by CW Browning
Now she was looking for a traitor, and her brother’s killer.
Viper reached out and flipped the frame over impatiently. This was why she normally didn’t keep any photos around. The past served no purpose in her present. The only thing it did was remind her of a girl she didn’t want to remember, a life that held no promise for her anymore.
Viper glanced up as movement caught her attention. The flat screen on the wall displayed the dark kitchen above her and she watched as Michael walked around the island to the refrigerator. It was just past two in the morning. He’d gone up to the spare room after midnight, leaving her to her own devices. Alina descended the stone steps concealed beneath the kitchen island to her command center and there she remained, plowing through military records, searching.
Michael opened the fridge and studied the contents for a moment before reaching in and pulling out a bottle of water. Alina watched as he opened it and took a drink, capping the bottle before moving out of the kitchen. The camera in the living room picked him up in the next frame as he moved over to the sliding glass door to the deck, peering outside.
She pressed her lips together thoughtfully. He was looking for her. That meant he never went to sleep, and knew she had never gone upstairs. Suppressing a sigh, she turned in her chair, watching as he turned away from the sliding doors.
Why was he here? She didn’t for one second believe it was only for Blake. He was up to something. Viper leaned back in her chair, staring at the plasma broodingly.
Whatever it was, she was stuck with him for at least a couple of days. That was inconvenient for her, and potentially very dangerous for him. Someone wanted her dead. If they happened to catch up to her while Michael was around, she knew they would have no compunction about eliminating him as well. He knew the dangers. He wasn’t stupid, despite being a Marine. So why was he here?
Her eyes narrowed as he moved down the hall towards the front of the house and the stairs. At least she could keep an eye on him this way. Someone knew more about her than they should, and although Hawk thought she was reckless being back in New Jersey, Viper was acutely aware of her situation. The only way someone could know so much about her was if they were being fed the information. Only a handful of people knew anything about her past. With Michael’s arrival, they were all in New Jersey. It was only a matter of time before she uncovered the mole in Washington. Once she did, she’d know who, out of her very small inner circle, she couldn’t trust.
Then may God show them mercy, because Viper would not.
Alina sipped her coffee and looked out over the back yard. Dawn had broken and the early morning sun was just beginning to filter through the trees, lightening the shadows. She had slept for a couple of hours before coming out to the deck to practice her morning yoga. Now she grimaced and slid a hand under her shirt to the bandage at her side. The wound was throbbing, but the bandage was dry. Hopefully it was just sore from the workout.
She was just lifting her mug when her cell phone began vibrating on the chair behind her. Alina turned with a frown and picked it up, raising her eyebrow in surprise at the number on the caller id.
“Yes?”
She lifted her mug to her lips once again.
“Did I wake you?” Stephanie asked.
“No.”
“Good. It was already ringing when I saw it wasn’t even seven yet. Sorry.”
Alina sipped her coffee, waiting.
“Are you there?” Stephanie asked after a second of silence.
“Yes. I’m waiting on you. I assume you have a good reason for calling this early,” she replied, amused.
“Oh! Yes. I just got home from Angie’s a little while ago. Her house was broken into last night.”
“What? When?”
“Just after three in the morning. The guy made it to her bedroom before Angie stopped him.”
Alina’s brows snapped together in a scowl.
“Tell me,” she commanded.
Stephanie proceeded to fill her in on the events that dominated the early hours of the morning and by the time she was finished, the scowl had deepened.
“He got away?” she asked.
“Yes, and Angie couldn’t give a description other than tall and probably Caucasian, possibly light-skinned Latino. They’re checking hospitals now. The guy had a stiletto heel drilled into his neck. He had to get stitched up somewhere.”
Viper’s lips curved.
“Were they really Jimmy Choo’s?” she asked.
“Yes. Pastel pink.”
The smile grew into a grin before Viper could stop it.
“How’s Angela taking it?”
“She’s shaken up,” Stephanie said, then paused. “Wait. Are you talking about the break-in or the shoes?”
“The shoes.”
“She’s furious. She only wore them once.”
Alina turned to gaze out over the lawn again, a low chuckle escaping.
“Leave it to Angie to fight a man off with a thousand-dollar shoe,” she murmured. “Did he take anything?”
“No, and that’s what has me concerned. There was no sign of a search and nothing was missing. He went straight through the house and directly to her bedroom,” Stephanie said grimly. “I think it’s someone she knows, or someone who’s been watching her long enough to know her habits.”
Alina was silent, staring into the trees without seeing them.
“There’s something else that’s bothering me,” Stephanie continued when Alina made no comment. “Someone slashed her tire on Friday. It was only luck she noticed it before getting in and driving away. You know how flaky she can be. I wouldn’t put it past her to drive a couple miles on a flat before realizing something was wrong.”
“You think the two are connected?”
“I think it’s likely, don’t you? I’m worried about her. I don’t think she should stay there alone, and I have a full house right now.”
Alina glanced at the black pickup truck parked in her driveway.
“Mine’s not empty,” she murmured. “Michael showed up last night. He’s staying here for a few days.”
“You’ve got two spare rooms. They’ve both stayed there before. Can you take her?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’s probably safer in her own house.”
“What? Your house is like Fort Knox!” Stephanie exclaimed.
Viper’s lips tightened slightly.
“There’s a lot going on you don’t know,” she said slowly. “You know I’d bring her here if I thought she’d be safer, but I’m not sure.”
Stephanie was silent for a long moment.
“You have Michael there,” she said. “Is he safe?”
“No, and he knows that. I’m not willing to risk Angie, especially after what she went through last night.”
“What are we going to do?” Stephanie demanded. “Until we find this guy, I don’t want her alone in that house. He could come back, and this time he’d be prepared.”
“Let me think about it and I’ll call you back,” Alina said after a long moment.
“Well don’t call in the next few hours. I’m going to sleep. I’m exhausted,” said Stephanie. “She’ll be fine for some of the day. We’re all going out to brunch.”
“Then I’ve got time to figure something out.”
“Why don’t you come with us?” Stephanie invited. “Bring Michael. It’s Easter. You can’t spend it alone.”
“I’ll pass, thanks. I have things to do here. Michael’s going up to Brooklyn, I believe. I’ll tell him to call Blake. He said he has some information for him.”
“The viewing is tomorrow at 7. You are going to that, right?”
“If I must,” Alina said grudgingly.
“Yes, you must,” Stephanie snapped. “I swear, Lina, you’re enough to try the patience of a saint. I’ll text you the funeral home and all the details.”
“Fine.” Alina glanced at her watch. “Anything else?”
“Yes. Don’t
think I’m letting you get away with not telling me why your house isn’t safe anymore. I’m tired and I want to sleep, but later I want to know what the hell is going on over there.”
“Go get some sleep, Steph.”
The early morning sun hadn’t penetrated the trees in the park yet. It was just as well. The sole occupant of the bench overlooking the river hadn’t been to bed yet, and the lightening shadows were already making his post-drunk eyes hurt. He rubbed them and yawned widely. He didn’t even remember the last bar. He thought there might have been a woman at some point in the evening...he shook his head groggily. No. There couldn’t have been. If there was, he’d be with her, not sitting on a park bench staring at the Potomac.
What was he doing here anyway?
The man shook his head and leaned forward to spit, grimacing at the metallic taste in his mouth. What did he drink at that last stop? Whatever it was, it was doing a number on him. Or maybe he was coming down from that last high. All he wanted to do was go home and sleep it off. He sat back heavily and stared at the gray shadows around him.
He was meeting someone.
The thought came to him suddenly and he nodded sagely to himself. Of course. The suit who hired him to plant drugs in the Fed’s house had another job for him. Another windfall was coming his way, which was good because he’d finished spending the last paycheck last night. Maybe this one would pay as much, if not more.
There was a brisk wind blowing off the river this morning and he watched as waves rippled across the surface, rising and falling in crests as the current swept swiftly by. He never came to the river, he realized suddenly. In fact, he hated the water. He never learned to swim and, instead of appreciating the beauty of the water, he always felt fear. It was a force he didn’t understand, nor did he want to. His feet were planted firmly on land, and that was where he stayed.
Something moved behind him and he turned, peering up at the figure walking down from the wide pedestrian path at the top of the mild rise.
“You came,” the man said. “I didn’t know if you were sober enough to remember.”
“I was pretty drunk,” the man on the bench admitted with a grin, “but I’m here.”
“You look like you need to walk,” the newcomer said thoughtfully. “Come.”
“I need to go home and sleep it off,” the man muttered, standing a little unsteadily.
The other man laughed and began to walk alongside the river, leaving the man from the bench no choice but to join him.
“This won’t take long,” the newcomer assured him. “I want you to do something for me. You handled the last job as we discussed, so I have another one for you. Are you interested?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?”
“True.” The man paused for a moment, then glanced at his companion. “Did you tell anyone about the last job?”
“’Course not. Why would I?”
“Good. That’s good. That was a sensitive thing.”
The newcomer stopped and turned to gaze over the river. The bank was quite low at this section and the water lapped against it a few feet away.
“Have you seen the news?” he asked suddenly. “Someone was stabbed outside the Willard last weekend.”
“I saw something about it on Facebook,” the man replied, stifling a yawn. He was falling asleep on his feet. If this didn’t wrap up soon, he was going to pass out right here. “I don’t pay attention to stuff like that. I scrolled past it.”
“Smart man. Sometimes I wish I could just ignore the world around me,” the newcomer said almost wistfully. “I wonder if the dead man had anything to do with the bombs.”
“Bombs? What bombs?”
The man glanced at him.
“You don’t know? Someone tried to set off some bombs in different cities. It failed, of course.”
“Huh. No. Never heard about that.”
“Lucky you.” The man turned to face him. “This job I have for you is very delicate. You’re sure you haven’t spoken to a soul about the last one?”
“Dude, I told you no. I don’t snitch.”
The man nodded slowly, studying him.
“I believe you,” he finally said, nodding. “That’s good.”
He reached into the inside pocket of his overcoat and his companion watched, his eyes sharpening greedily. Good. He was going to pay him half up front. He loved it when they did that.
“I have something for you here,” the newcomer said with a smile. “Consider it a gift.”
He never got a good look at the gift, but he certainly felt it. It was a searing pain, sharp and more intense than anything he’d ever felt. Strange. He couldn’t seem to move his arms to stop it. In fact, he suddenly couldn’t do much of anything, including speak. His eyes widened in shock and he tried to gasp for air, but the pain was too intense.
“Don’t worry,” the man said soothingly as darkness overtook him. “You can sleep now.”
Less than five minutes later, the man in the overcoat was back on the pedestrian path, striding away as the Potomac River welcomed the body of the man on the bench, the current pulling it under until it disappeared from sight.
Chapter Fifteen
Blake pressed end on his phone and glanced across the park to where Stephanie was playing with Buddy. The dog park was surprisingly busy for Easter Sunday. Everyone had the same idea after eating a huge Easter brunch: get outside and try to burn some of it off. He grinned as Buddy suddenly reared up and threw his front paws onto Stephanie’s shoulders, throwing her backwards. His dog liked her, perhaps more than anyone else he’d introduced him to.
“Watch out!” Blake called, heading towards them. “He loves to push people over.”
“I’ve got him,” Stephanie replied, laughing. “Don’t I, boy? You can’t push me around!”
She looked up as Blake joined them, dropping Buddy’s paws down onto the ground again.
“Everything alright?” she asked.
“Yeah. They ID’d the guy from the video in my house,” Blake said, bending down to pick up a stick. “He’s a petty criminal, probably hired by someone else.”
“Did they pick him up?” Stephanie asked as Blake threw the stick and Buddy tore after it.
“Not yet. Tomorrow, it sounds like.” Blake glanced down at her. “Brunch was awesome. I’m so stuffed.”
“Me too,” Stephanie admitted. “That’s where we’re having the luncheon Tuesday after the funeral.”
“Good choice. I guess that’s how Angela got us into the brunch?”
“Yep. She’s very talented that way.” Stephanie watched Buddy gallop back with the stick in his mouth. “I hope she’s alright. I wish she’d come with us instead of going back home. I don’t like her being alone after last night.”
“She needed some sleep,” said Blake. “She’ll be fine.”
“But what if he comes back?”
“In broad daylight on Easter Sunday, after being stabbed with a four-inch stiletto? Not likely.”
Stephanie grinned.
“I guess you’re right. It would take a special kind of stupid to do that.”
“Exactly. Stop worrying.”
“What did Michael say when he called?” Stephanie asked suddenly as they walked along behind Buddy.
“He was on his way to his parents. He’ll stop by on his way back. He’s staying with the Black Widow.”
“Yes, she told me this morning when I talked to her. Any idea why he’s in Jersey?”
Blake shook his head.
“Not a single one. Last I talked to him, he was buried in work. I don’t know why he suddenly came up, unless it was just to do the Easter family thing.”
Stephanie glanced at him.
“Do you really believe that?” she demanded.
“No.”
“So?” she prompted.
“That doesn’t mean I know why he’s here.”
Stephanie was silent for a moment, her lips pressed together grimly. Blake glanced at her and raised
an eyebrow.
“What is it?” he asked. “Spit it out. You know something.”
She glanced at him guiltily, a troubled frown between her brows.
“Lina said something this morning that has me worried, and now out of the blue here’s Michael. All we need is Mr. Hunk O’ Mysterious to show up and we’ll have a full cast.”
“Full cast for what?” Blake stopped and looked down at her. “And who the hell is Mr. Hunk O’ Mysterious?”
Stephanie chuckled.
“He’s a friend of Lina’s. Angela started calling him that and the name stuck. Michael’s met him. He was with us in Baltimore when...” her voice trailed off suddenly.
“When Regina Cummings sent an assassin to kill you?” Blake finished for her. He grinned at her shocked look. “I heard all about it. Michael failed to mention this other guy, though.”
“Well, he was there. He’s the one who stopped the assassin.” Stephanie shuddered involuntarily at the memory. “I hope to God I never see that side of him again,” she added. “I thought Viper was bad, but he’s much, much worse.”
Blake studied her for a minute.
“Worse how?”
“I don’t know. Heartless. It was like he had nothing inside him but ice.” Stephanie shook her head. “Viper was the same when she killed Regina. Maybe I just know her better. I know there’s a soul in there somewhere. Or at least, there used to be.”
“I’ve never met her, but I’m sure there still is,” Blake murmured, amused. “Souls don’t just disappear. This isn’t Supernatural.”
“You didn’t witness them in work mode,” she retorted. “It was horrible.”
“Steph, people who do that, they have to turn off human emotion,” Blake said slowly. “If they don’t, they can’t get the job done.”
“I know.”
“No, you don’t.” Blake reached out and stopped her from walking with a gentle hand on her arm. “I know what I’m talking about. When I was on active duty and deployed in war zones, I did things I would never dream of doing as a civilian. I had to. It was the job, and it was survival. I had to turn off a part of me that was naturally resistant to the training I’d received. Now I can be more understanding and humane about when I use lethal force. You have to realize that your friend is on active duty all the time. She’s not in a uniform, and she’s not in a battalion, but she is fighting a war and she is a soldier. She goes into war zones every day. She has to do what she has to do in order to survive. That doesn’t mean she’s heartless, or that she’s lost her soul. It just means she’s found a way to bury it to get the job done.”
