Double the Mayhem

by Faith Gibson

  Her childhood had been stolen from her. Her teenage years were nothing like what she imagined other girls her age got to experience. Attending high school. Going on dates. Tatiana had never been kissed, but that was her choice. It wasn’t until she was sent out of town on jobs that she finally had sex, thinking one-night stands were better than not having companionship. She lost her virginity when she was twenty-one, but she never allowed men to kiss her. That, to her, was more intimate than sex.

  Getting away from the watchful eye of her father was the main reason she’d been looking forward to going on vacation. Alone. She’d been surprised when he didn’t argue against her going to such a tropical location by herself.

  None of that mattered now. He was gone. Mikael was in charge, and she was on her own. That didn’t mean she wasn’t expected to toe the line. She just had to figure out how to do so while finding a way to separate herself from her cousins. Good luck with that.

  Chapter Three

  Natalia

  Five days after her father had been killed, Tatiana was still hiding out in her hotel, trying to figure out her next steps. When her cell phone rang, she expected it to be one of her cousins. She wanted to let it go to voicemail, but she didn’t want to experience Mikael’s temper. When she looked at the caller ID, it showed an unlisted number. Still, she answered. An electronic voice introduced themselves as Nix. Tatiana was freaked out and hung up. This Nix immediately called back, and when Tatiana let it roll over to voicemail, the person left a detailed message explaining how they knew everything about Tatiana including the fact that she needed a job to get away from her cousins. Nix offered her the chance to put her assassin skills to work while continuing to search for the blond biker.

  She didn’t return the call, but then a package showed up at her hotel the next morning. Tatiana was intrigued. Included was a birth certificate for someone named Natalia Jones. A passport and driver’s license had been issued in the new name, along with a flash drive. Tatiana didn’t dare insert it into her own laptop for fear it would crash her system. The note included assured her it was safe, but she didn’t trust the note.

  Tatiana took the flash drive to a local internet café and risked their computer. The information provided included files showing a new bank account set up in her new name, as well as everything she needed to escape her cousins and begin a new life. In exchange for this new identity, Tatiana had to agree to work for an organization of assassins. If, after joining, Tatiana found she changed her mind, she could revert back to her old name, and Natalia Jones would no longer exist.

  Being born into a family of Russian mafia royalty meant she had been trained from an early age in all things guns, money laundering, and family. She’d taken to guns like a fish to water, and she knew how to hide her money from everyone, including her family. Especially her family. If what Nix promised was reality, Tatiana had someone helping her disappear for good.

  Taking a leap of faith, because the alternative of working for the family the rest of her life wasn’t an option, Tatiana agreed to the terms set forth in the contract.

  Just like that, Tatiana Volkova no longer existed.

  Natalia left New Woodland and moved farther north, using the advance Nix gave her. She rented a small house, having closed her eyes and pointed to a location on the map. After getting settled, she cut her hair and dyed it lavender. Natalia had a new name, so a new look to go with it felt right. She would like to have chosen her own name. Natalia wasn’t bad, but Jones was so... plain. Maybe that was the point. It was one of the most popular surnames, so she had become one in millions. Easier to hide who she was.

  Nix gave Natalia a couple weeks to acclimate to her new surroundings before sending her a contract. Since she had experience assassinating whoever Anatoly considered a threat to the family, Natalia felt comfortable accepting it, wanting to dive into her new role. She was ready to see the zeros in her bank account rise significantly, and she could only do that by accepting jobs.

  The first one was closer to home than she had expected. Natalia worked the mark the same way she did her previous hits. She spent time watching the man. Learning his patterns. Assessing the best time to hit. It had been almost too easy, and after the job was complete, her bank account grew. Nix gave Natalia a few days before sending another file. She accepted each one she received since they were all straightforward. Now, almost three months later, Natalia was perched atop an apartment building across from her latest assignment.

  Exhaling slowly, Natalia squeezed the trigger of her rifle. Her mark dropped, but something seemed off about the way he fell. Looking through the scope, she searched for signs of anyone in the room who shouldn’t be there. A shadow crossed the window, and she had her answer. Someone else killed her mark or at least was in the room with him. She had spent weeks surveying the man she’d been contracted to kill, and his schedule had remained the same every single day. No one came in except for the kid who delivered groceries, and he only went out on Thursday morning to visit his mother. Natalia guessed even pedophiles had families. “Damn it,” she hissed under her breath, breaking down her rifle.

  Natalia didn’t want to take the chance of being caught by whomever had been in the apartment, but she needed to make sure he was dead, or she wouldn’t get paid. You might not get paid anyway. Before crossing the street to the mark’s building, Natalia stowed her rifle case, which looked like an ordinary briefcase, in the trunk of her rental. As was her usual routine, she had parked a couple blocks away.

  The weight of her knives against her wrists, which were hidden by a fashionable, long coat, was comforting. Her blonde wig and sunglasses hid most of her features were someone to see her going in the building. Natalia scanned her surroundings, looking for anyone out of place. Staking out the mark’s home had given her insight into the type of people who strolled down the crowded sidewalk in the busy area of New Albany.

  As she neared the apartment, an imposing figure made his way toward Natalia. He scanned the area much the same way she did. He was dressed casually. His jeans were worn, hugging him tight in all the right places. Thick forearms covered in ink led to nice biceps, which were straining the sleeves of his white T-shirt. Natalia’s eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses, so she was able to study his face as they passed one another. She’d never seen eyes that blue, and if she weren’t on assignment, she would have been sorely tempted to turn around and follow the man. Pretending to adjust her sunglasses, Natalia pressed the side of the right leg, snapping a photo of the man to look at later. Being an assassin paid well and afforded her some useful equipment.

  His clothes were too tight and exposing to hide weapons, so she was pretty sure he wasn’t anyone to think twice about in regards to her mark. She would definitely think twice about him in other ways when this mess was over with. Natalia did like taller men with muscles. Then again, most men were taller than her five-five frame.

  When she reached the apartment building, Natalia didn’t slow. She entered the lobby like she belonged there, bypassing the elevators for the stairs. Although she was wearing a disguise, she didn’t want to be caught on the security camera in the lift. When she reached the door where her mark lived, she tried the knob. Finding it locked, she pulled the picking tools out of her coat pocket. Within seconds, the tumblers clicked, and she turned the knob with her gloved hand. Silently, she eased into the entryway, her senses on high alert.

  As she peered around the wall separating the hall and the main lounging area, Natalia froze. The man wasn’t moving and never would again. Instead of a hole in the center of his forehead, blood pooled under his head from the deep gash across his throat.

  “Fuck!” Natalia had seen this cause of death before. The same large laceration that killed her father and his guards had taken out this man. Was Anatoly’s killer taunting her? Had he been following her, waiting for the right moment to take her out, too? If so, her new identity was compromised.

  Pulling out her phone, Natalia snapped a few pict
ures for Nix before she turned and exited the apartment. Retracing her steps, she pulled her gloves off, shoving them in her pocket after she left the building through a back entrance, and nonchalantly strolled down the sidewalk to a coffee shop. Caffeine on top of the adrenaline coursing through her veins wasn’t a good idea, but she required a moment to gather her thoughts before calling Nix. If someone else had killed him, Natalia wouldn’t get her fee. But why would someone else have taken him out? Had Nix double-dipped on the contract? They – because she still didn’t know if Nix was male or female – had never screwed her out of a deal before, so why would they start now?

  Nix never dictated how Natalia did her job. She could take a considerable amount of time watching, waiting until the opportunity was perfect, as long as she got the job done. Two weeks wasn’t out of the norm, so had whoever contracted the hit got impatient and hired someone else? A quarter of a million was a lot of money to pay twice.

  She got her caramel macchiato and left the busy shop, sipping her drink while walking back toward the hotel where she’d holed up. Her bags were already packed and waiting in the trunk along with her weapon’s case. Once a job was complete, Natalia didn’t wait around. She left the area and went home to decompress.

  Natalia waited to make sure she wasn’t being followed, and then she rang Nix on the burner phone.

  “Myshka?” they answered, using Natalia’s callsign. “Did something happen?” Of course, they would ask that, considering Natalia never called after a job. She sent a photo with proof the job was done. She hadn’t sent the photos yet.

  “Was this an open contract and you forgot to tell me?” Natalia kept her eyes on the road in front of her instead of scanning the streets for another assassin.

  “No. I check the contracts continuously until it’s closed. Again, did something happen?” The distortion didn’t mask the irritation coming through the phone.

  “Someone got there before I did. The mark’s neck was sliced almost through. I took the shot, but the mark was already falling.”

  “Did you take pictures?”

  “Yes. I’ll send them to you when I stop.”

  “I’ll be in touch.” Nix disconnected before discussing payment.

  “Damn it!” Natalia slapped the steering wheel. She needed a vacation now more than ever. She was good at her job, and no, she didn’t regret the people she killed. Natalia had a code, and she researched the marks before she pulled the trigger. She refused to have innocent blood on her hands, only taking contracts on the worst of the worst. Serial killers. Rapists. Pedophiles. Human traffickers. Natalia refused to take out someone’s husband because they were cheating. She also refused to take an open contract. Too many assassins in one place was not a party in her book.

  Just as she merged onto the interstate, the burner phone rang. “Yes?”

  “I double-checked. The contract was not open. The client doesn’t know it wasn’t you who made the hit, so you’ll still get your money.”

  “Then what the hell, Nix?”

  “Someone probably found out about his proclivities and decided to take matters into their own hands. Regardless, the contract is complete, and the world now has one less child molester, and we still get paid. That’s a win in my book.”

  “I don’t need company on my jobs.”

  “The money will be wired as soon as I have the photos.” Nix hung up before Natalia could complain further. She shouldn’t fuss; she was still getting paid. But what if she’d pulled the trigger two seconds earlier? Would the actual killer come looking for her? That had been too close for comfort. What she couldn’t figure out was why, if it wasn’t an open contract, had there been someone else there? As long as she got her money, it didn’t matter. Natalia drove out of the city, and when she had several miles between her and the dead body, she pulled over and sent the photos to Nix. Less than ten minutes later, her phone pinged with the payment notification. Breathing only slightly easier, she headed toward home.

  Home. The large estate where she’d grown up ceased being home the second her mother died when Natalia was six. What had once been her sanctuary quickly became nothing more than a military school. The area around the compound was her training field. Her father pulled her from public school and brought in a tutor. The few friends she’d made quickly faded from her mind, and her three cousins were the only ones close to her age she associated with.

  In the beginning, she didn’t mind hanging around the three boys, but as they got older, she became aware of the resentment. Both hers and her cousins’. She resented them because they were taught the business side of things. They resented her because her father trained her to be his protection. She had the best of everything where weapons were concerned. Killing was the only thing she knew, and she had a job making lots of money doing what she was good at while ridding the world of scum like her latest mark.

  Now, home was in Upstate New York, hundreds of miles away from where she grew up, though sometimes it didn’t seem far enough. The bungalow-style house was nestled between rows of trees, hiding her from nosy neighbors. She didn’t have to worry about sneaking her weapons into an apartment building. She could’ve found something larger, but it was just her. No roommates. No family. No pets to come home to. She’d thought about getting a dog, but that wouldn’t be fair to the animal.

  After spending her life having her every move not only dictated but watched, it was nice to come home to solitude where she could do whatever she wanted. The only thing missing was a partner. Even if she were to eventually retire, she would have to lie to whomever she settled down with about her past, and that was something she refused to do. Relationships built on lies, even those by omission, were doomed from the start. Natalia couldn’t see a husband in her future as much as she longed for a family of her own.

  As she turned into the driveway, the perimeter lights came on. Natalia might have a new identity, but she still looked over her shoulder. When she agreed to work for Nexus, Nix assured Natalia nobody besides the company knew who she really was. The paperwork had created a whole new person complete with a history going back to when she was “born.” Assurances or not, being an assassin meant she was constantly on guard, and that didn’t stop just because she was at home. Her alarm system was top-of-the-line. Any movement inside or outside alerted an app on her phone. The app also allowed her to make sure the cameras were online. No one visited, and nobody was ever supposed to be there besides herself, but she was too paranoid not to check a couple times a day. All her mail went to a PO Box, so her home address wasn’t in any system other than Nexus’s.

  When Natalia noticed an envelope on her front porch, her first thought was Nix. They were the only ones outside the realtor who knew where she lived. Still, whoever had dropped off the package had done so without triggering the alarm. Not bothering to unpack, Natalia opened the app on her phone and checked inside the house. The cameras didn’t show any intruders, so she rewound the feed to try and pinpoint when the breach happened. When she found it, Natalia felt only marginally better. A drone had dropped the package off, not flying low enough to set off the sensors.

  Natalia didn’t bother looking for gloves before she picked up the envelope. If someone went to that much trouble to reach her, they were smart enough not to leave fingerprints or DNA. She didn’t tear into it right away. Instead, she got her luggage and weapons out of her car and took them inside. Natalia went about her routine of tossing dirty clothes into the washing machine, securing her rifle in the gun safe in the back of her closet, and then taking a shower. Dressed in her favorite terrycloth shorts and an oversized T-shirt, Natalia unpacked the rest of her things and stowed her bags in the guestroom closet.

  It was going on four in the morning, but she was too wired to sleep. Natalia poured herself a glass of wine and sat down at the kitchen table, eyeing the envelope. She took several sips before using a knife to open the package. She upended the envelope, and a stack of photos slid out onto the table, spreading apart like
a hand of cards. Shuffling through the pictures, she had a nagging feeling about the subject matter. The man reminded her of the one she’d passed on the sidewalk hours ago. This one had longer hair that was lighter blond, and his beard was shorter, but his build was the same.

  Natalia retrieved her laptop and downloaded the photo she’d taken using her sunglasses. When it loaded, she compared that picture with the ones she’d been sent. Either it was the same man, or he had a twin. One of the photos showed the man with a group of bikers, all wearing the same motorcycle club vest. The Hounds of Zeus. She checked inside the envelope, but there was nothing inside to indicate who had sent the photos or why. She assumed it was Nix, but why was more concerning than who at the moment. She studied the photos as she finished off her wine. Natalia had just set the glass down when it hit her – the man who had taken out Anatoly had been blond and rode a bike. Was this the same person who’d killed her mark before her bullet could do the job? The killing strike had been the same, and she didn’t believe in coincidence. Now, all she had to do was find this biker.

  And do what once you find him?

  That was the million-dollar question.

  Chapter Four

  Maveryck

  Out of the thousands of days Maveryck had been alive, there were a handful which stuck out in his mind more than others. One was the day Warryck walked away from the family. Another was the day War graduated from college, and Mav and the other Hounds rode with him to get revenge for his wife’s death. Jenna texting to let him know she was leaving was on his list. Until today, the most recent was six months ago when he took out Anatoly Volkov. Now, he would be adding today to the list.

  Maveryck was pissed. No, he was beyond pissed. Ryker assured him the shitshow at Volkov’s compound had been a fluke, but coming close to having his head blown off by a sniper had him seething. Not only would he no longer take contracts for single hits, he was going to have a long talk with his older brother about any of the Hounds taking them. It was obvious they could no longer trust Nexus.