by S. K. Lessly
I understood why she did what she did, stepping between my kill like that, that didn’t mean I liked it. Plus, it didn’t escape me that she disobeyed me and came out here. It was as if she knew what was coming. Did she know?
“Josh, are you—”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I bit out harshly. She jumped and stepped back from me, a weary look on her face.
I looked across the room to find Emily and her boss being escorted toward the conference room. Emily looked back at me and smiled.
I wanted to kill her.
“The woman that tried to kill me is in my house and only a few feet away from me.” I looked down at my wife. “How do you think I feel?”
“Josh,” Sweets began, but I cut her off.
“Save it, Kenya. All you did was prolong the inevitable. I will kill her. It’s just a matter of time.”
Sweets looked as if she wanted to say something else, but I didn’t give her a chance.
“Come on,” I instructed, snagging her hand. I moved toward the conference room before I added. “Let’s get back in the conference room. There's a lot of shit we have to get through.”
A thought suddenly crossed my mind and I pulled up short of the room and looked down at my wife. “Hey, let me ask you something.” I waited for Sweets’ bright eyes to meet mine before I continued. “Is there something going on between Shane and Misty?”
Sweets’ eyes grew wide and I swore I saw the lie flash in her eyes before she opened her mouth to speak it into existence.
My wife, the secret keeper, gave me an awkward laugh and frowned to bring home the deception.
“What? Please, there’s nothing going on between them two. You’re silly, Josh.”
Just to be sure she was lying to me I asked, “You just didn’t see how he—” I began, but she cut me off with a dismissive laugh.
I could feel my temper rising as she waved me off. She saw that I was about to lose my shit and took my hand to lead me into the conference room to our seats. “Come on, let’s go sit down. We have work to do, remember? We need answers.”
I was about to call her on her shit but stopped when I felt the tremble in her touch. I gave her hand a tight squeeze and she looked up at me. I tried to give her a reassuring smile, letting her know that everything would be fine, but it fell flat between us. The point was I didn’t know if everything would be fine with us or this case.
I hoped Shane knew what he was doing by trusting Emily and the CIA, but something in my gut told me not to hold my breath. They couldn’t be trusted, especially not Emily. The bitch had tried to kill me. I guaranteed you there wasn’t anything she could say to make me change my opinion of her. I was with Misty; this bitch needed to die. The sooner we made it happen, the better off this world would become.
8
Misty
Adrenaline still pumped in my veins as I sat here listening to the CIA analyst, Izabella something, drudge on about Perchenko and shit we already knew. She gave us fun fact after fun fact, which didn’t enlighten us whatsoever. We knew where he grew up. We knew his background, or most of it. She did reveal a few tidbits we didn’t know about, like how he was ex-CIA and had been disavowed decades ago for being certifiably crazy, my words not hers. She also told us about him being abandoned by his mother in Ukraine. His father was killed shortly after that and he was left to some deviant street thug who took him under his wing and helped make him the psychopath he was today.
All of that information was great background that would probably be helpful if we wanted to profile him. We didn’t. We wanted to find him so we could kill him. That’s it.
The analyst also said some other shit but quite frankly she lost me the second she opened her mouth. I couldn’t concentrate on anything, but the man sitting next to me. Shane “gotdamn” Cooper.
I couldn’t sit still. I had so much pent up energy it was making me antsy. My leg was moving a mile a second underneath the table. My hands shook and it should have been due to the murderous rage flowing through me. It wasn’t.
The thirst for vengeance ran through me like a hundred-foot tidal wave ripping through a defenseless town. It was consuming every part of me, which was expected considering the bitch across from me. I wanted to see her blood spill out of her by my hand, using my knife. I needed it. But damn, I was hungrier for the man sitting next to me.
How he grabbed me by the elevators and held me close to him with such dominance, made me literally cream myself. The man was walking sex as it was, however, the way he commanded my body, my attention by just his touch… I couldn’t think straight.
Truthfully, this wasn’t the first time I’d seen him today. I actually watched him dress this morning, while drooling the entire time. For some reason, in this moment, I was watching him with a fresh pair of eyes. He wore a green short-sleeved polo shirt, tan cargo pants, and boots. It wasn’t anything fancy, not like his uniform, but that shirt of his hugged him masterfully. His ass in those cargo pants… good gotdamn I wanted to squeeze his ass while he took me hard and rough.
Oh, and don’t get me started on the shit he said in my ear. I closed my eyes and shuttered at the memory. I could still feel his lips against my ear, feel his warm peppermint breath tickling my face, igniting me. And the words he whispered…You know I love to see you in action. My dick is getting hard right now just thinking about watching you rip her apart. But I need for you to stand down. Unless you want me to stick my tongue down your throat right now and kiss the fuck out of you in front of everyone. I know you’re not ready for that. I suggest you back up otherwise, I’m taking what’s mine right here, right now.
Holy fucking shit! That was hot as hell. Do you hear me? I was holding on for dear life sitting next to him.
Reluctantly, I did what he asked but it had nothing to do with the threat of him kissing me in front of everyone. No. It was my need to please him, which was also making me feel unhinged. He had asked me to back up and I did it, without a lot of fuss. The need to wrap my fingers around the bitch’s neck and extinguish her was strong. However, the need to make Shane happy was stronger.
Arghhh! What was happening to me?
I looked across the conference table at that bitch Emily and felt the need to rise from my chair, dive across this conference room table and finish what I started. I was actually thinking about saying fuck it and going for it. Shane was occupied listening to the analyst. He wouldn’t be quick enough to stop me. I could plead temporary insanity after I was done too.
Shane must have known what I was thinking because I felt his hand on my leg before I could stand. He squeezed my thigh in warning then ran his large hand up my pant leg. He moved slowly and I fought the urge to close my eyes when his fingers brushed against my covered pussy.
I looked over at him hoping he would meet my eyes so I could cuss him out using my hard as steel gaze, but he wouldn’t look at me. His eyes were glued to the analyst as she blabbed on and on about nothing.
How could he illicit these feelings in me? Oh, wait I remember. He's successfully broken down my barriers and has completely embedded himself in my heart. Double argh…
I turned my gaze back to Emily and caught her eyes on me. She smirked at me and I swear my blood started to rise. This bitch wanted to die today. I was convinced of that and I was just the woman to do the job.
When I had emerged from the elevators earlier, my mind was still processing what I had learned from Crasse. Perchenko had a lot of hands in the pot here in Washington. To learn that his hand stretched to the DIA was disconcerting. To know that there were multiple assassins here, all part of various branches of government agencies, willing to kill innocent kids and women was mind-blowing. I was just trying to get my head around everything the traitor told me as well as his sudden departure from this world, when the elevator door opened and I found our otherwise empty and quiet reception area occupied.
I stepped clear of the elevator and noticed three men and a woman standing to the left of the reception desk. F
rom the way they looked, all superior and haughty, I knew they were from the agency. There was no one standing watch and they were huddled together conspiring to do something that would probably get them killed.
I had cleared my throat to let them know they weren't alone. Everyone turned around to study me and the second the woman turned around to face me, I attacked. She may have changed some of her features, cut and dyed her hair, put cheek implants in, and changed her eye color, however, she couldn’t hide the killer instincts in her eyes.
I moved on pure instinct, and hate, and drove my foot into her stomach, catching her by surprise. I disabled the other three as fast as I could with swift kicks to the groin, face as well as throat punches. I grabbed the pretty boy that was standing next to Parsons by his hair before his face met my knee. He dropped to the floor temporarily stunned but that was all I needed him to be. Then it was just me and her. She snarled at me and charged.
The fight wasn't pretty. In fact, that shit was downright dirty and grimy. We both got our hits in. She’s a formidable opponent; I wasn’t going to lie. But I was better. With a few punches to the face, kidneys, and stomach, I managed to hem her against the wall, my knife to her throat poised to slice through and watch her bleed out. And I would have done it too, if it hadn’t been for mister—wanna be hero with logical sense—Shane Cooper.
Let’s hear what the cunt has to say first before you kill her. That’s what he first whispered in my ear as he wrapped his arm around my waist and leaned into me.
Naturally, I started to protest until he promised that when this was over, he and I could go hunting and kill her and the red-faced pretty boy with her.
Well shit, what did he expect me to say to that? I was horny as hell from just being close to him, but I was also freaked out and murderous. So, I did as I was told. I backed up. I didn’t go far and I kept my knife tight in my grip ready for anything. Needless to say, nothing happened. Emily didn’t do anything that would justify me putting her out of her misery except exist.
So, here we were, sitting across from each other, her and I. She had a huge metal bandage on her nose. Her hair was disheveled and she wore a large T-shirt that had the picture of Darth Vader on it. Apparently, someone gave it to her to replace the torn and bloody shirt she had on earlier.
I wasn’t going to lie. To see her all beat up and unpolished brought joy to my black heart. I wish I could have done more.
“Ms. Fuentes, thank you for the background information,” Shane spoke up, bringing me back to the meeting, removing his hand from my thigh and bringing both hands on the lacquered surface in front of him. “Most of it we already knew. I don’t want to waste time here trying to figure out the man. We already know he's unhinged. Do you have any information that hints to his whereabouts?”
I tuned back into the meeting wanting to hear her response, but pretty boy spoke up instead.
“Major Cooper, I have to say this whole shit show was a big waste of time. The fact that your agent attacked us without cause is disturbing as well. We came here with the intent on helping your team but—”
“Let me stop you right there, Santini.” Shane held up a hand and stared pointedly at the CIA agent, whom we learned was Izabella’s boss. See, I’m paying attention.
“You and Ms. Fuentes were the only two people authorized to be here. I didn’t okay the muscle you brought with you and I damn sure didn’t approve of Ms. Parsons. If anything, I take her being here as a huge disrespect to me and my team. You knew she would be a problem, otherwise you would have told me when I asked if you were bringing anyone else to the meeting. Don’t insult my intelligence with some sob story either and I won’t insult you. Again, you expected hostility, which was the reason for the extra muscle. What you didn’t expect was to be bested by her.” He pointed at me but didn’t look at me.
“She got the drop on you and dropped your so called back up as well as you. She beat you at your own game. Get over it. Your agency claimed they wanted the same thing we did, which was to find Perchenko. So, why don’t we cut the shit and get to the reason why you’re here. What do you have for us?”
The CIA agent cleared his throat and looked at Parsons. She gave a short nod then he brought his eyes to Izabella. I gotta say the CIA analyst didn’t seem like she belonged with the two killers she had with her. I mean, I knew she wasn’t a field operative, but still. The look of innocence in her eyes was striking. She did remind me of Sweets, though. Jacks had that bit of news right. Speaking of Sweets, I looked to my left and saw she was still a bit pale. Josh had asked her multiple times if she wanted to go and lay down but she refused. She kept stealing glances at Parsons who was openly ogling her husband.
“Fine, Major Cooper, why don’t you ask your questions?” Santini asked.
Shane didn’t respond to Santini. Instead, he moved his eyes to Fuentes.
“Ms. Fuentes, do you have any pertinent information on Perchenko? We want to know what you know about his operations, who his associates are et cetera.”
The woman shifted in her seat, straightened her spine and cleared her throat. The nerves coming off her was palpable. I didn’t think it was because of what happened earlier or Shane's intense stare. If I recall, she was standing in the line of Malcolm's gun sight protecting her boss. I immediately looked to my left and saw Malcolm's profile. He looked abnormally pissed but I didn’t think it was directed at Parsons or Santini. It was pointed at Izabella.
Parsons, who also saw what or who had her fellow spook all flustered, leaned into her and whispered something in her ear. I didn’t quite catch everything she said; I was reading her lips of course. But I did catch… they will do that to you… then she smirked at her. The response from the analyst was priceless. Izabella gave Emily a look that would have killed her twenty times over. You could see she didn’t care too much for the assassin, which made her my new best friend.
“Perchenko has been working the underworld for a very long time. He’s involved in anything from trafficking women and kids, to drugs and weapons. I’ve made it my soul purpose to look for this man ever since I found out his connection with the CIA. As I said before, he was an ex-employee who was disavowed decades ago. According to what I was able to find out, he had been deemed unfit to carry on his role as an operative of the agency. We fired him and he disappeared after that. We've been searching for him to question him on a few crimes he allegedly committed and so far, we haven't been able to find him.”
“In other words, he was a nut job and your agency couldn’t control him, so you tried to have him killed. You missed and he went into hiding.” Curtis chimed in.
Santini sat up straighter in his chair and pointed to Curtis. “She didn’t say that.”
“But she didn’t have to." Curtis countered. “It’s clear that’s what happened. You lost control of your operative, which by the way seems to be the norm for you people.” Curtis glanced over at Parsons before he brought his eyes back to Santini. “What we need to know is where we can find this clown?"
“You don’t. He finds you.” All eyes fell to Parsons as she gave us her brandish wisdom. She gave everyone a pointed look before she continued. “I’ve worked for the man for years.”
“Doing what?” Josh asked and Emily smiled at him.
“That’s classified,” Santini answered quickly.
At the same time, Emily replied with a devious smile on her face. “Whatever was necessary, baby. Look, let’s not beat around the bush here. Perchenko sent me here to kill Josh as a favor for Diane.”
“What’s he getting out of the deal?” Shane prodded, which was a good point. We all knew that Perchenko didn’t do anything without a price. Diane had to give him something in return. “We all know Perchenko doesn’t work for free. There had to be something that Diane promised him in order to obtain his help. It wasn’t money. We all know her accounts were seized.”
Emily shrugged a shoulder and looked pointedly at Shane. “I don’t know what the agreement was between him a
nd Diane. It must have been crap since he killed her shortly after they met.”
“So, you're confirming the death of your agent?” Shane asked.
Emily looked at Santini and they exchanged a look before she brought her conniving eyes back to Shane.
“I didn’t see him kill her, I was out of the country when she visited, but Perchenko indirectly told me he had to get rid of loose ends from his past. Diane and Perchenko worked together in the past. She was his handler also a loose end.” Emily looked over at Josh before she regarded Shane.
“Regardless of Diane's untimely, shall I say disappearance? I was still sent here to do a job. Josh is a formidable target. If there is a chance to kill him, Perchenko is going to take it.”
“Why?” Josh asked, his mouth in a tight line. “If this was a hit requested by someone that he later killed, why go through with the request?”
“Because, my dear love.” Emily smiled saccharinely towards Sweets before she looked at Josh. “You are the one that got away. Back when you were in the desert, your team was getting too close to his operation. That’s when he sent me in to infiltrate your team.” Emily tilted her head to the side and wagged her finger in Josh’s direction. “You were too smart for your own good. I tried to steer you one way, but you kept going the other so…” she shrugged. “He ordered me to take you out. But I couldn’t do it.”
I rolled my eyes at the bullshit and at the same time, I heard someone else in the room scoff also from the shit she was spewing.
Emily’s brows furrowed as she looked over at me. “Despite what you may think, I loved Josh. I didn’t want any harm to come to him. Actually, I was supposed to have killed him days before I shot him. But I failed to do so and it looks like I’m failing again. Failure isn't something Perchenko tolerates, no matter who you are. So, before he sends someone for me. I’m sending someone for him.”
“But you don’t know how to find him, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.” That was Sweets who spoke up and I had to give it to her, she was holding her own considering Josh's ex was making goo-goo eyes at her husband right in front of her.
