Secret Contract
Page 18
Chapter Three
Chapter Four Nick sprinted across the distance, pushing for speed, but even as he skidded over the hood of a parked car, he knew he was too late. He wasn’t going to get to her in time. All he could think was Not again, not again, not again. He couldn’t lose another one. He watched her throw herself forward and hit the pavement hard, the truck bearing down on her. If she stopped to look where she was going or to see if the truck was still coming, she would be run over. But she rolled forward blindly, into the negligible gap between two convertibles parked on the other side. The driver of the pickup braked hard. Then he must have seen Nick coming because he revved the engine again and shot out into the main street, disappearing from sight the next second. “Are you okay?” He was kneeling next to Carly, helping her to sit—his relief sharp and overpowering, his attention divided between her and the street. No suspicious movement, nothing out of place that he could see. She lifted her left a
Chapter Four
Chapter Five “Are you okay?” Anita came out of her office as Carly walked in. “What happened last night?” She wore a light silk suit that matched her eyes, looking every bit the high-ranking executive she’d been before she was shipped off to prison. Vice president of accounting—that was what she’d told the women, as if it had been no big deal. Gina walked by the admin station in the middle and stopped next to Sam. “I took a spill.” Carly shrugged, eager to get behind her PC and cross-reference the client lists for all the companies she’d gained access to so far. Any client that had business with more than one money-laundering firm, she considered big fish. And if Tsernyakov was all that, he wouldn’t be swimming with small fry. If she got a handle on who the real players were, it would be a major step in the right direction. “Does your arm hurt?” Anita came closer. “Can I help with anything?” “It’s fine. Thanks.” “We shouldn’t have left without you. But you seemed so wrapped up in what
Chapter Five
Chapter Six Who the hell had done the shooting? Why wasn’t Carly Jones dead yet? His employer had asked these questions, too, and it made him furious that he hadn’t known the answers. He was good at what he did. It wasn’t like him to mess up two hits in a row. He poured some red wine and tossed it back, pushed his plate away, his seafood dinner half-eaten. He wasn’t in the mood for it. Maybe Carly Jones was more than she seemed. They already knew she was a conniving bitch. She’d fought him off. That rankled. Next time, she wasn’t going to get the chance. She knew self-defense. He hadn’t expected that. What was wrong with him? Since when had he made a practice of underestimating his targets? He couldn’t afford to get a reputation for making mistakes. Not now when he might have to look for new employment soon. But this woman had a face and body that made a man forget all kinds of precautions. Not anymore. He was onto her now. There’d be no more mistakes, no more near misses. The next tim
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven They really did not need the cops just now. They had to get rid of them, Carly thought as she smiled her best smile. Get them out of the office before the two men made any connections. “So you were all gone for the day?” Officer Mayen looked at Anita, Sam and Gina, who all nodded. “And you worked late?” He was watching Carly now, his brown eyes red-rimmed but sharp. She wondered what case he had worked all night. “I got so involved in writing a new program that I completely lost track of time. Occupational hazard.” She smiled. “The night guard said you walked out just a few minutes before the disturbance.” She’d been afraid the security guard might have seen the man trying to grab her and would finger her, but either he hadn’t been able to see the street from his desk or hadn’t been looking at the right moment. “I was hurrying home. Must have happened just after I left.” “Did you see anyone suspicious loitering at the entrance of the building?” The other officer, Hoffman,
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight Nick pushed away his laptop, glancing at the time display in the corner of the screen. Where were they? Carly, Anita and Gina had gone shopping to outfit themselves for their upcoming night mission. He half wished he had gone with them, although they had promised to be careful. They were all aware of the danger. They were armed. Gina was as good a bodyguard to Carly as he would have been, and Carly was pretty good herself. They needed times like this, working together, honing their skills, learning to depend on each other. He was their trainer, not their babysitter. He had to get them ready to operate on their own. He had to get them ready to work alone, without backup. They had to get used to him not being there to watch their backs. Once they got close to Tsernyakov they would have to go it alone, without help. Any connection to law enforcement would be detected and would put their lives in jeopardy. Sam was on another assignment altogether. She had plenty of black clot
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine She looked ready to bolt. Nick stepped up to Carly and put a hand on her shoulder, gave her a relaxed smile when she turned, glanced at the other women to make sure they weren’t giving anything away. Sam wore her usual I-don’t-care-and-you-can’t-make-me street expression. Gina had her cop/poker face on. Anita was trying hard, like Carly, to appear unaffected. “Everything okay?” he asked the closest guard over the shrill of the alarm. The guy shrugged. “We’ll know in a minute. Security alarm locks the doors.” He nodded toward the entrance. “Hang on a minute. It’ll probably be cleared as soon as the chief checks out the system on the computer and figures out what triggered it.” “So when this happens, cops come out and everything?” The youngest of the guards nodded, scratching his goatee. “Our system is wired into theirs.” Damn, Nick thought, but he kept his smile relaxed. Anita was back in control. She headed toward the armchairs of the waiting area, and sat, all ladylike, t
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten Nick paced his room. He regretted that she’d had to spend the past few years in prison. Hell, she didn’t belong there. But he couldn’t regret not recruiting her back then. At least, this way she was still alive. Carly Jones was one amazing woman. Not that she was likely to give him another chance. He stopped by the window and stared out blindly. And what would he do if she did? Nothing. He couldn’t do a thing. When she had jokingly said earlier that she hadn’t expected him to marry her and father her children, the feeling that had spread in his chest had been a lot like pain. Man, he was an idiot. That kind of life wasn’t in his future. He’d known it when he’d chosen his current occupation. And yet—an insistent little voice whispered in his head—some of the other guys had done it. Rodriguez had a wife and kids, so did Spike and a couple of others. Hank was getting married. They somehow managed to juggle everything. She lived in creative chaos. How could she ever fit into hi
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven “Ettori hasn’t been to work for the past two days,” Nick said under his breath as he opened the door and let Carly in. The doctor Law had sent and vouched for was packing up. “Hi.” His face brightened as he caught sight of her. There had been no introductions. Better that way for everyone involved. “Hi.” She returned the smile then looked to the bandage on Nick’s leg. “How are you doing?” “Okay.” He limped back and leaned against the kitchen counter. Having to let her out of his sight was frustrating, but he had to keep his weight off the bad leg. He had to save his strength for tonight. “He fixed the stitches I pulled.” “Try to keep him still if you can,” the doctor told Carly, his voice definitely flirty. Nick looked at him, irritated, resenting the way the man was looking at her. He’d been in a weird mood all afternoon, his instincts prickling. He’d been over to her apartment a dozen times to look out the window—his faced the neighboring building, not the street front
Chapter Eleven
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