by Eve Langlais
He grabbed her and hugged her tightly. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“I’m fine. But Darren’s up there with that viper.”
“Let me guess, he kicked you out. I swear he turns into a moron whenever she’s around.”
“I don’t trust her.”
“Me either,” he admitted with a shrug. “But he’s the boss. And you can’t cure stupid.”
“Speaking of stupid, where is her boyfriend?”
“In the office. Don’t worry. I took care of him.”
By take care of she thought Marcus meant he’d knocked Stefanov out, so Kacy found herself more than a little surprised to see, by the light of a candle someone had relit, the Russian on the floor, eyes open and staring, a puddle of blood under his head, his throat slashed wide open.
“Damn, meathead. When you said you took care of—”
“I didn’t do this,” he swiftly interrupted.
But it didn’t look good for either of them when a shocked voice said, “Oh my God. What happened? You killed our host.”
The boy toy, a twenty-something named Benoit who’d arrived with Adele Bouvier, the older French lady, walked into the office wearing skintight pants and a mauve silk shirt unbuttoned to his navel.
Benoit stood over the dead body, exclaiming, “I can’t believe you killed him.”
They hadn’t, but explain that to the idiot. They couldn’t. And he’d blab. Witnesses were never a good thing. The academy taught a whole segment on what to do with witnesses. Good witnesses were protected. Bad ones…well…
Kacy moved toward Benoit with her hands raised and tried to divert his attention. “We didn’t do this. We found Stefanov like this. The gunman from yesterday must have been in cahoots with someone else. Quick, we must warn the others.”
“Warn them that there is a new killer on the loose? Or is he in this room?” Benoit said slyly, shooting a look at Marcus.
“Marcus didn’t do this. Stefanov must have missed the gunman’s accomplice when he cleaned house,” Kacy retorted while trying to hustle him out.
But the kid wouldn’t budge.
Marcus shouldered himself between them, acting as a shield, but Kacy wasn’t about to let him do that again. She moved to his side to form a better wall lest Darren suddenly decide to appear and make the situation even stickier.
As Marcus explained, “Let the grownups handle this, kid,” she noticed a glint of silver in Benoit’s hand.
A blade still stained red.
Knowing she didn’t have much time, Kacy did the only thing she could to save Marcus. She threw herself at the guy.
And got sliced as a result.
Chapter Twenty-Five
As soon as Kacy yelped—because she bloody threw herself on a knife-wielding asshole for no good reason—Marcus moved. He grabbed hold of Benoit and bounced his head off the wall a few times.
And even when the boy’s eyes rolled back, he slammed it again. Just because.
Then he turned to Kacy and, through the panic seething within, managed to ask, “How bad is it?”
“It’s nothing. A scratch.”
He didn’t care if it was only a pinprick. She’d gotten hurt.
“Let me see.” He pulled her hand from her side and noticed the rip in the fabric and the stain of blood. A thin thread of blood, not thick and gushing. Still, though, the fucker had hurt his little pint.
He glared at Benoit’s limp body. “He dies.”
“Not yet. We need him for answers. Could be his boss is the one we’ve been looking for, in which case, we’ll need him as leverage. Drag his ass back to the great room, would you? I want to use him to make an entrance.”
“My pleasure.” Reaching down, Marcus grabbed hold of the guy’s collar and heaved him up enough that he didn’t have to hunch while walking.
He let Kacy lead the way, little pint looking adorably violent in her raggedly trimmed dress, her sodden hair, and the holsters strapped to her thighs.
Halfway up the hall, she stopped and turned so fast he almost bumped into her.
She held out her hand. “I need your gun.”
“What happened to yours?”
“I might have dropped it when I almost fell off the cliff.”
A vein in his forehead started twitching. “Are you trying to kill me?”
“Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure I would have hit the water and survived. I did last time.”
“Last time?” The words emerged faintly as he realized little pint embraced danger.
Kind of like me.
Which meant he couldn’t chastise her for it, even if his heart might stop beating one day because of her antics. He handed over his gun.
She cradled it with a smile. “My, what a big gun you have.” And yes, she winked at him as she said it, the gloom in the hall not as thick given, farther ahead, flickering lights alleviated the shadows.
“Let’s get this over with,” he grumbled, because the sooner they took care of business, the sooner he could have her cradling his even bigger gun.
Before they entered the main room, she halted again, this time whispering, “Why is it so quiet?”
An eerie silence permeated the space. No music. No voices. Nothing.
“Maybe everyone took off to their cabanas after the power failed.” Marcus peered around, the two flickering candles set on the buffet table not really enough to light the vast room.
“Hold on, let me grab the penlight.” She yanked it out and turned it on, shining its narrow beam around. On her first sweep, they saw nothing. On the second, the narrow band of light caught a foot.
Kacy stopped moving the flashlight around to illuminate their find, an older woman’s foot, which, when followed, led to Benoit’s lady friend, Adele. Dead. Not of a knife wound but a garrote to the neck, the red line gouged into her pale skin easily visible.
“What the hell is going on?” Kacy muttered.
“Did he kill her, too?” Marcus asked, sounding just as puzzled as he held up the limp body.
“No, I did.” The words came from Willow, who stepped from behind a drape.
At her voice, Marcus dropped the body, and Kacy aimed her gun, but the redhead held up her hands.
“Don’t shoot.”
“You just admitted to killing her,” said Kacy.
“Because I had no choice. It was the only way to get my boss off this island alive.”
“She was the one behind the hits?” Frowning, Kacy looked down at the body and thus missed the redhead pulling out a knife.
Marcus saw it, though, and grabbed Kacy, throwing them both to the floor. The thrown blade narrowly missed them.
“What the fuck? She just tried to kill us.” Kacy shoved up from the floor, head pivoting from side to side to look for Willow, but the woman had disappeared.
“I think we have a problem,” Marcus rumbled.
“You think?” she snapped. “Why would she try and kill me? Is everyone on this island insane?”
“They’re in survival mode,” said Darren as he came striding down the hall. Alone.
“I told you to stay in that room!”
“I never was one to listen to orders I didn’t like.” Darren smirked as Marcus heaved Kacy to her feet.
A scowl crossed Kacy’s face. “Then I won’t be held responsible if you get killed.”
“I should hope not given everyone on this island is out to get us.”
“Explain,” she demanded, and not very nicely.
From her expression, Marcus could tell the temptation to murder Darren was strong. Secrets. Always with the secrets, making everyone’s job harder than it should be.
“This meeting was a setup.”
“I told you from the get-go this whole thing stunk. But did you listen? Oh, no. You just had to be a man.”
Marcus snorted. “Feel better now that you got that out of your system?”
She shrugged. “Not really. If you ask me, our client needs a good shot to the head to make him think
straight, but I’ll hold off until we make it out of here alive.”
“Good plan because we’ll need to be in top form if we want to survive the night.”
“But Stefanov is dead. Surely any plot he planned will fall apart now,” Marcus replied.
“If Stefanov was the mastermind behind it all.” Darren played devil’s advocate.
“It’s his island. His invitation,” Kacy remarked.
“So he said. Just like he claimed he manipulated us into coming here.”
“You think he lied?” Marcus queried.
“Maybe. Without having my usual resources to check him out, I can’t be sure. I do know he didn’t have us brought here for the reason he claimed.”
“You mean he wasn’t trying to make everyone join some kind of Assassins United group?”
“He might have used that as a pretext to bring us here; however, I’m not sure that was entirely his idea. He could have been just as much a victim as we are. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one dealing with assassination attempts. The other guests were also being targeted.”
“And we are just finding out about this now?” Kacy snarled. “This would have been useful information to have.”
“What would it have changed?”
“Well, for one thing, we might not be standing here in the dark wondering why everyone has gone bat-shit crazy,” Kacy yelled at Darren, making some excellent points.
A shake of his head and some tsking showed Marcus’s displeasure. “Dude, not cool. You should have told us about it.”
“If I had, you would have bundled me off this island, and I wouldn’t have had a chance to gather information.”
“Damned straight we would have kidnapped your ass and taken it back to shore. It’s our job to keep you safe,” Kacy said, exasperation in her tone.
“But playing it safe would have meant not knowing what happened, or why.” Darren rolled his shoulders. “Sometimes, you have to take risks to get ahead.”
“Yes, you do, but you should let those around you know so they can better help you.”
“I’m telling you now. Now, we deal with it. Starting with the latest update, which is everyone you’ve met has been targeted. And—”
“By whom?” she interrupted.
Darren shrugged. “No one seems to know, and it’s part of the reason we’ve not fled even when given the chance. We all are looking for that answer. Why does someone want to kill us and in such a strange fashion? Why not assassinate us at home? Why bring us here to this island and then deliver instructions to—”
“Instructions? When? How?” Kacy barked.
“A note found in my toiletries. A discussion with a few other guests let me know that everyone guesting on this island found a note.”
“I didn’t get one,” Marcus replied.
“Me either,” said Kacy.
Darren’s nonchalant expression had him practically eyeing the ceiling and whistling in false innocence.
“Holy shit, I had a note,” Kacy said in a breathy exclamation.
A nod by Darren. “You both did.”
“And you didn’t tell us?” This time, Marcus couldn’t contain himself. “That is seriously fucked up.”
“When I found mine, I went looking for yours, and found them. I thought it best to hold on to them until needed.”
“And what was on these notes? What instructions did they have?”
“Not much. To escape this island, eliminate…and then a name.”
“Please tell me they had your name for mine,” Kacy said, her tone low and growly. “I am in the mood to kill something.”
“You didn’t get me or Marcus. Your target was Willow.”
“No shit.” Kacy gaped. “That’s cold.”
“Are you saying after what she’s done you wouldn’t kill her?”
Kacy blew a raspberry. “Please. I’d kill her without blinking. But, seriously? I am more pissed that the hombre pulling our strings thought he should pit the two women against each other. As if we’re not capable of taking out bigger prey.” Kacy tossed her head, and Marcus wished they were anywhere but here in the dark with a storm howling outside and dead bodies popping up everywhere.
“You are assuming Willow got your name,” Darren said.
“She tried to kill me.”
“Or was she protecting herself?” At her glare, Darren shrugged. “We are in an odd situation where we are being pitted against each other. Our fears, our need for survival, trumping the usual rules. We can’t trust anyone right now.”
Despite wanting to change the subject, Marcus couldn’t help but ask, “What name did you get?”
“Aren’t you curious about the one assigned to you? You had Lee, Ming’s bodyguard,” Darren replied, skirting the answer.
It took Marcus only a moment to clue in on who Darren had gotten. “Your note said Francesca, didn’t it? You were supposed to kill her.”
“Who else but Fran would be on my missive? Although I don’t know why they thought it would be hard. I feel nothing for the woman.” Darren’s short, clipped words might have been meant as dismissive, but Marcus could hear the falseness of them.
“Did you really kill her?” Kacy looked up at the ceiling, and even Marcus had to wonder if Darren had the coldness needed for a dispassionate kill of someone he’d been intimate with.
That would take some seriously cold balls.
“I didn’t kill her. Not for lack of wanting, I assure you. But the very fact that someone thought I should kill her and not Stefanov was why I sought her out. I was more curious to see the purpose in demanding such a thing. Stefanov was behind the attempts on Kacy.”
“Hold on, Stefanov had a note, too.” Kacy’s brow creased. “But he was the one organizing this shindig.”
“And like I said before, I don’t think he is the mastermind behind it all.”
“I can see going after you and the other honchos, but why go after the girlfriends and bodyguards?” Marcus asked.
“To start a war? Because they could?” Darren shrugged. “The why of it doesn’t matter. Someone is playing games, and this entire island is a trap.”
Marcus cracked his knuckles as the severity of their situation sank in. “It’s a death island.”
“More like a gladiator ring,” said Kacy. “The strongest survive.”
“Or we refuse to play the game.” Darren gestured to Adele’s still body. “Someone is forcing us to dance to their tune, and we’re letting them. It has to stop.”
“How, though?” Kacy asked. “If you’ve got people ready to kill on the vague promise they won’t die, how do you convince them not to act?”
“Are you whining because your redheaded friend tried to kill you?” Marcus arched a brow.
“I’m mad because I know better than to trust someone I just met,” Kacy grumbled, looking very insulted.
“To err is human,” Darren quoted.
“To err means being buried six feet under because you were stupid.” Crossing her arms, she confronted her boss.
Time to get them back on track. While they were yapping and catching up, there was a killer, possibly more than one, on the island. They needed to make a plan.
First, Marcus needed to tell them what he’d seen. “I think there’s someone else on the island. Just before the lights went out, I saw someone in a mask.”
“Which means it could be anyone. A current guest, a new player,” Darren remarked. “Perhaps the one manipulating us all. Not that it matters. If the others on the island decide the only way out is to kill, then we have a problem.”
“Only if they get to us first.”
Kacy grinned at him. “Exactly. How many each do we get? I call dibs on any tie breakers.” Kacy pulled her knife and checked the blade.
“You can’t call dibs,” Marcus retorted. “It’s whoever finds them first.”
“Well, that doesn’t seem fair.” She planted one hand on her hip. “You’re taller. You can spot them from farther away.”
Her eyes fired, and her lips curved. “I accept the challenge.”
Whereas Darren bobbed his gaze between them. “You’re both insane.”
“No, we’re good employees,” she stated. “This kind of thing is where we really earn our paychecks.”
“Should we ask for bonuses now on the people we take out?” Marcus asked.
“We are not killing people willy-nilly,” Darren snapped. “Or have you forgotten these are power players in the world? Their deaths would not go unnoticed or unpunished. Not to mention killing is playing into the hands of whoever is manipulating us. I would prefer to make the other guests into my allies.”
Kacy sighed. “I figured you’d say that, but”—her lips curved—“pretending I was going to pull some kind of Hunger Games on them was fun.”
“Speak for yourself. I was serious.” Marcus was ready to do what it took to keep little pint and his brother by another mother alive.
“Don’t worry, meathead,” Kacy said in an exaggerated whisper. “I’m pretty sure we’ll have to kill a couple.”
“Only if you have to. If someone is targeting the academies around the world, then we might need to save our strength and unite rather than fight one another. But if it comes down to kill or be killed…” Darren shrugged.
“I guess we could call this a killer tropical vacation.” Marcus grinned.
She scowled, only to shake her head and smile. “You’re impossible, meathead. But a decent partner to have. And we’ve also fucked around enough. Unless our client here has some more secrets he’d like to share, such as the fact that we’re sitting on an active volcano?”
Darren shook his head.
“Okay, so here’s the plan. We need to get the client back into the tower and barricade the doors. Then we wait until morning and call Harry for an extraction.”
“Coast Guard would be quicker if we run into an emergency.”
Kacy shook her head at Darren, but Marcus replied for her.