecting his rent money and moving on.”

“Doesn’t make it right.”

Kane shrugs. “If I called you up and told you to hit a dude on my word only, you’d do it.”

“So?”

“Should you die for that? You’re only following my orders. You assume I have the right reasons for hitting him. Red ain’t our enemy.” He stops pacing and shrugs. “I’ll keep an eye on him though, just in case he pops up again.”

My email dings about three minutes after I send the first. Leaning forward, I scan the screen with fast eyes, but I don’t open it yet.

“What are you doing?” Jay leans in close as I open a zip file I’ve kept saved on the desktop. Ridiculously, a pair of cartoon binoculars enlarge, scan my computer, then come back with a thumbs up.

“He might be able to track our location by email,” I reply. “I can track his.” Opening another zip file, I run my tracking program and grin when I get green ticks and the lovely ding sound that comes with each. “He’s here, by the way.” Opening the email, I bite my grin when the men around me jolt at my news. “He’s twenty-five minutes out at a truck stop. Probably working from his car or something.”

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From: Colum Bishop

To: AcesAndEights

Subject: re: It’s hot as hell, huh?

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