“Turn off the engine,” she said.
He obeyed.
“Give me the keys.”
He removed them from the ignition and held them out to her. She snatched them from him and tossed them onto the back seat.
“Leave your seatbelt on,” she said when he moved to unclip it.
He let go of the belt, careful to keep his hands where she could see them, well aware of what she was capable of. “What’s this all about Raven?” he said bad-temperedly.
“Another of my contracts was stolen last night,” she said.
“Yeah I heard. Word travels fast,” he said with a malicious smile. “Let me guess, you want to ask me again if I told whoever’s doing it about the contract I gave you? Well I didn’t, like I’ve already told you. All I wanted was the sod dead, I didn’t want it to turn into a bloody shoot out, like it did.”
“There’s no other possible way he could have known,” she replied. “Whoever’s giving me the contracts must be passing on the information.”
“Why would we do that, eh? We pay you to take out these jokers nice and quietly and that dick swoops in and messes all that up. Think about it love. It doesn’t make sense.”
Slowly she removed the dagger from his throat. “Yes, you do have a point Marcus. But if I find out you’ve had anything to do with it I’ll come back and carve out your Adam’s apple.”
“Hey, I don’t want any trouble. I get enough of that at home.”
“I’ll bet. Ginger still ragging your arse?”
“Always,” he replied with a put-upon sigh.
The sound of a car engine drew her attention back to the road. A large black four-by-four pulled up behind Marcus’s car and two hefty men leapt out.
Marcus opened his right hand to reveal a small device in his hand.
“A panic button?” she said. “Seriously?”
“You gave me the idea, you and your little gadgets. Sorry love, nothing personal,” he said as she snatched up the car keys and locked the doors, just as the two gorillas surrounded the car.
But Marcus was sitting in the driver’s seat and when he pulled at the handle of the driver’s door, the locks popped open again. When his goons wrenched open the back passenger doors, Raven drew the knife and pressed it to Marcus’s throat.
“Back off,” she told them.
“You heard the lady,” said Marcus, wisely not forgetting her threat to carve out his Adam’s apple.
The goons backed off a few steps, scowling at Raven through their thick eyebrows.
“Further,” she said.
They looked to their boss for confirmation.
“Do as she says,” he told them. “She doesn’t mess about.”
They stood by the car they’d arrived in, glowering at her through the back window.
“Look at the state of that lot,” she said, keeping an eye on Marcus’s men through the rear-view mirror. “No wonder you need me to do your hits, they look like they need help putting on their shoes.”
“I said I’d be happy to employ you full time, then you wouldn’t have to worry about that bastard nicking your contracts.”
“I appreciate the offer but I work alone. I’m leaving now Marcus. Don’t be a prat and try to follow me.”
“I won’t. I just want to go home. The missus is going to go off her head at me for being late.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Yeah, well, I’m used to it,” he muttered. “Anyway, how are you going to get back? We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“Simple. I’ll take their car.”
“They won’t give you a lift after you held a knife to my throat.”
“I don’t need them to give me lift,” she replied, sliding the knife into her coat. “I’ll drive myself. See you around Marcus.”
“Raven, wait,” he said, turning in his seat to face her. “If anyone’s messing you about it’s that cock Patrick Bryce.”
“How do you know I get contracts from him?”
“Simple. Someone pisses him off in business they croak it not long after. I might have cauliflower ears but I’m not fucking green. I’m upfront, what you see is what you get but he’s a slick twat and he’ll use anyone to get what he wants.”
“I appreciate the warning. So no hard feelings Marcus?”
“Nah. The missus does worse than that to me every Saturday night.”
“I don’t want to know about your sex life,” she said, making him guffaw.
He turned in his seat with an eager grin to watch as she got out of the car and approached the two frowning men.
“I need your car boys to get me back to the city,” she said. “Don’t worry, I’ll leave it outside Marcus’s pub.”
“You fucking serious?” snorted the largest and ugliest of the two.
“Perfectly,” she said. “Are you going to do the sensible thing and give me the keys?” she added, holding out her hand.
“Cheeky bitch,” he said, throwing a fist at her.
Raven ducked and sighed. “Very well.”
Thirty seconds later Raven had the keys in her hand and was climbing into the driver’s seat of the four-by-four, the two men groaning on the road with bloodied lips and noses, Marcus chuckling in the front seat of his car.
He opened his door as Raven turned the vehicle around and drove off in the direction of the city. “You getting in then you big girls or are you lying there waiting for a bus?”
As his men dragged themselves to their feet and lurched towards his car, Marcus watched Raven vanish into the distance. If only he could get her onto his crew he’d own this fucking county. No one would dare mess with him if he had Raven on the payroll. He must come up with a way to make that happen and quickly, before her reputation was completely shagged.
Raven considered Marcus’s words as she drove back to the city. She thought he had a point. If anyone was behind this skulduggery it was much more likely to be Patrick. Still, she wasn’t ruling out the possibility of an as yet unknown quantity being involved. At least she had plenty of free time to look into it. After last night’s debacle she doubted anyone would be hiring her any time soon.
She left the car as promised outside Marcus’s pub and walked three streets to her own car. Next she drove straight to Patrick’s office. He made her wait almost an hour before seeing her. No one went in or out, so she surmised it was punishment for allowing someone to steal her contract again. If he was behind it she was going to make him suffer. No one made a fool out of her.
Patrick’s secretary - a small, plump blond lady with spectacles and a kindly smile - became increasingly uncomfortable as she watched the very pretty but morose woman known only as Raven grow more irate the longer she was kept waiting. She had no idea what service she provided her boss but whatever it was, she knew it wasn’t good. She was under no illusions about her charming employer.
Finally she got the call to send her through. “You can go through now,” she told Raven with relief.
“Thank you Karen,” she replied, getting to her feet.
Karen breathed easier once Raven had gone, the atmosphere feeling to lighten. There was something far too intense about that girl.
Raven’s hackles rose at the smirk on Patrick’s face.
“Raven,” he said leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers together. His demeanour was serious but his eyes sparkled with pleasure. How he loved people being indebted to him. “I thought I’d be seeing you soon.”
“Is that why you kept me waiting so long?” she said, taking a seat without waiting to be invited, enjoying how his eyes darkened momentarily before clearing.
“I was busy,” he said coldly.
“Well I’m here now. What do you want to talk about?”
“I thought that would have been blatantly obvious. The mess last night.”
“Is Harold dead?”
He huffed out a breath. “No. He did go into cardiac arrest but the paramedics managed to bring him back.”
; “Was there a toxin used?”
He nodded, jaw tense. “The hospital easily traced it.”
“That’s a shame.”
His eyes narrowed. “Is that all you’ve got to say, that’s a shame?”
“I didn’t give him that amateurish injection. One of my concoctions would never have been detected.” Raven didn’t make her own shots, she got them from a fellow bounty hunter and a member of a powerful criminal family in Manchester, Jules Maguire. There was no one better in the country at making undetectable shots.
“If you’d done your job properly in the first place that fool wouldn’t have got to Harold first. The police have compared it to the killing of Arthur Swinton, another contract I gave you but which you allowed your rival to steal. They found the same toxin was used with the same MO and they now suspect they have a possible serial killer on their hands.”
“I thought it was three before they announced a serial killer?”
“It is but the press have got hold of it. They’ve even given their imaginary serial killer a name - The Phantom Needle Killer, because he comes and goes like a ghost.”
“What a terrible name.”
“What do you expect from tabloids? They’re not known for employing literary geniuses.”
She shrugged. “I’m not omnipotent, I didn’t know he was going to blunder in and make a mess of it.”
“I’m holding you responsible.”
“Why?”
“Because you should have done your job properly.”
“And? You going to sue me then? I’d love to see you explain that one in court.”
He pinned her with his gaze. “I’m deeply disappointed in you Raven.”
Those words had been used countless times on his employees and every time they’d reduced the target of his rage to jelly. But Raven just stared back at him impassively.
“Well?” he said.
“Well what? I don’t know what you want from me. Some incompetent got to the mark before me and botched it.” The corner of her mouth lifted into a smile. “Or are you being considered a suspect in his poisoning? Oh that is priceless,” she laughed when he looked furious.
“This is not fucking funny,” he snarled at her across the table, eyes bulging. It was rare for Patrick to allow his cool to slip and she enjoyed the fact that she’d managed to make him lose it. After all, he was always trying to do the same to her.
“Don’t talk to me like that,” she said.
He took a deep breath, eyes burning, jaw throbbing, Raven’s amused look not helping calm his temper any. Patrick was used to being in absolute control of everything around him. His inability to control Raven had always attracted him to her before but now he found it infuriating. Yelling wasn’t the answer to his problem, he had to be smarter. “I apologise.”
“Sorry, what did you say?”
“You heard. Don’t push it. Besides, you’re in as much hot water as I am. When they start looking at who’s an expert at quietly killing people they’ll soon start looking at you.”
“No they won’t. I go to great lengths to cover my tracks, as you well know. The police think I’m a highly efficient bounty hunter, or private investigator as they like to call me, to cover their own hides. They’re clueless as to the other side of my work and that’s how it’s going to stay. Should anyone tell them different I wouldn’t hesitate to give them a shot of their own.”
“You think I’d betray you to them?”
“Not before this conversation but now I’m not so sure.”
“I am not a snitch. Your secret’s safe with me.” He sighed. “I see I’ve got angry at the wrong person. I actually asked you here today to see if perhaps we can’t put our heads together to find out who’s responsible. The sooner they’re stopped the better for everyone.”
Raven nodded. “I agree, as long as you can keep it together.” She actually heard his teeth grinding, which only increased her smirk. He needed her to get him out of this mess and he hated it. “Have you swept this office for bugs?”
“I had it done last night. It’s clean. So the leak isn’t coming from me,” he said with a pointed look at her.
“And I told you it’s not me. Besides, I spoke to Marcus Moore before I came here.”
“That fool?”
“Yes. He confirmed for me again that he didn’t tell anyone and why would he? He’s an old hand at arranging hits, he knows if a death was traced back to him he’d go to prison, the police have been waiting for an excuse to arrest him for a long time. But he knew you arranged that hit on Harold.”
His fury flared again. “How the hell did he know that? Did you tell him?”
“Will you please calm down? Your secretary’s in the next room. You don’t want her overhearing anything.” Realisation hit her like a punch. She shot to her feet and grabbed the phone off his desk.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
“Checking your phone.”
“I’ve already had it checked.”
“And I’m checking it again,” she said, pulling a small scanner out of her pocket, the same one she’d used to sweep her car that morning. “It’s clean,” she said.
“Told you so,” he said, gazing up at her. “I do believe I’ve never got this close to you before Raven.”
“Don’t get used to it,” she said, putting down the phone and retaking her seat. “How much do you trust your secretary?”
“Karen? She’s been with me for years.”
“That’s not answering my question.”
“I trust her. I wouldn’t employ her if I didn’t.” His look was meaningful. “I only employ those I trust.”
“How lovely for you,” she said, making him scowl. “Maybe my rival isn’t getting his information by any high tech means? Perhaps it’s something simple like Karen holding a glass to the wall?”
“It’s not Karen,” he retorted, seeing her doubt of his secretary as doubt about his judgement.
“If you want my professional opinion Patrick, right now you can’t trust anyone. My rival’s getting his information from somewhere and it’s not me.”
“How can I be sure about that? I’ve only your word, which I’m expected to take while you won’t accept mine.”
“Because I work for myself, no one else is involved and I live alone. I talk to no one about my contracts, except you and I burn the information you give me. You however work in a busy building where hundreds of people come and go each day. Plus you have a woman permanently camped outside your office door. That’s why.”
It annoyed him that she was right. “You may have a small point,” he sniffed. “Now we’ve established that can we get back to how that useless sack of shit Marcus Moore knew about the contract I gave you.”
“He didn’t know about it. He heard about what had happened to Harold and surmised you were behind it, exactly like the police have done. Fortunately there’s nothing linking you to it.”
“I’m not the only one Harold caused problems for in business.”
“What exactly did he do to you?” she said.
He pursed his lips together before saying, “he’s been stealing business contracts from me.”
“Oh I see,” she said, revelling in this new information. “Not nice, is it? And you had the nerve to lecture me.”
“Pointing the finger of blame isn’t helping,” he said, eyes flashing.
“It was for you a minute ago,” she said, starting to enjoy herself.
He took a deep, calming breath. “Look, it’s clear we need to work together to find the culprit. Perhaps this isn’t just aimed at you? Maybe it’s a plot against us both?”
“And how does Marcus Moore fit into it? Have you had any dealings with him? Patrick?” she pressed when he remained silent.
“He’s done one or two jobs for me,” he mumbled.
“What jobs?”
“He’s…got me things I need.”
“What things?”
“You don’t need to know.”
/>
“I do if your business deals are messing up my career.”
His gaze was hard. “You don’t need to know.”
Raven let it go. Trying to make Patrick Bryce do something he didn’t want to do was like trying to push a steam train and she didn’t have time to persuade him. “Fine. This could be something to do with him too.” She thought before adding, “there’s only one answer.”
“What’s that?”
“Marcus has to give me a contract.”
“I don’t trust him.”
“You trusted him enough to do business with him for whatever mysterious item you required.”
“For all we know he could be behind this.”
“I don’t think so, it’s not his style. Marcus is far too upfront to organise something like this. He’s a bully boy, not some master criminal.”
“He’s pretty powerful in this city.”
“But he’s never been able to break out of his home turf because he lacks the brains. He just wants to earn his money in relative peace, he’s got enough on his plate with that cow he lives with.”
Patrick grimaced. “Makes me glad I live alone.”
“We need to arrange something but I can’t do it. As we don’t know how my rival is getting their information they might find out I’ve set it up. You have to meet with Marcus, explain what’s going on and get him to give me another contract.”
“On who?”
“Doesn’t matter, just as long as they deserve it. They’ll only be bait to lure out my rival so I can take care of him.”
“Hmmm, interesting plan.” He nodded. “I’ll contact Marcus and arrange it. He’ll let you know when.”
“I’ll leave it in your capable hands then,” she said, walking to the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to prepare,” she said before pulling open the door.
Raven had hoped to catch Karen with her ear pressed to the door but she was sitting at her desk, typing on the computer. She looked up at her and smiled. “Have a good day.”
Raven frowned at her before nodding. “Yeah, you too.”
After Raven left, closing the door behind her, Karen breathed a sigh of relief. Why did that girl always send a shiver down her spine?
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