Pathetic.
“Go on.” My expression blank, I wait for the worm to speak.
“Pierce. Richard Pierce sent out the order a few hours ago on the dark web. Three million dollars. Said he prefers his son stay alive, but isn’t going to hold his breath. We’d get paid more if everyone was delivered alive though. We were ordered to keep the bitch—ah!” He squeals as I let him drop briefly. “The omega—the omega! We need to keep the omega alive or there’d be no payout!”
I hear footsteps behind me, and I can tell by the lightness of them that they belong to Jo.
“How did you find us?” Jo asks, her voice hard.
“All the information was on the bounty listing. We just went to the address we were given.”
Sam meets my eyes from across the yard, his face full of fury. Declan has a rat. That’s the only explanation for them getting this address.
“You’ll make my death quick, right?” The prisoner sputters, looking at myLisichka. I let the chair sit on all four legs again, making the guy look a little relieved.
Her hand moves to grip the man's face, squishing his cheeks together. “You would have killed him?” Her chin jerks towards me. “And the rest of them?” Jo’s voice is deadly quiet, completely void of emotion.
His face pales. “It’s not anything personal—we’re mercenaries—”
She tilts her head. “You had a deal with Kole,” she states blankly,staring at him.
“Just make it quick, please—”
She squeezes his cheeks harder, cutting off his words as she leans in close. “Killin’ my men is something that I takerealpersonal, Precious.”
Then she pushes his face backward as hard as she can, completely tipping the chair over and letting it fall over the edge. The man’s terrified screams echo in the air until they suddenly cut off, swallowed by the sound of the crashing waves.
Jo sniffs, turning around. “He didn’t make a deal withme.”
thirty-three
Jo
I’m getting real fucking tired of being in the car. I had taken the front seat without thinking, but Kole, Hayden and West don’t let a single complaint fall from their lips in the back, even as we go down the winding hill that leads away from our most recent safe house. Turnip is snug in my lap, and before I can dial Declan’s phone number, the burner is ringing in my lap.
I answer it on speaker. “I think you have a rat, Dec.” Turnip turns her head to look at me. “Not you,” I assure her, scratching under her chin. “You’re the good kind of rat. Declanhas a no-good, piece of shit—”
“What?” His voice is sharp. “Why? Is that why you’re leaving in the middle of the night?”
“How did you know we were leaving?” Sam asks, his voice sharp.
“Turnip’s collar has a tracking device. It alerts me when it starts going faster than fifteen miles an hour,” he grunts.
I’m not surprised Turnip has a tracker. I half expected it, really. “We were ambushed, Dec.”
Declan curses, his voice full of rage.
Sam leans over slightly, “Twenty men—”
“Twenty-two,” I correct.
“Twenty-two men,” Sam rolls his eyes at me, “dressed like mercs, waiting in the treeline. The heat sensor alarm woke me up. We took care of them and questioned one. We were informed that Richard Pierce put a hit out on all of us—with the stipulation of keeping Jo alive and he apparently doesn’t care if his own son gets caught in the crossfire.”
A pained sound comes from Hayden at the same time I feel a spike of pain through the bond. Without looking, I reach behind me and hold my hand out. His fingers tangle in mine, and I try my best to send him comfort. I’m no stranger to wonderin’ why my daddy never loved me.
“How did they get your location?” Declan’s voice is all business, and I can hear his footsteps echoing down the hall.
Sam growls. “The asshole we interrogated said that the address was on the online bid. So Pierce must’ve gotten it from somewhere.”
