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The asshole was using a voice changer. It wouldn’t matter, Echo would kill this fucker. His first mistake was wanting to meet him. What did he want? A free hit job, probably. Big fucking error on the guy’s part.
The phone number was unknown, the person behind the twenty second video anonymous, and Echo slammed the phone down and lifted back up the nine-millimeter in the other.
This was bad news.
Someone had followed him and filmed him completing a hit. It had to be someone he knew. He’d been covered from head to toe in black clothing so they wouldn’t have been able to see who he really was…unless they already knew. Who the fuck was out there videoing his jobs?
That was really dangerous for business.
“Whoever you are? You’re fucking dead,” he snarled at his silent phone.
The pier was located off the coast of Ventura, California, and from where he lived, he could drive there in twenty minutes tops. He thought fleetingly about calling Solomon to report the incident, but he didn’t want the consequences of the Erebus boss finding out he’d let himself be filmed.
He’d take care of this shit himself.
Ice stood near the water slightly after two a.m.
The ocean was calming to him even though the waves were churning and crashing against the shore.
The first week of March in California was damned chilly and a storm threatened to break at any moment. He didn’t mind, though, and turned to the sea. In quiet times like this, his thoughts turned to Echo. He’d spent last night searching for the assassin, but he’d come up empty handed.
He wasn’t all that worried because Echo had disappeared for months before. Besides, he was the one who’d bailed and gone to Athens, so maybe Echo was pissed and this was payback? Or maybe he didn’t even think of him anymore.
Since assassins worked primarily alone, Ice had been able to avoid running into Echo when he’d returned from Greece, but that had only been to give the man space. Now, when he wanted to locate Echo, he couldn’t.
Wasn’t that life for you?
He sighed. He would need to take different measures and alter his tactics.
A man with long, ratted hair stumbled near the end of the dock clutching a bottle before finally passing out on one of the benches.
Having left Grit at Seven and Hunter’s place, Ice was alone, but it didn’t bother him.
He, Stone, and Real had been ready to take another job in Las Vegas, but he’d been called back to take this job in Ventura while Stone and Real took on something else. The overload with jobs was a bitch right now, but it would soon ease up with the new men once Dave gave his final approval.
This hit was to take out Leo Getty, the leader of a human trafficking ring, and the man wasn’t due to arrive until three a.m., so Ice had time to kill. He would need to make his way to a lifeguard tower he had earlier scoped out. From there, he’d have a clean shot at the guy, who should be arriving at a closed restaurant across the walkway. The place Getty owned was high-end and looked fancy, but it was used to traffic young adults.
Turning away from the water, Ice made his way up the sandy incline and reached the pavement where it ended and the wooden walkway of the pier began.
Making his way along the pier, he gazed at the water as he moved closer to the lifeguard tower. He waited patiently for the right time to take up his position. In this weather, there was no sense in climbing and laying on a lifeguard tower before he needed to.
He thought about the money he’d get for this hit. With this payment, he could finally afford to purchase his own home without touching his savings. Of course, he could have bought one when he worked for Erebus years ago, but he hadn’t felt the desire.
A home.
Wouldn’t that be something? He’d never in a million years thought about buying a house until he’d come back this time to work for Erebus. It was Echo’s doing, and Ice almost laughed out loud and continued walking. He was turning into a mush.
That was what love did to a guy. Scratch that…heavy affection. Or if it was love, it was…
Unrequited love.
Echo didn’t love him or like him, nor really know him yet, but if it all worked out, Ice would change that soon. He wanted to share his past with Echo, even though it was boring. Plus, he wanted to hear about the things Dave didn’t know about Echo.
Halfway down the pier, he stopped. There wasn’t any reason, but his sixth sense told him that someone was watching him.
Turning slowly around, he found Echo standing about twenty feet from him.
Speak of the devil and he’d appear.
