Chapter One
Porter
How did this even happen?I weave my 1969 Ford Mustang Grande in and out of traffic as I make my way toward my brother's new place. He told me the day before he would be having Ensley, Josie's friend, and Dimitri over for pizza and to chill. He offered for me to come by after I finished my job if I wanted to. I don't think he meant for me to come over like this.
I glance in the rearview mirror at the young redheaded woman unconscious in my back seat. Blood seeps from her and onto the black Italian leather I upholstered myself. This car was never meant to be a transport car of any kind.
Gripping the wheel tighter I weave around yet another asshole who refuses to go fast in the left lane. Cason and my dad are going to be pissed at me for not carrying out the hit on her. There's something about her. She doesn't seem like our typical hits. I've been tailing her for a week, and she's done nothing that would put her on our lists. We don't kill innocent women, and I'm still not sure why her name came up, but I'm glad she was given to me so that I could decide whether or not she was worth it to make disappear.
I hadn't been sure, so I was going to do more research on her and speak with her myself in a closed space. See if she would admit to anything nefarious, but I didn't get a chance before someone else put a poorly aimed bullet in her side.
I don't know if she'll die, but I can't let her. I need answers. I want to know why there's a hit on her if she appears innocent. And more than that, I want to know why some other idiot tried to kill her first. I took care of him quickly, not wanting him to see me.
His chilling corpse currently rides in the trunk until I can take care of him the usual Bancroft way.
I run a hand over my face and grimace at the facial hair that meets my fingers. With me tailing her day and night I haven't been able to shave. Dad is always on us about having a clean face, but Cason has been growing out a beard ever since he and Josie Kotov got married. If he can do it, why can't I?
A car honks at me as I swerve in front of it and speed up. I don't give a shit. I need to get her to someone that can help her. Our family doctor, who doesn't ask questions, has gone off to Bora Bora for a month. A hospital is out of the question. They'll ask questions I can't answer, and there's no good lie that can explain her being shot. Sure, I could've come upon her, but she'd been in her apartment. If she were to come to and say she doesn't know me?which would be true?it would look bad on my end.
I also don't want to abandon her outside of an ER, when it's clear we aren't the only ones to get her name on the list of hits that need to be done. Ensley's supposed to be training to be a doctor or something, and Cason's new place is close to where I'm coming from. I guess it worked out that he decided to move to the suburbs of New York and become a family man.
He's not going to like me dropping in like this with a wounded woman, while his wife who is four months pregnant is nearby. After the shit they went through at the start of their relationship, I get why he doesn't want to expose her to it further. I can't let this woman die, yet. I need answers. And at this point, I think she's the only one that can give it because her history is slim.
Getting off on the exit I need, I slow the car down and will my heart to do the same. I've never done anything like this. I've never brought a hit alive anywhere to be saved. They're never even supposed to see my face, and she got a glimpse of it before falling unconscious.
The cops in this area like to be on high alert for people speeding, since it's an area heavy with well-off families and a good community, compared to the boroughs in the city where anything can happen. And the cops will take an hour to show up.
A gasp comes from the backseat, and I look back at her. Her hand has moved to her side, but her eyes are still closed. I take all the side streets to get to his house to bypass traffic lights and any possible cops that are out.
Pulling up to his house, I park at the curb and peer around. We can't have witnesses see me carrying her to his house. I'm sure there are a lot of nosey neighbors around for this kind of area. We have a policy of no witnesses, meaning everyone who sees something needs to die. That gets complicated once it's a bunch of soccer moms in the new neighborhood he just moved to.
I have to be quick about this and hopefully make it look like she's sleeping in my arms and nothing to be alarmed about. I don't see anyone out on the street or in their yards. I kept my engine as quiet as possible and didn't rev it or anything, so no one should have a reason to peer outside and see what their neighbors are up to.
Getting her out of the car, I cradle her in my arms. She's lighter than I was expecting her to be. She wears a lot of oversized clothes, making me think that she was bigger than she is.
I hoist her up so that her limp upper body leans against my chest. I don't want to go straight up to the front door, I don't want Josie to answer and get scared. She may be four months along, but Cason would kill me if she got frightened and something happened to their baby because of it.
I hurry around the side of the house, glad to have been here last week at the housewarming party so that I could learn the layout of it. I open the side gate and let it close loud behind me. It should put Cason on high alert so that he comes outside first.
"Cason!" I round the corner of the house to see him on the patio with Dimitri.
"Over here!"
He darts over to me, and glances over his shoulder before glaring and leaning in to whisper at me. "What the hell? Why are you bringing a hit here? Are you insane? Josie has her friend over and she doesn't know about any of this!"
He looks her over. "And why did you do such a shitty job? This isn't protocol."
Dimitri comes to stand next to him, standing shoulder to shoulder, as I assume to block any view from the women in the house. I need her friend, that's why I'm here, but of course Cason never thinks two steps ahead. He's always an in-the-moment kind of person.
The fact that he thinks I could do a bad hit like this sets me on edge. "I didn't do this! I was about to hit her with a dart that would make her sleep when someone else shot her! Isn't Josie's friend a doctor or something?"
His brown eyes widen. "A nurse in training. I don't know if she can handle this, and she doesn't know anything about us. Are you saying she has two hits out on her?"
I nod. I'm glad he finds it as weird as I do. "I know you don't want Ensley to know, but she's going to find out sooner or later being best friends with Josie. She needs help, and I can't leave her at a hospital if there are more people out there wanting to kill her.
Cason frowns at me. "Is she not worth letting die? What have you found out about her? Dad wouldn't put her on the list if she wasn't garbage.
I tighten my hold on her. "I've been watching her for a week. She's mute, works as a bagger at a local market and I haven't been able to find anything on her that would make her one of our targets. She doesn't even use the internet. Her phone is a flip one. She goes to work and goes home and watches TV. I haven't even seen her socialize with anyone.
