Page 33 of Colombian Chemistry

“Suit yourself.” He chuckled.

With a gentle nudge, Cheech started moving down the narrow road.

“Why is your donkey so good, and mine is just trying to infuriate me every step of the way?” I asked, having to squeeze Chong so hard I knew my face had turned red.

“Because animals like me.”

“Animals like me too!”

“Well, obviously not as much as me.” He cast a sexy smile over his shoulder, and those butterflies he caused went spinning around my stomach again.

“In all reality, they trained me on how to handle all sorts of transportation animals. I can ride horses, donkeys, camels... you name it, and I have experience riding it. It was necessary in my line of work. Like speaking all the different languages. I needed to be able to blend into any society they sent me to, and knowing the customs and how to use the local transportation was as imperative as speaking the language.”

“So, you really traveled all over the world to kill people?” I asked bluntly.

He shrugged. “Well, my primary job was killing people, but that wasn’t the only thing I did. Sometimes it was hostage rescue, and sometimes just information reconnaissance. But yeah, I traveled all over the world.”

“So, it was more than just killing people?”

He snorted. “I’m not a psycho murderer if that’s what you’re implying.”

“I didn’t think you were. I guess I just thought you only killed people.”

“We killed the people who needed killing, and then we did lots of other things to secure the safety of the country.”

“And no one knew you existed? How did they explain all the kills?”

“Most of the time, we got in and out without being detected. And a lot of our kills, the majority really, were done in a way that didn’t raise an eyebrow. Heart attacks, car accidents... things like that.”

“You can make someone look like they had a heart attack?”

He chuckled. “Oh yeah. The CIA has had a ‘Heart Attack Gun’ for decades. That’s not even top secret. That one’s public knowledge. A specially formulated poison that’s undetectable in an autopsy gets dispensed through this gun that barely leaves even a mark.”

“Oh my God! Seriously?”

“Oh yeah. Works great too. We have other stuff now I can’t disclose, but I took the ‘Heart Attack Gun’ for a spin a few times. Don’t fix what ain’t broke, you know?”

I blew out a puff of air. It was so difficult for me to process the man I rode beside had taken countless lives. It should have put me off, scared me even, but for some reason, I knew that in his core, he was good. That a man like Marcus would never hurt an innocent and that if he’d done what he’d done, it truly had been for the greater good.

“You said ‘we.’ You didn’t work alone?”

A slight smile lifted his lips. “Nah. I had a team. Four of us.”

“What were you called?”

He glanced over his shoulder and shook his head. “I can’t tell you that, or I’d have to kill you.”

My air trapped in my chest as he stared at me, then his soft smile coaxed out my next breath.

“I’m not going to kill you, Irene. You can stop looking so terrified.” He snickered.

“You scared me.”

“I didn’t even tell you the name of my team, so you’re safe anyway. And even if I did, I trust you aren’t going to go blabbing it to anyone, and no one would believe you anyway.”

He was right. If I hadn’t seen firsthand what he was capable of, I’d never have believed we had a secret government assassination squad.

“So, it was just the four of you, this team you were on?”