“He’ll be back then,” Bailey said. “I’ll hang on.”
“Okay,” Josh said and he could hear a cigarette being lit. “I didn’t know you smoked.”
“On occasion,” Bailey said dryly.
“What’s he hanging out over there for anyway?” Josh asked mainly just to keep himself occupied.
“He’s waiting to get a look at me,” Bailey said. “He hasn’t got the order to move on me yet, he just wants to check me out.”
“I don’t understand.”
“He’s scouting,” Bailey said. “Getting the lay of the land and hoping that I’ll make an appearance.”
“I see,” Josh said and curiously raised his binoculars to the fifth floor when the man entered the coffee shop. He scanned for a few seconds and blinked in surprise when he caught sight of Bailey leaning against a concrete support and smoking her cigarette. She was wearing her sunglasses and he noticed that her beret had a little tassel hanging from the button on top.
“Don’t stare, Josh,” Bailey said pleasantly.
Josh’s mouth dropped open in disbelief. “How the hell did you know I was looking at you?”
“I didn’t,” Bailey said with a chuckle.
“Funny,” Josh said dryly shaking his head. “He’s coming out…” he started, watching closely, “…and headed back your way.”
“Okay, I’m turning my phone off. See ya in a bit.”
“Bailey,” Josh said before she could hang up.
“Yes?”
“I’m looking forward to whipping up on you tonight,” he said. “Be careful.”
“I’ll be okay, Josh,” Bailey said with a smile. “And you’ll get your shot at me later.”
Josh hung up and glued his attention on the parking garage across the street.
II
Times have changed and times are strange,
Here I come, But I ain’t the same.
—O. Osbourne
The man called Dante couldn’t believe his luck and he smiled to himself as he got on the elevator that would return him to his car. He had made a small fortune in the last week and if things panned out, he would be a very wealthy man in the near future. He smiled widely at the money that would roll his way with the reputation he would receive upon eliminating The Wraith. He had been floored when he received the dossier that informed him that The Wraith was a woman, a fact he still found a little hard to believe. He had stared at the photo provided for hours while reclining on the bed in his hotel room. The woman was beautiful, but in the end, she was just a woman and he had convinced himself that it was a job he could complete.
He had debated with himself for days before finally deciding to express interest in the contract, being well aware of the exceptional reputation of his target; everyone who pursued a career within his chosen field knew of The Wraith. Eventually, he convinced himself that he could pull it off or, at the very least, make a graceful exit if he found himself in over his head. He thought the latter most likely as he was certain he didn’t want to end up a nameless statistic, insignificantly attached to an already long list of forgotten corpses. But now, armed with new information, he had grown immeasurably in confidence and had discounted most of the stories as exaggeration upon learning The Wraith was a female. A little voice in his mind told him that he was letting his ego get him into trouble, but a much louder voice was content to drown out any protests or misgivings.
The elevator doors opened and he walked briskly towards his car hoping to get a glimpse of her before he called it day. He was halfway there when the hairs on his neck stood up and he came to an immediate halt. He scanned the rows of cars in front of him and squatted slowly to set his Styrofoam coffee cup on the concrete floor at his feet, his hand entering his jacket to rest on the butt of his gun. Standing, he slowly turned to look behind him and experienced an icy jolt that traveled the length of his spine when he found her leaning casually against a concrete support about twelve feet away, hands empty and hanging loosely at her sides. He felt the perspiration bead on his upper lip as he ran a quick gaze over her and he knew, with a painful knot in his stomach, that he should have listened to the little voice in his mind very carefully. A tangible aura of malevolence surrounded her and, despite her relaxed appearance, she emitted a dark energy that promised an abundance of speed and strength.
“Good morning,” she said tonelessly.
“Good morning,” he replied slowly, risking a glance around and noticing to his dismay that there were no bystanders.
“How much did they offer you?”
“Excuse me?” he asked taking a deep breath to try and calm himself.
“How much money did you stand to collect upon my death?”
“The offer was very generous,” he said collecting himself and letting his body go limp, his confidence beginning to reassert itself; he had his hand on his gun and her hands were still empty.
“You should’ve sat this one out,” she said regretfully.
He blinked in complete surprise, stunned at how fast the gun pointed at him had appeared. His own hand still resting uselessly on the butt of his gun and his bowels turning to water.
“Wait,” he pleaded helplessly a second before the world turned black.
Bailey removed the silencer from her Browning and holstered it as she turned and nonchalantly walked to the elevator. When she emerged onto the street, she loitered on the sidewalk until she was sure that the current surveillance team got a good look at her and, after a moment, she briskly climbed the stairs to disappear into the lobby.
———
“Terry?” Bob’s voice came over the speakerphone in Terry’s office.
“Yeah, Bob,” Terry said turning away from his computer.
“Come to the Situation room, please,” Bob said tonelessly.
“On my way,” Terry said pleasantly as he rose from his chair.
Terry was a little curious at Bob’s tone but he shrugged indifferently as he made his way out of his office. He had felt better these last few days than he had in weeks and was confident that his plan would work. He had been mentally preparing himself for the victory and had already practiced his most condescending smile in the mirror, the smile he planned on wearing when he had her at his mercy and could issue the order to put her down. With a greasy smirk, he glided into the Situation room with an air of indifference to anything that Bob had to report.
“What’s up?” Terry asked congenially as he seated himself.
“Our other Free Agent is dead,” Bob said.
“What?” Terry asked surprised. “When? How?”
“This morning, round through the left eye,” Bob said tonelessly. “Daytime surveillance sighted Cameron leaving the parking garage across the street from C-Corp where they knew our man to be located at. They investigated and found Dante dead several yards away from his car.”
“Shit,” Terry said disappointed. “He was supposed to keep his distance, what the hell happened?”
“He was just scouting and was actually further away and better hidden than our surveillance team,” Bob said.
“That means she knew who he was,” Terry said thoughtfully, suddenly slamming his hand on the table. “The limey,” he said shaking his head.
“Yes,” Willis agreed. “Watts is in a position to know who picked up her contract, and he’s obviously giving her that information.”
“Shit,” Terry repeated.
“Do we want to lodge a complaint with British Intelligence, Terry?” Bob asked.
“We can’t,” Terry said. “They’re well aware I submarined them on Cameron’s family. They have a protest of their own, if they wanted to pursue it.”
“Why would she go out of her way to eliminate Dante and completely ignore our surveillance teams?” Keith asked.
“Because a contractor is somewhat out of our control and is a wildcard to any plans she may have,” Terry said quietly. “Leave her paper on the market, Bob. And personally contact the Australian you mentioned th
e other day, see if you can’t entice him on board outside of the prescribe channels.”
“Alright,” Bob agreed.
“Did we clean Dante’s body?” Terry asked.
“Yeah, surveillance called in Phillips to take care of it,” Keith said.
“Good,” Terry said. “Any movement?”
“Neither Cameron or Tate has left the building since Monday that we’re aware of, that is until Cameron was seen this morning,” Bob explained.
“She’s holing up,” Terry said. “Whatever she has in the works, she’s getting close to springing it on us.”
“What’s the word then, Terry?” Keith asked.
“Let’s hold steady through the weekend and see what happens,” Terry said with a shrug.
“What makes you think that Cameron is going to let Tate out of her sight?” Bob asked.
“We may have to grab Tate from inside C-Corp,” Terry said. “Marland and his men might have to take a risk.”
“You mean grab her in public and hope like hell Cameron isn’t close by,” Keith said. “That’s pretty fucking risky.”
“Indeed,” Terry agreed. “Let’s wait a few more days and see if an opportunity presents itself.”
“Very well,” Bob said standing. “I’ll attempt to contact the Australian,” he added as he walked stiffly toward the exit.
“Contact me immediately if we get any movement,” Terry said rising himself. “It’s coming down to the wire,” he added as he followed Bob out of the room.
———
“Hello, Debra,” Bailey said pleasantly as she approached. “Is Piper in?”
“Yes, Miss Cameron,” Debra said with a smile. “Go on in.”
“Thanks,” Bailey said rounding the desk and entering Piper’s office.
Piper looked up as the door opened and smiled. “Why hello there,” she said from behind her desk. “That’s a cute beret.”
“Thanks,” Bailey said flopping down on the sofa.
“What’s up?” Piper said with a chuckle.
“Nothing,” Bailey said. “I just wanted to see you.”
“Really?” Piper asked brightly.
“Really,” Bailey said with a shy look.
Piper smiled and rose to join her on the sofa. “What did you do today?” she asked as she took a seat next to her.
“Thought about last night mostly,” Bailey said and blushed slightly.
“What a coincidence,” Piper said amused. “Want to know a secret?”
“Sure.”
“I thought about you all day.”
“Is that the secret?”
“Yes,” Piper said placing a quick kiss on Bailey’s mouth.
“You wanna leave early?” Bailey asked hopefully.
“I guess I could,” Piper said. “You got something planned?”
“No plans,” Bailey said bashfully. “Well…I thought we could…” she blushed, “…well…you know.”
“Ahh, you want to fool around?” Piper teased wagging her eyebrows.
Bailey studied the carpet and nodded.
“Let’s go,” Piper said hopping from the sofa to collect her purse and jacket. “Well?” she asked with a look at Bailey who was still seated.
“Is that a yes?” Bailey asked with a grin.
“Yes, it’s a yes,” Piper said with a touch of exasperation. “Hurry or I’ll start without you,” she added tapping her foot impatiently.
“I’d like that,” Bailey admitted.
“That can be arranged if you’d get up from there,” Piper said impatiently.
Bailey rose from the sofa with a smile and stepped through the door Piper held open for her.
“Debra, have a good weekend,” Piper said when she got outside. “I’ll see you on Monday.”
“You too,” Debra said. “Both of you,” she added with a smile at Bailey who nodded to her politely.
They walked together across the floor toward the elevator and Bailey curiously noted at least two people who smiled at her as she passed. Puzzled, she turned to Piper as soon as the elevator doors closed.
“Piper, is there something different about me?” she asked hesitantly.
“Why would you ask that?”
“Because people just seem friendlier all of a sudden.”
“Maybe it’s just because you’re not so gloomy all of a sudden,” Piper cheerily speculated.
“I’m not gloomy,” Bailey protested with a scowl.
“Let’s just say you’re far more approachable now that you’ve shown everyone you can actually smile,” Piper said bumping her with her hips as they exited the elevator.
“Hmmm,” Bailey grunted noncommittally as she went through the process of gaining entry to her flat.
As soon as they were inside, Piper kicked off her shoes and dropped her purse. “I need a shower, join me?” she asked hopefully.
“Sure,” Bailey smiled.
“Hey, you got something on your shirt,” Piper said pointing a finger.
“Huh?” Bailey said looking down and Piper flipped her nose with the finger.
“Sucker,” Piper said teasingly as she took off running down the hall.
Bailey chuckled and followed her smiling down the hallway.
———
“I love you so much,” Piper said heavily, rolling over to embrace Bailey while they both caught their breath in a mass of tangled sheets.
“By the way,” Piper said after a few minutes. “Did you work out again today?”
“No,” Bailey said. “Why do you ask?”
“Your sword is on the dresser next to a handgun,” Piper pointed out.
“Oh,” Bailey said quietly.
“Oh, what?”
“Do you remember the Italian Major Watts spoke of?”
“Yes, the other hit man,” Piper said and Bailey nodded.
“Josh spotted him outside today.”
“Really?” Piper asked concerned. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes, he’s dead,” Bailey said quietly.
“Dead,” Piper said slowly. “How?”
“I killed him,” Bailey said softly.
Piper closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. “Bailey, this scares me,” she whispered.
“I know,” Bailey said. “I’m sorry.”
“It also scares me that it’s so casual to you,” Piper admitted with a quick look at her face and had to move quickly to keep her from rising from the bed.
“Let me go,” Bailey said quietly.
“No,” Piper said. “I love you, talk to me.”
“About what?” Bailey asked testily.
“About this whole situation,” Piper said. “Did you know when I got up this morning I cried for an hour in the bathroom.”
“Why?” Bailey asked in concern.
“Because I got scared that I would lose you,” Piper said. “And because I’m afraid for you.”
“You won’t lose me,” Bailey said. “Unless you want to.”
Piper stiffened angrily and sat up straight. “Don’t you ever say shit like that,” she chided crossly. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
Bailey looked at her for a long moment before speaking. “It means that I’m yours and the only thing that can change that fact is you.”
Piper sighed. “I just want you to be free from this,” she said quietly. “I hate the fact that people want to kill you. I hate the fact that you can kill a person today and act like you went for a walk. I hate the fact that sometimes I get so scared that I’ll wake up one day and I won’t have you anymore.”
“Do you think I like it?” Bailey said and Piper saw her eyes begin to flash. “I hate it, and I hate myself for it. Every time I have to hurt someone, I pray that it’ll be for the last time. If I seem cold or indifferent it’s because it hurts to think about it. I’ve learned to shut it all away and to do whatever was required to insure my survival. If I hadn’t had my family depending on me, I would’ve killed myself long ago,” she finished
and looked away.
Piper closed her eyes as the words struck her, it all becoming crystal clear in an instant. When she had read the file Bailey had presented her with, the hardest thing to come to terms with was picturing the woman she knew with the one the file portrayed. On one hand, you had the insecure girl who had spent the last fifteen years wondering what life was all about and on the other hand, there was the killer. A killer without remorse, without mercy, capable and prepared to do anything she had to do to win. A killer who knew that failure meant the deaths of the only thing she had left to hold dear. There were no rules in the world the killer lived in, and anything and everything that presented an obstacle, however slight, was immediately removed from the picture. Ruthlessness was not only required, it was necessary.
Piper opened her eyes and reached out to tenderly cup the cheek that was still turned away from her. Pulling it softly around to face her, she looked into eyes that not only held an unspeakably dark knowledge, but had seen things that the gentle heart inside the woman found hard to bear. She suddenly knew why, with a pain in her own heart, why her eyes made her seem so much older.
“Oh, baby,” Piper said sadly her eyes filling. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” Bailey said. “Just love me.”
“I do love you, Bailey,” Piper said sincerely. “More than anything.”
Bailey let out a long sigh and Piper situated herself behind her to rest her head on her shoulder.
“Sometimes, I wonder if the lives of two people can excuse the deaths of so many,” Bailey said softly.
“You mean your mother and brother?” Piper asked carefully.
“Yeah,” Bailey said with another sigh. “I try to justify it sometimes, but I never come to terms with it.”
“Maybe you can’t,” Piper said sympathetically. “If you could, you might not be the person I fell in love with.”
“You’re my life, Piper,” she whispered.
“And you’re mine,” Piper said with a kiss to her back. “I just don’t want to lose you.”
“You won’t.”
“You can’t guarantee that.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Bailey, you said there were around seventy men here with the sole intention of killing you,” Piper said. “How can you guarantee that they won’t succeed?”
Engravings of Wraith Page 47
