by Heskett, Jim
Vendetta Target
Six Assassins Book 5
Jim Heskett
Nick Thacker
Turtleshell Press
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Notes for “A History of the Denver Assassins Club”
Get the Next Book Now
A NOTE TO READERS
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Chapter One
EMBER
WEEK FIVE - DAY ONE
Ember Clarke stared at the lines of her palms, rough and calloused. They reminded her of her mother’s hands. She conjured an image of the tanned and gray-headed woman, standing at the kitchen sink, dunking a plate into soapy water.
Over the last month, Ember had been beaten multiple times, fallen or jumped out of multiple second-story windows, grazed in the thigh by a bullet. And she might have been stabbed once or twice, too, but she couldn’t remember.
Four weeks done, two more to go. Sometimes, she almost believed she had the skills to cheat death. Other times, she thought a healthy dose of luck was the only thing keeping her alive for so long.
As she sat on the bed at the Motel 6 in Westminster, she clenched her hands into fists and tightened them until veins popped out on her forearms. She wanted to scream and yell and punch holes in the walls and take her treasured Nighthawk Custom Enforcer pistols and press their triggers until the magazines emptied. She wanted to see a smattering of holes across the wall.
Most of all, she wanted to know who had killed her recruit, Gabe. Only a day ago, in another seedy motel on the other side of town, someone had put bullets in both his chest and head. He had died with no dignity, bleeding out on a dirty floral-print bedspread.
The police had been all over the scene, but Ember hadn’t been able to penetrate the wall of law enforcement to see the body. She knew a few local cops and had, over the years, built up enough rapport with them that she had been able to glean a bit of information about Gabe’s case.
But she still didn’t know who his killer was. That information was still cloudy, and she doubted the police would even let her know if they did find out.
Now Gabe was gone, in a locker with a paper tag hanging from his toe. Waiting for someone to come claim him. Waiting for his weeping parents to stand over his stiff body and say, yes, that’s our boy.
Ember stood and paced the room, walking the scant distance from the front door to the bathroom mirror and back. Over and over, trying to shed some of the nervous energy rattling crawling over her skin. Her body was a constant war between exhaustion and excess nervous energy.
She was in the first day of her fifth week of a black spot trial by combat, doled out to her by the Denver Assassins Club. She had withstood the assaults of four assassins so far, with only two left until she could consider her sentence over and her “debt” to the Club paid in full.
And she didn’t care about any of it. Now, after Gabe’s shocking murder, the thought of facing contract killers from the remaining Branches was like white noise in the background.
Unfortunately for her, Ember didn’t have the luxury of ignoring the trial. Whether she wanted the attention or not, someone would come for her this week. If she wasn’t ready, that person wouldn’t cut her slack because she was grieving the loss of her friend and recruit.
The motel room door opened behind her, and Ember glanced in the bathroom mirror to check. She knew who it was, though. This was the room she had bought for Zach Bennett, her boyfriend of the last five weeks. They had moved over to this hotel from the other one in Denver and shared one of the dual queen beds last night. No sex, though — that was something they still hadn’t engaged in yet. She hadn’t been feeling too sexy after finding out about Gabe, and Zach hadn’t pushed.
He had been patient with her. He was a sweet and kind guy. Apparently able to keep his libido in check, which surprised her, given his age. In her experience, college guys spent nearly as many of their waking hours thinking about sex as high school guys did. She figured whatever he assumed was going on with her at the moment was serious enough to warrant a bit of space.
Ember had dodged his questions about Gabe and what she did for a living, and she knew he was tired of receiving insufficient answers from her. Sooner or later, Ember would have to tell him about her real history and how she spent her days, other than the vague answer of “consulting” she used as a one-size-fits-all conversation piece.
But not right now. Not while her wounds were still so fresh. Once that jar opened, there was no sealing it again.
Zach kicked the door shut behind him, holding a coffee in each hand, with a bag of something clinging for dear life to his pinky finger. He wore a smile, but she could see that it didn’t reach his eyes. Still, she appreciated his presence.
“I got everything bagels,” he said. “I wasn’t sure what you liked when it came to that.”
“Everything bagels are fine with me. As long as they don’t overdo it with the cream cheese.”
He frowned, and she felt like she was being curt and bitchy. Like Zach was a hundred miles away, instead of standing opposite her.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Thank you for getting me food. I’m not good company to be around right now, so you’re forgiven if you don’t want to be here.”
He set the food and drink down on the dresser, then he eased next to her and slid an arm around her shoulder. Zach sighed through his nose and leaned into her, which felt so good she closed her eyes for a few seconds to relish in the warmth of his contact.
“I’m sorry about your friend. Of course, I’ll be here for you.”
Ember winced, trying to fight back tears. “I appreciate that. He drank Kool-Aid with artificial sweetener. So gross, but he was practically defiant about it.” It was a joke, but it hadn’t come across as funny. Everything was weird right now.
Zach pursed his lips and said nothing.
She cleared her throat. “I know you don’t want to hear this, but I actually can’t stay. I have to go deal with what happened to Gabe.”
Zach took away his arm, then retrieved a coffee and sipped it. He stood, facing her. Not cold or distant, but he did put on a serious face. “I totally get it. Just don’t leave me alone all week this time, okay?”
“That’s fair. I promise I won’t. I want to be with you, because I miss you when you’re not around.”
“Me, too.”
“And you don’t go anywhere Thomas Milligan or his people will be looking for you, yeah? No home, no school, nothing like that. I don’t know for sure that the person who came at me was from Firedrake, but it’s definitely p
ossible. I don’t want to give them any ammunition or leverage when it comes to you. Consider yourself officially quit from that company.”
Zach opened his mouth to speak, but then hesitated.
“Zach…”
“Okay, okay. I’ll be extra careful. I won’t go sticking my head into the lion’s mouth.”
She stood and then planted a kiss on his lips. She cradled her coffee and bagel to her chest, then nuzzled against his neck for a few seconds. “My life isn’t always this complicated.”
“That’s the kind of thing people with complicated lives always say.”
Ember nodded. “I can’t argue with that. I’m trying, though.”
After a lengthy goodbye kiss, she donned her jacket and left the room, pausing on the walkway to look up at the sky. Gray, foreboding, more snow seeming imminent. The remnants of last week’s blizzard still lingered everywhere, with giant mounds of snow pushed to the corners of the motel parking lot. Icebergs of slushy brown and gray gunk, sitting tight, futilely trying to resist the melting power of the sun.
Ember placed her coffee and bagel on the railing to zip up her jacket as her phone rang. She first thought to ignore it, but something told her to answer.
“Hello?”
“Ember Clarke?” The voice on the other end was deep and scratchy, dripping with vocal fry. Sounded like a young person with a cold or allergies. Slow and low.
“Yes.”
“My name is Brody, but you can call me 'Bam.'“
“Bam? Like a cartoon character?”
“Yeah. Bam. I’m from Five Points. I’ve been waiting for my chance to talk to you, for real.”
“How do you people keep getting my phone number?”
Bam chuckled. “That’s not important. What is important is that, before the week is over, you’re going to suffer an ugly death. I hope you’re ready for that.”
“Oh,” she said, sighing, “this is that phone call, huh? Not the first one of these I’ve received. But go ahead with your planned speech. I don’t want to steal this moment from you.”
“You’re making a mistake if you think I’m like the other half-assed assassins you’ve faced. You’ve never met anyone like me before.”
“What makes you so special?”
“This is personal for me. Niles Thisdell was my Branch mentor, and you killed him and tossed him like garbage. I’ve been waiting for my chance, Ember. You’re going to get exactly what you deserve.”
Ember pursed her lips. Niles Thisdell, the assassin from Five Points she had accidentally killed in Rocky Mountain National Park a month ago. The botched contract that had started her on this current path. Niles had shown up, thinking he was going to steal her contract, or something like that.
And he wasn’t even the first Five Points member I’ve killed before, she thought. A few months before she’d first glimpsed Zach, Ember had met Harvey Bennet in person. Zach’s older brother had gotten into some trouble with Five Points, which had led to a tense few days between the Branches. In the end, Ember had been given a sort of “probation” by the Board, which is why Wellner had come down so hard on her during the Review Board meeting four weeks ago.
Perhaps Niles had come to attack her that night because of his branchmate she’d killed, knowing Ember would kill him as well, hoping to start a civil war in the DAC. A contract killer version of suicide-by-cop.
“Are you also going to kidnap me and try to stick me in a basement? That’s what the last one did.”
“What? No. But you’re going to face up to what you did to Niles.”
“I don’t have time to explain what happened that night,” Ember said. “But you should know, I didn’t intend to kill Niles. I was defending myself. He came at me.”
“You think I care about little details like that?” Bam said, his pitch and volume rising. Still, he didn’t sound like he was upset, despite the growing urgency in his voice. “Nobody knows what happened that night for real, except for you and Niles. He’s dead, and I don’t believe a word out of your lying mouth. So, here’s how this is going to go: I’ve planted five bombs all over town. If you find them and defuse them before the time is up, I’ll face you one on one. You come after me, then they go off. You play by my rules, you can have a fair fight.”
“Bombs? Why? Why bring civilians into this? You’re just asking to be brought in front of the Review Board.”
Not to mention the potential death of innocents. But Ember had a feeling the guy on the phone didn’t care about collateral damage.
Bam sniggered. “You have no idea what’s waiting for you this week.”
“What, another scavenger hunt? Quinn tried to do this with me two weeks ago. You going to send me on a wild goose chase, too?”
“Oh, no, Ember. I know all about that sociopath Quinn. This is no faked scavenger hunt. This is real. Find the bombs, then you get me. Don’t find them, and civilians will die, then I’ll kill you anyway for what you did to Niles. You got no wiggle room.”
Ember gripped the phone. “And that’s it? Somewhere in Denver there are multiple bombs, and I’ve got a week to find them? Hope I don’t involve the cops? Is that it?”
“No, not exactly. I’m not waiting all week. You need to get on with it, now, and we both know you’re not going to involve the police.”
“How the hell am I supposed to find what I’m looking for? Denver’s not a small place.”
Bam sighed. “Fine. I’ll give you a clue for the first bomb. I put it in a place Niles loved to go. Some people would say it was his favorite place in the whole world.”
“Okay, that’s not much to go on.”
“You’re a smart girl. You can figure it out. But you’d better hurry. The first bomb detonates at 11:59 pm, tonight.”
Chapter Two
ZACH
After Ember left, Zach ate his bagel and drank his coffee in silence in the room. He hadn’t wanted to change motels, but Ember had insisted. Another of her weird, unexplained events and quirks that had become more and more prevalent over the course of the month he had dated her.
Not to mention the revelation from yesterday that Ember knew his brother Harvey—or Ben, as he was apparently calling himself now. Zach didn’t know how to categorize and understand that tidbit. Zach had considered his older brother canceled from his life long ago.
As the coffee cup emptied and the last bite of bagel went into his mouth, Zach sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hands down the thighs of his jeans. Alone, trapped in a box with dirty bedspreads and a TV remote on a chain so opportunistic tenants couldn’t steal it.
“What the hell am I going to do?”
The empty room had no response for him. Zach stood and walked to the window, then he pulled back the curtains and checked the parking lot. A few cars, traffic on the street in front. Too early in the day for housekeeping to be about, but there was a family checking in. Man, woman, two small kids. They were lugging suitcases, the man holding a room keycard out in front of him like a divining rod as he squinted at the room numbers on the doors. The man’s eyes flashed over to Zach, peeking out of the window. Zach pulled back and closed the curtain. A pulse of energy ran all over his body, like a static shock.
Could these people be sent by Thomas Milligan to kill him? He didn’t think so, but better to be paranoid and safe than sloppy and dead. Everything he did now was uncharted territory.
Had this become his life now? Always looking over his shoulder, always expecting the next person he saw to betray him, all because he made a stupid choice to work part-time in a lab because he needed the money?
Things would have been so different if, that night on campus a few months ago, Zach had told Thomas and Helmut to get lost. He’d thought about it at the time. But part of him had felt like the prettiest girl at the bar that night, being recruited. Being sweet-talked into accepting a job with the promise of the freedom of scientific study. The promise of thin hours, thick pay, and coworkers who were also interested in pushing the boundar
ies of exploration.
If he’d only known how conditional that freedom and exploration was at the time.
Zach leaned back and stared at the interior of his door, heart thumping. He started thinking about his classes. Last week, he had used a public computer in the hotel lobby to read lecture notes from one class and turn in homework for another, but there were things he couldn’t do without his personal laptop. There were spreadsheets and lecture notes saved in offline files, sitting dormant in folders, of no use to Zach in his apartment an hour north of here.
But Ember had said to stay away from anywhere that could lead him to trouble. That included going back to his apartment to get his laptop. That included CSU.
Zach imagined setting foot on campus and Thomas’ lackey Helmut jumping out of a closet in a hallway, wrapping him up, and… and what?
What would Helmut do? Force him to go work at the Fort Collins lab, as he had done last week? Force him to buy a plane ticket to Sacramento, force him to rent an apartment there, force him to drive to the Firedrake main office every day?
Zach pursed his lips and blew out a sigh. He drummed his hands on his thighs. Foot tapping on the carpet. A million thoughts swirled around inside his head like water circling the drain. He couldn’t think straight. Nothing made sense at the moment.