Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91452 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 457(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
“Hey,” he greeted me happily, summer-green eyes glinting as he smiled, and then instantly his brows furrowed as he looked at me. “What’s wrong?”
I turned the phone so he could see the guys dead a few yards away from me and then back. “I was ambushed. I need some help.”
“Who the fuck are they?”
“I have no idea, but I caught a bullet and I’m bleeding, so I can’t move anyone myself.”
“Do you need a doctor?”
“Unfortunately, yes. But only for stitches.”
“Hold tight,” Darius told me, shaking his head.
“This is not my fault,” I said defensively.
He didn’t say anything more before he hung up on me.
Sitting there, with Ernie beside me and Lulu in my lap, I was scared this was going to keep happening. Perhaps it was time to take Owen and the dogs and move overseas, someplace safer. I didn’t want to, but I would do anything to keep my family safe.
And then I jolted, because if I’d been attacked, perhaps Owen had been as well. I had already arranged for security for him when he got off the plane. He’d be met by Rais Solano, one of my fixers, who had been in Dublin, California, on a case that just closed. But there was no one to protect him on the plane.
I called Darius back. It went to voice mail as I heard sirens in the distance. Moments later, I saw people coming through the trees, and one face I knew.
“Doyle?”
Ian Doyle, retired Green Beret, retired Ranger turned deputy US marshal, came jogging up to me. He crouched down and offered me his hand. He had been a member of my team many times in the field to retrieve both personnel and weapons. Under pressure, there were few better than him.
“Colonel,” he greeted me, taking my hand in both of his, other men coming up behind him, going to the bodies, stripping off the black ski masks and gloves, needing identification. “Good to see you, sir.”
“And you,” I said hoarsely, relieved not to be alone. Fucking Doyle, he’d always shown up when I needed him.
“Just some quick intel before I transport you to the hospital. The flight Mr. Moss is on has been cleared by Harris and his people, and there are no active threats there.”
My relief was overwhelming, and I had to put my head down for a moment.
“Sir, I actually have Harris on the line for you.”
Funny to hear him use Harris instead of Darius or Hawthorne, but that was how he knew my friend and had clearly never been corrected. He passed me his phone, gave me a nod, then went to join the others next to the men I’d killed.
“How do you know Ian Doyle?” I asked Darius.
“I know everybody. And Owen’s safe. I’m sure Doyle informed you.”
“He did. Thank you.”
“The marshal service will take over this crime scene, secure the bodies for transport, and deliver them to the FBI.”
“Which is great, but…what the hell?”
“Come on, you knew it wasn’t over,” he snapped at me. “There’s always the final battle.”
“And is this it?”
“It is. You have there two of Tommy Yu’s men.”
I waited.
“Apparently Yu wasn’t stupid and knew that somehow you were responsible for him not getting paid for delivering you to Suwan.”
“Tommy Yu put a contract on me?”
“Of course he did.”
“For how much?”
“A million, which would have been good, but who’s going to take the contract to kill you? And more importantly, who’s going to cross the men who didn’t take the contract to kill you?”
I thought a moment. “Daoud. Rahm Daoud. He never liked me.”
“Yes, but he likes me,” Darius said with conviction. “And he’d never cross Chris either.”
Everyone else was either a friend or now worked for Darius. “What about Farley? Castor Farley? That kid from California?”
“No. He works exclusively in Europe now. We had an altercation a few years ago. I told him to stay out of Boston, but to be on the safe side, he left the country.”
Who could blame him?
“So if no one wants the money to kill me, why are there dead men who just tried to kill me?”
“As I said, when Yu got no takers, he took it upon himself to see you dead.”
“Okay, but what’s to stop Tommy Yu from sending every member of his gang after me until I’m dead?”
“Interestingly enough, he was killed by one of his lieutenants two nights ago. As we always suspected, there is, in fact, no honor among thieves.”
“And the new guy in charge doesn’t care about me?”
“No. It seems that was the point of contention. Most of Yu’s men didn’t want to wage war with you over money that could never be recouped. There’s no profit in revenge.”
He was right. There wasn’t.
“Thank you for sending the cavalry,” I said, sighing deeply. “Again.”
“Oh, you didn’t need help, old man. You killed two guys in the woods, alone, all by yourself. You just need help with the cleanup.”