25. ARTEMIS
I didn’t know if it was everything I’d ever dreamed of, but getting to see the man’s face as I popped a bullet between his eyes was up there with one of the most satisfying things I’d ever done. Adrenaline had raced through me, like I could do anything. And I did. I saved those kids, those families. We sent them off with their documents, and through Donovan’s comms, he’d told us they’d receive help from Sanctum.
The adrenaline nerves had taken over now. I didn’t know what Mercy was going to say or do to me.Thatman had been on her list as an intel gathering job. I figured I’d done that with the drive I’d collected on his body. In fact, we had two lots of information now.
I wondered if that meant a larger pay day. I was hoping to see a couple million dollars on the TV screen in my apartment. I was already planning on spending it all, which seemed to be going well with all the mental gymnastics my brain did to avoid family.
The drive back was strange, because we couldn’t really talk without Finley or Mercy listening in. And to know that Donovan had been right there to help me sell the idea we were going to be attacked. I was relieved in so many ways, that somewhat combatted the nerves—but not quite enough.
When we arrived back at Sanctum, our weapons were taken inspected. Donovan went down first this time. I was worried this was it somewhat because everyone was cold—and I had to remind myself not to take anything personally here. I’d just taken out a target on a list, people might’ve already been working towards getting that information.
“I keep these,” I demanded, my fists around the two thumb drives.
“Policy states we must take all belongings,” the man behind the desk said in a sigh.
“Call someone, tell them I’m keeping them,” I said. They were bargaining chips, if anything.
The phone behind the counter, hooked against the wall rang out. He answered and quickly gave me a nod to go through. I kept both of the drives on me until I knew I wasn’t in any real trouble—I was just getting a vibe. And my vibes on things were rarely wrong.
Off the elevator—which lasted minutes, I was welcomed to Mercy and Donovan, alongside a whole host of people stood at attention. I walked forward, suddenly conscious of my legs and how I could trip over my feet at any second.
“We did the job,” I said.
Mercy finally smiled. “We wanted to be prepared.”
My eyes darted to Donovan. “Prepared about what?”
“Look,” he gestured as a screen was projected on the wall. The picture of Nathaniel Blackwell III alongside his name in blue—for intel.
A giant red cross appeared and his face became greyed out. “I guess that’s that then,” Mercy said as people around applauded, like they had when I reached the top of the climbing wall. “Come with me,” she said. “Both of you.”
This had to be when the real trouble started. I kept the thumb drive clenched so hard I was worried I could crunch them in my palm at any moment. Donovan hugged a hand around my shoulder as we followed Mercy into yet another office—different from the last. She sat behind the computer desk and out of ear shot from everyone, she laughed.
“Is everything ok?” Donovan asked.
“I don’t know if you’re just some lucky son of a bitch, or you just hate following rules,” Mercy said, “but you’ve done it.”
“Done—done—done what?” I didn’t want to know, but I still asked.
“Nathaniel had been on my intel list for a long time, he’s a collector. I didn’t know he was going to be there,” she said. “But you did, I listened back through the audio, and you knew exactly where he was going to be. I heard how, but you did all of this under my nose.” She faced the computer monitor, it glowed blue in her face for a second.
“His company is responsible for shipping people illegally in and out of the country,” I said. “And I’m not going to apologize for getting my revenge.”
She applauded twice. “If you’d just killed him, this would’ve been another story, but you—you got something from him, something I’ve been searching for.”
In my hands, the thumb drive. “The intel,” I mumbled.
“Two million dollars, that’s after my cut,” she said.
I choked as she said it. “Huh?”
“Three million,” she said. “Final offer.”
“I—uh—yeah, do I—” I glanced at Donovan hugging me tighter. “Shared?”
She shook her head. “I figure the two of you are together, so do you really want me to be your middle man diving your income?” She extended her hand, wanting the drive. “Plus, I heard you were going to get married.”
Donovan planted a kiss on my cheek. “He got the bullseye, and I’ve got the ring.”
