Page 32 of One Second After Another

“No problem.”

She knew how this game was played. Penny had been on the other side of it for a long time. Now that she was the one they were trying to find, she knew all the tricks to stay just beyond reach. As long as she didn’t fuck up. Easier said than done, honestly. One wrong step could ruin a lot for her here.

“You know the Hudson really nails you down to—”

“They know where I am. But I am one in millions. Good luck.”

“Right,” Marcel said in a dark laugh. “The favor? Which I really shouldn’t be doing for you, by the way. Every active member in The League is on your file right now, Penny.”

“Fascinating. I want a bounty put out with no name attached for who listed it. A million for a successful kill.”

“A bounty on who?”

For a moment, Penny hesitated.

Not for long, though.

“On me,” she said. “Last known location—the state of New York.”

Marcel’s clicking on the other end of the call came to an abrupt stop. The silence raged through the telephone, and she understood why. No sane assassin put a bounty out on themselves. It was practically suicide. In fact, that was usually the only reason an assassin would do such a thing in the first place. Because there was no other choice.

Well ... there was another reason.

Penny found one.

It was still suicide.

“It’s going to be a lot harder for the right people to find me when everyone is looking for me,” she said quietly.

Marcel let out a slow, steady breath before replying, “That’s also dangerous.”

Yep.

“And a risk I am willing to take.”

It was going to make The League and The Elite’s job a lot harder to find her when they also had possibly hundreds of rogue assassins flooding New York to deal with at the same time. With everyone and anyone coming out of the woodwork to claim a million-dollar bounty on the white ghost, well ... that was an opportunity too good to pass up, she knew. A kill like her on someone’s list would make them gold in their world.

No one would say no.

But she had to stay alive, too.

Win some, lose some.

Story of her life.

“I can do that—list the bounty, I mean. And make the payment through your offshore accounts when it’s been claimed, too.” Marcel’s clicking had started up again, adding, “Nothing will be tracked back to you or me as well.”

“Expected nothing else. And—”

“One favor, Penny. That’s all you get.”

She almost smiled.

“Except this is a personal request. Something of mine that I want to be returned. So to speak ...”

“I’m not following,” he returned.

“I want the files unsealed and dumped.”