Page 103

‘What woman is that?”

Presley glares back at him. “You don’t want to mention names? Fine. We both know you know exactly who I’m talking about. I don’t come out of retirement often, but this was too good a job to pass up. Don’t make me regret it.”

Leon leans back in his chair. “From what I understand, you turned us down.”

“Then he handed himself to me on a silver platter, and I couldn’t refuse. Revenge on my brother and get paid for it? Like I said, too good to pass up.”

“Hmm. Take the big guy. Pay his brother what he thinks he’s owed. I trust you’ll handle this with discretion?”

“You asked for discreet, so that’s what you’ll get.”

“No, I asked for two bodies,” Leon snaps. “Now I have two breathing barricades I have to figure out how to get through.” He dismisses us, and two men grip each of my arms.

“You won’t get away with this,” I growl at Presley.

The look he gives me is so full of hatred, even I almost believe the show. “I already did. See you on the other side, Big Brother.”

As they pull me away, I struggle to remain where I am. What if he doesn’t get out? What if they kill him?

“He’s got it, big guy,” someone says in my ear. From the tone, I’m assuming it’s Mason, but I don’t know him well enough to pick it out of a line. “We’ve got eyes on him. Get the girl.”

They shove me down the hallway toward a room at the far end. After opening the door and pushing me inside, they push me down into a chair and zip-tie both wrists behind my back, then my ankles to the chair legs.

“You know, when you came to Pine Meadow that first time, I thought, wow, this guy is huge.” José chuckles. “Then I started doing some digging into you, and I was even more impressed by your file. What I can’t understand, though, is why you’d be stupid enough to let your brother parade you in here.” Without warning, José balls up a fist and slams it into my jaw. My head cracks back, but I straighten quickly, then spit the blood to the side.

It’s hardly the first time I’ve taken a hit, and I know it won’t be the last.

“You cost me a bonus, you know that?” Another fist slams into my jaw. More blood fills my mouth. “The girl was supposed to die in that river, but you just had to play hero.” He drives his fist into my gut.

I grunt but refuse to look away from him.

“Say the word, and we’ll come in,” Sawyer says.

“Nah,” I reply for Sawyer’s benefit.

José laughs and shakes his head. “All you hero types are the same.”

“I like to think we’re all unique,” I retort. “I mean, we all have our own skills, right? You for-hire guys? You’re the ones who have no originality. Black suits? Short haircuts?” I snort. “Like a cookie cutter recipe for human trash.”

“You’re trying to channel me,” Sawyer says. “And while I appreciate it, I do feel the need to remind you that you have no backup.”

“See, you made a big mistake,” I tell José.

“Oh? And what’s that?” Arrogance drips from his tone, but all I do is grin up at him.

“The last man who tied me up had to use chains.” I explode out of my chair, snapping the zip ties on my wrists as I go. I kick backward, and the chair splinters. Moving like a bullet, adrenaline muting the pain of my injury, I grip José by the throat, lift him, then slam him to the ground.

Two other guards come rushing forward, but I sweep my leg out and drop them down, then take the broken chair and slam it into the closest one before dealing a crushing blow to the throat of the second guy.

All while my hand is still wrapped around José’s throat. I glare down at him. “Where is she?” I demand.

José claws at my hand. “She’s. As. Good. As. Dead,” he chokes out.

“Then I guess there’s no reason to keep you alive, is there?”

I could kill him.

It would be all too easy to crush his throat like a bag of potato chips. I could end him here and move on with my life knowing that he can never hurt anyone ever again.