Prologue
HAWKE
Excitement flooded allmy nerve endings as I worked to pick the lock in front of me, but that wasn’t a good thing. I needed the familiar numbness back. I needed to not feel anything at all.
Excitement in my line of work accomplished one of two things. It either left you open to making a mistake that could end up getting you killed, or it meant you were so far gone that you’d become as soulless as the men you’d been sent to rid the earth of. In my case, it was still the former, but I often wondered if there would be a point where I’d actually look forward to taking a man’s life. Where I thought less about the life or lives I was saving in the long run and more about the satisfaction of finally having some of the power back that I’d lost so long ago…that had been stolen from me when they’d stolenher.
But unlike the countless lives I’d taken in the last decade for both the army and for the underground organization I now worked for, this killwouldbe about pleasure. I was going to enjoy watching the man’s frantic eyes pleading with me as he desperately promised to give me what I wanted. And I’d let him believe up until the very end that he had a chance of walking away without a bullet in his brain.
He wouldn’t. Nor would his partner. They would die the same way she had died. Slowly and painfully. And they would suffer the way she’d suffered. They’d beg the way she’d begged. And I’d finally be able to keep the promise that I’d whispered in her ear as her heartbeat had slowed, the pauses between beeps on the heart monitor she’d been hooked to growing longer and longer.
I’ll find them. I’ll end them and then we’ll be together again.
A sigh of relief went through me when I heard and felt the lock disengage. But as I reached for the knob, I heard the elevator open behind me and I yanked my tools out of the lock and hurried to the stairwell door that was just around the corner from the apartment I’d been about to enter. I didn’t hear voices, but I could tell that there were at least two people heading in my general direction. And when I saw two men stop right in front of the door I’d been about to open, I felt a rush of energy surge through me. I’d hoped and prayed I’d find both of my wife’s murderers at the same time, but it had been just that…hope. But my hopes were dashed when I realized one of the men wasn’t old enough.
“Um, thanks for the ride,” I heard the one guy say. His back was to me so all I saw was an average build and a head of thick, brown hair that had a little bit of curl to it. He was wearing a beat up leather jacket and a loose pair of jeans.
“My pleasure,” the man with him murmured. He was about the same age as the first guy who I guessed to be in his mid-twenties. But whereas the other guy looked very blue collar, the guy with him was white collar all the way. His suit looked custom made for his tall, muscular body and I had no doubt the thick watch on his wrist cost more than my car.
Even from where I stood, I could tell by the first guy’s body language that he was uncomfortable. But if the second guy noticed, he didn’t care because he pressed against the first guy until the man had nowhere left to go, since the door was at his back.
“I should get going,” the first guy said. “I’ve got an early morning.” Suit guy ignored the clear signals the other guy was sending and leaned down to kiss him. The brown haired guy turned hishead away, but that didn’t stop suit guy from kissing the man’s exposed neck. I couldn’t say why the whole thing bothered me, but I didn’t dwell on it. Brown haired guy deserved whatever he got because he was clearly the one who lived in the apartment…he was the man I was interested in, but for a whole other reason.
“I could use you again tomorrow night,” suit guy said as he took a whiff of the other guy.
“Yeah, sure,” brown haired guy said, but he didn’t move at all. He clearly wasn’t enjoying the other man’s attentions, but seemed reluctant to stand up to him.
“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Suit guy placed a kiss on the other man’s cheek and then pushed back and strode away. I heard the elevator ding but my target didn’t move right away. At some point, he’d closed his eyes and leaned his dejected frame against the door. He looked…done.
Rage went through me at the momentary pang of pity and that had me striding out of the stairwell as the guy turned to go into his apartment. I reached the door just as he was closing it. His startled eyes lifted to mine just before I used my booted foot to kick the door open, knocking him on his ass. I pulled my gun from my waistband as I strode into the apartment and slammed the door behind me.
“Please-” the man whispered, but his words dropped off when I pointed my gun at him.
“Where is he?” I snarled.
The man put both his hands up. “Wh…Who?” he stammered.
I leaned down and grabbed him by the hair and yanked his head back until he cried out in pain. “Don’t fuck with me,” I ground out.
“Please…please,” he bit out as tears formed in the corners of his eyes.
I released my hold on him and pressed my gun against his forehead. He let out a choked sob, but I didn’t care. I wanted so badly just to pull the trigger. But I couldn’t. Because I didn’t want to spend another day knowing that even one of the two men who’d raped my wife and left her for dead was still breathing.
“You want to play it that way?” I asked calmly as I finally felt the familiar emptiness creep back into my veins.
I hauled the man up so that he was on his knees and then pressed the gun back against his head. “If the next words out of your mouth aren’t his location” – I removed the gun from his head and pressed it against his groin – “this is where the first bullet goes.”
The man was crying silent tears, but he didn’t say anything. He was shaking uncontrollably, but despite his fear, he remained quiet and I noticed that even though he was crying, his eyes looked blank, like he was somewhere else. I ground my jaw in frustration and began searching for anything I could use as a gag. I didn’t have a silencer, but I could come up with creative ways to make the guy talk that didn’t require a gun.
Before I could decide what to do next, I heard a knock on the door behind me.
I slammed my hand down over the man’s mouth and yanked him to his feet. The move seemed to finally snap him out of his daze. “One word…” I warned quietly as I jammed the gun against his temple.
“Mr. Travers,” came a woman’s voice on the other side of the door. She began knocking harder. “Mr. Travers, I know you’re in there. I saw you pull up out front a few minutes ago!” she shouted in irritation.
The man was frozen in place so I shoved him towards the door. I moved to the other side of the door jamb so that the person on the other side wouldn’t see me when he opened it. But I kept my gun pointed at his head.
“Answer it,” I ordered.
