AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He put the stick back in the wrack before turning to face me. “You’re more intuitive than I anticipated. Yes, I knew you’d come... eventually. I did think it would take longer though. After all, it’s what I’d do.”
“You’d visit the man you thought ordered your death?”
“Yes. If he let me in to see him, it would prove his innocence.”
“Or he’s just really good at playing the game.”
“My friend, if I were that good, you wouldn’t be here. What is it that I can do for you?”
“How did you find out about the contract?”
“From the boards. The same way anyone else would.”
“But you said you didn’t have details. Couldn’t confirm anything.” I walked around to the side of the table. “You said you’d heard a rumor. Didn’t have all the facts. Why are you lying to me?”
Christian threw his hands up in the air. “Yes, you have me there. I lied when I said the contract was a rumor. I saw the information myself. I also saw the value of the contract. It didn’t make sense. I thought I’d buy some time to do some research.”
“Or to sell me out. You’re the only person who knew I took your fucking plane to Barbados.”
“Well, me and my crew.”
“It’s all the same to me. They’re your people. Not one of them would try to kill me without your blessing.”
His demeanor changed. “I have a traitor in my midst, Dante. I didn’t take that contract out on you nor did I tell anyone of your travel arrangements.”
“And you can’t tell me how the men who were sent to kill me arrived less than twenty-four hours after I did?”
“I wish I could. I only let you in here so that you could watch me with your own eyes when I tell you that I have no idea how those men found you.”
He should have had me searched when I arrived. I pulled my handgun out of the holster concealed by my suit jacket. I leveled it at him. At least, he had the bravado not to show fear.
“Then how do you even know about them? Who told you?”
He blinked, realizing his mistake.
“Put the gun away, Dante.”
“No,” I declined, coolly. “I don’t know what the fuck game you’re playing, and I don’t think I want to bother to find out.”
“You can’t kill me.”
My eyes narrowed at him. “You and I both know that’s not true.”
“And you and I both know that if you really wanted me dead, we wouldn’t be standing here talking about it.”
His confidence wavered as the sweat beads formed on his forehead.
“I’m not going to kill you,” I drawled as I put my gun back in my holster. “Not today.”
He knew something about what was going on, but I couldn’t beat it out of him. Not yet. I needed him alive.
Already, my favorite hacker was working on his system. Delacroix had gotten lazy, thinking he was above everyone else. He should have been spending his money on more than luxury jets and high-end hookers. Judging by the antiquated alarm system and the outdated com, Marco would have access in just a few hours.
All of that was beyond me so I paid a college kid three quarters of a million dollars to do my hacking for me. Untraceable. All done through dummy accounts. Maintaining the fake accounts was more of the “work” that kept me busy. Marco didn’t know who hired him, but he’d copy everything he could get his virtual hands on and send me what he found. I would have to wait a few more days before I received his encrypted files, but my travels had been productive.
Willis’ reaction told me that he had nothing to do with the contract on my life. The fact that he didn’t call me and tell me about the contract when he discovered it only reassured me that he wasn’t involved. He didn’t bait me. Didn’t draw me into something. Didn’t lure me out into the open. The US government didn’t have any reason to take my life. In the five years that Willis had been the unofficial government representative who hired me to extinguish the life of some undesirables, Willis never once mentioned his sister. Our personal lives were separate from our professional co-existence. He wouldn’t use her to get to me.
I was less certain about Delacroix. Did I think he was orchestrating my death? No. But did I think he knew a hell of a lot more than he revealed? Damn right I did. The sweat on his brow gave him away. I never killed an innocent man, but I wasn’t sure Delacroix was innocent.
