Despite the oncoming storm and what happened yesterday, it was fairly nice out. The sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky. The wind had picked up a bit, and I could see clouds off in the distance, but it was still pleasant. Or was it a mockery of what was to come?
I guess it depended on who you were and how you looked at it.
Personally, I thought the world was better off without Martin Creswell in it. I doubted Silas would agree. He was pretty broken up when I last saw him. His grandfather had picked up Finn and him this morning.
Mason didn’t want to leave Silas alone, so he took Harper and went with them. That was four less people to worry about and protect. Like I said, it wasn’t easy to get close to a politician. Plus, if I knew the governor, he probably already had someone grab Star from her college in New York as well.
I was curious to see how they were going to handle this. “Actress Sharon Monroe Dies by a Car Bomb” would make a great headline for the media. The questions that came with that might just give Lou a heart attack. Due to the Creswells’ political ties, I imagined the story would be spun as a tragic accident that took the couple’s life. Soon, there’d be a cheesy Hallmark movie about their perfect marriage. That would probably be when Silas picked up a nasty habit like alcohol or drugs.
For right now, it was quiet.
The calm before the storm. In this case, the storm wasn’t necessarily a raging hail of rain and wind. Something was brewing, and it was only a matter of time before more death came to this town. That was why I called in backup. I could protect Marnie and myself. My reputation alone would be enough to keep most away. Everyone else was a different story.
Thankfully, I’d made some connections over the years. One of whom happened to be the leader of an organization called The Righteous—a group of well-trained former soldiers who weren’t opposed to taking a life when justice failed. Not exactly in the same field as I was, but no one was better prepared to handle this situation.
Plus, it would free me up to care for more important things like the girl locked in my room. Marnie was pissed. She did not like being ignored for two days. The fact that I managed to restrain myself and not touch her for that long was a goddamn miracle. But nothing worthwhile came easy, and Marnie was worth every second of my time.
Longing pulled me toward my bedroom door, but duty had me typing a number into my phone.
“This is Anderson.”
Here we go. “Trev, it’s Preston Whitley.”
“The same Preston Whitley recently listed on Loni’s Shortbread?”
God, I hated that name, but everything in my world was in code. A dark website called The Hit List would probably be watched.
“So, you know why I’m calling?” That saved me time.
“Three are headed your way. We require half payment—”
I cut him off. “It’s already sent. Check your account.”
“Any additional problems we should be aware of?”
Yeah. “Louis Kessler doesn’t like to take orders.”
“Psychiatrists rarely do.”
Was I surprised that he’d looked into our backgrounds? Not in the least. The Righteous probably had a file on every single member of The Order. Taking care of guys like us was kind of in their wheelhouse.
“Good job taking care of the Reapers. I certainly hope this Marnie Dupire wasn’t fallout from that incident.”
That was his polite way of letting me know his suspicions. If Trev knew she was locked up in my bedroom, protecting the people on the hit list wouldn’t be their only agenda.
“She’s not.”
“That’s good to hear. I certainly hope it stays that way,” Trev said, then hung up.
I appreciated the short and to-the-point conversation. I still eyed my phone to make sure the call had disconnected.
My eyes automatically fell on the closed door beside me. Fuck, I was hard. For two days, I’d been smelling her with no satisfaction. It was getting harder and harder to deny myself some relief, but there was a method to my madness. Yes, I could go in there and fuck her. And yes, she would like it, but she still wouldn’t admit she wanted it. That final break would come later today. In the meantime, I had one more call to make.
Unfortunately, this one wouldn’t be simple and short.
“Goddamnit,” I grumbled while tapping on one of the names in my contacts.
My sister answered on the second ring.
