Chapter Twenty-One
“What do you mean, you want to see her alive?”
“Let’s just say you aren’t as trusted to hit your mark as you think.”
“What the fuck does that mean? I work alone. I’m not meeting you, asshole.” Rage made him tremble, and at his side Mara rubbed her face along his arm and back down, trying to soothe him. It inflamed him even more. He’d tied her hands up behind her back, keeping her from touching him otherwise. She kissed his shoulder and moved her breasts to press against his arm.
“Then you’ll not be getting your fifty mil. We pay only when I see you, confirm that she’s the real thing and then you get your money.”
“Fuck that, the deal was I find out if she—”
“You’ve been dicking around for months. We want proof, not some jealousy you have for Navy SEALs to get in the way. We want proof that this is Sarah Fletcher. Alive, first, then dead.”
Mara cringed next to him at the force he exerted on her shoulder. “You want to meet me? Impossible. I can show you the girl, though—alive, then when you’re satisfied, I’ll kill her for you. How’s that? You can watch.”
Silence filled the line. The Russian contact let out a long sigh, as if still not trusting him, then finally grunted in agreement. “That will do. What will you do if this girl isn’t the one?”
Like he cared. This was the one. The hair, the name, all of that simply blurred the lines, but this was Sarah Fletcher, daughter of Todd ‘Hawk’ Fletcher, who’d been a trainer for the prissy-assed SEALs. Eric had even seen the bitch once, five years before. This was her. “I’ll do what I always do. Clear my trail.”
Another silence. This one longer. “Fine. We want her alive. We’ll be questioning her before you kill her.”
“Question her? I do hits, not interrogations.”
“You aren’t doing the interrogations. Contact us when you have the girl. When you do, then we’ll want to talk to her. Keep yourself under control, keep her alive and you’ll be fifty mil richer.”
Yeah, fifty mil richer. Fifty mil and Mara. They’d be done with this job and have enough money to never have to do this shit again. An assassin needed to know when to quit. He had all the signs of needing to quit. Keeping the girl alive might be fun after all. Especially if he caught a Navy SEAL in the net. Thinking of the SEAL, Russell Ryland, had the blood rushing to his already hard body. He might not fuck the girl, but he would fuck with the SEAL, and that was more than enough of an enticement to keep the girl alive a little longer.
“That’s a go, then. Girl stays alive until you have your little chat.”
Silence. “Good, then. Keep us posted. As soon as you have her, I expect a call. Immediately, Touch. Don’t fuck with us over this. Your identity might not be as secure as you like to think. Remember that if you think to double-cross us.”
Bastard was threatening him? He could hurt the Russians as easily as he could one little scared woman. He could play, though. For the money they were already paying? He could play. Next to him, Mara whimpered.
“You’ll get the call as soon as I have the girl.”
The connection ended after a long silence. The contact was one hard ass, more of a pain in the ass than most of his jobs. The man even demanded these secure phone calls. Pissed him off, since there was no danger of being traced. Not with the precautions he took.
“Well, my darling, it looks like this is going to go fast from now on. You ready to show your man how much you love him?” Mara would be his surprise in the hole. He worked alone. Always. No one would suspect him of this hit when there were two assassins on the scene.
She nodded, pale face paling even more. She was honest, though—scared, Eric could see, but if she’d acted as if she wasn’t scared he’d have been suspicious.
“Good, very good. Later we’ll move out. They’re all rounded up at the bitch’s house. As soon as they make the move, we’ll move out.” His eyes half closed and he reached out to rip her blouse in two, releasing her full breasts from the lace of her bra with a flick of his fingers. “Until then, let’s see about what you can do with this.”
“Oh, yes, please.”
Sweeter words had never been invented. He dragged her up against his chest and took her mouth in a dominating kiss. The binds he had on her hands held her back, but also had her chest arching for his mouth.
“You want this?” He unzipped, releasing his erection and reached down between this thighs to bring the truck seat back, giving her more room to work.
She moved in closer, resting her head in his lap, but didn’t open her mouth, knowing the rules well. She nodded, her pink glossy lips soft against the head of his cock.
“Good girl. Very good.”