by Sam Crescent
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2017 Sam Crescent & Stacey Espino
ISBN: 978-1-77339-272-1
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Karyn White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
TAKING HER INNOCENCE
Killer of Kings, 1
Sam Crescent & Stacey Espino
Copyright © 2017
Chapter One
“You think you can handle it?” Boss asked.
Viper stared out across the parking lot. A lot of shoppers were milling around today, going about their own pathetic lives, believing they were the most important thing in the world.
None of them had any idea that one of the world’s deadliest killers was amongst them. He was part of an elite group of mercenaries. He killed for the money. Whoever offered the highest bounty, he took it. He never asked questions, and he never cared about the people he killed. This was a job to him, something he was good at.
“Why can’t I handle it? Send me a picture of the girl. I’ll do the rest.”
“She has to die of natural causes.”
Viper snorted. “No problem.”
He had one month to find a woman, and to end her life. Piece of cake. He had lots of ways of killing a woman, and this would be no different.
“Deposit the money, and I’ll call you if I need more.” Viper whistled as he made his way toward the car. He put the groceries in the trunk, got behind the wheel, and waited.
Her picture came through his cell phone, and he stared at the girl in question. She couldn’t have been older than fifteen, but from what Boss had told him, she was nearly twenty-one years old, and had been on the run for nearly six months. Curious.
The picture showed her cuddled up next to her mother, and she looked happy. Pepper was chubby, her cheeks looking like the kind you could pinch, and grandmothers cooed over. Boss had given him all the details over the phone. Viper didn’t do paperwork, reading, or worrying about something being tracked.
He memorized everything. All the little details were up in his head, and that was where they would stay until the job was gone.
Viper didn’t know why the woman in question, Pepper, was running, and he really didn’t care. The moment Boss called him and gave him an assignment, he did it. Now he just needed to figure out where she was staying.
Good news for him, he had a special guy who owned equipment that could find him this woman. Leaving the grocery store, Viper made his way across the city toward the guy who he knew would hook him up.
Whenever he was in between jobs, he would always stick around where his people were so that he didn’t have to worry about endless traveling. Working for Killer of Kings was rather lucrative. They were a company known for getting the job done. Nothing was too much, no job too hard. He had traveled all over the world to do what needed to be done, from killing people, to fucking women, to even rescuing people. If the price was right, he would do anything.
From a young age, younger than any child should ever have to deal, he had been taught to hunt, to kill, and to do it without feeling a damn thing. There were scars on his back that all bled together that reminded him a past he wished he could forget. When he saw children with their parents, for a split second he felt envious, jealous that they could be having a wonderful life, a better one than he ever had. Of course they were having a better life than he had. None of them had ever gone through the hours of pain or the training that had made him one of the deadliest men on earth.
Parking his car outside of one of the shittiest apartments in the city, he made his way toward his contact, Maurice. The guy was thirty years old, a slob, but damn good when it came to computers. He was the only one who gave Viper the facts without giving him files thick with writing and shit. Viper didn’t want to be studying. Cold, hard facts were what he was after, and he didn’t need paperwork that could be traced.
Maurice lived on the top floor. He was a tall, skinny man who wore big, thick glasses. Banging on the door, Viper waited, and when Maurice opened the door his shirt was covered in ketchup and mustard stains.
“I’ve told you to change,” Viper said, entering the room.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t think I’d see you for a couple more weeks. You usually take time off. Why are you back after just a week?” Maurice asked.
The apartment was littered with debris. Only the sitting room, the place where all the computers and equipment were set up was spotless.
“You need to get a cleaning lady,” Viper said. He hated mess.
Mess equaled mistakes.
He was clean, efficient, and he didn’t have anything to leave behind. Even his apartment where he stayed during his vacations didn’t hold any personal mementos. Not that he would ever have those. Mementos would mean caring, and that wasn’t what he did. He didn’t have a family, a past, nor would he have a future.
“Cleaning ladies touch stuff, and I know where everything is.”
Viper looked around the apartment. “It stinks.”
“So? It keeps everyone out, okay? This is my mess. My problem. Not yours. What do you want?” Maurice asked, shoving his glasses up his nose.
“Fine.” Viper handed over his cell phone. “Get me everything on her.”
“Do you have a name?” Maurice asked.
“Pepper. I want everything on the face though. You’ve got your computers that can track CCTV. I want to know where she was last seen.”
“This could take a while.”
“Don’t care. I can pay.” Viper moved into the sitting room and took a seat. It was the only place he was willing to park his ass while he waited, and there wasn’t a chance in hell he was leaving until he got what he wanted.
Something was bugging him about this assignment, which was strange because he usually didn’t care. Swift, efficient, done. That’s what he’d always been about.
Maurice was humming as he got to work, scanning her picture, and then tracking it through the database. On the big screen in front of them, he saw several names and pictures as it did the recognition thing.
The beauty about security and live feeds everywhere was anyone could be tracked or traced. Unless someone knew how to avoid the cameras and the recognition software, no one was untraceable.
“She’s young this one.”
“You’re not paid to worry about that.”
“This isn’t a rescue mission though, right? I think I saw something about this girl’s mother a few weeks ago.”
That made Viper pause. “What did you see?”
“Only that her mother had died, and Pepper’s stepfather was taking over the company that should, by rights, go to this Pepper girl. We’re talking a billion-dollar company. Stocks, shares, and they have stakes in pretty much everything. I’m surprised you don’t know that.” Maurice munched on a potato chip as he spoke.
Viper didn’t follow the news. He didn’t read the papers, nor did he care about pampered princesses. “Out of curiosity, what happens to this fortune if the girl dies?”
“It goes to the stepfather.”
Sitting back, Viper thought about the terms of his latest contract. Pepper needed to
die of natural causes, and the stepfather would inherit everything.
He didn’t like the twist in his gut.
This was just another assignment like everything else, and he wasn’t going to let feelings or emotions get in the way. Patting his fingers on his thigh, he watched the computer screen as faces all seemed to roll into one. This was the one part of the job that he hated.
He was bored.
When he was bored, he was able to think.
Thinking made him remember the past, and he didn’t want to remember the past. He wasn’t someone plagued by his fears. He had no fears.
“There she is,” Maurice said.
Viper looked up as her image was brought into focus. It was a really clear image. “When was it taken?” he asked.
“Three days ago. A grocery store near the coast.” Maurice rattled off several details and directions.
Viper didn’t need anything else. He already knew where he was going. Pulling out a wad of cash, he handed it to Maurice, and made his way toward the door.
“Viper,” Maurice said.
Turning, he saw Maurice standing, holding his keyboard. “What is it?”
“You don’t have to do this, you know? She’s innocent. There’s nothing on her. No criminal record, nothing. Her slate is completely clean. This is not like your usual kills.”
“You don’t know what I’ve got to do, and remember, anything happens, any word gets out, and you’ll die, Maurice.” He wouldn’t want to kill the man in front of him. Even though he was a slob, he kind of liked him, and that wasn’t heard of much in his line of work. He shouldn’t use the same man over and over again, but Maurice had proven himself, and he didn’t want to lose a valuable asset.
“See you soon,” Maurice said.
Viper was already out of the door, but he heard it.
****
Pepper stared out at the ocean, wondering if she would be able to stay here for another couple of days. It was a quaint, little town near the sea, and it was home to a lot of tourism. The beach where she stood right now was completely covered with people, with families. Would she be safe here?
She didn’t know how far her father was willing to push everything. He wanted money. She knew that. From the moment her mother, her sweet, beautiful mother, had brought him home, Pepper had seen through him. He’d been a gold-digger. A horrible excuse for a human being. She had even seen him cheating on her mother with one of the staff. That had really sickened her, and what she hated most, her mother hadn’t believed her.
Yes, Pepper came from a rich family, but her relationship with her mother had always been solid. When her father died, they’d had each other, until this monster came out of nowhere, and was intent on destroying them. She hated him to her core, and that didn’t help. Even when the abuse and violence had started, her mother hadn’t been able to see past her own insecurity.
Then, of course, Pepper had to run, and now she couldn’t even go home for her mother’s funeral.
In order to gain the fortune, her stepfather needed her dead. She wasn’t an idiot. All he’d wanted all along was her mother’s fortune, and when Pepper died, it would all go to him.
A gust of wind hit her, and she held onto the hat, making sure it didn’t blow off. She was wearing a hat and a pair of glasses. With her image over the news, she didn’t want anyone to see her. Fortunately, there wasn’t an updated picture, and she looked nothing like she did when she was fifteen. The picture was a cold reminder of the last time she was happy, when her mother was happy. She should probably dye her blonde hair, but it grieved her to change the locks that her mother spent hours lovingly caring for. They would sit in her father’s study, and her mother would brush her hair, waiting for him to finish. Pepper looked similar to her mother, only lighter, and fairer-skinned. She burned easily in the sun, and always had to use sun lotion, which she hated wearing.
She remembered her mother rubbing the awful stuff all over her, saying if she wasn’t careful she’d burn to a crisp. Then she would watch her mother do it herself. It was amazing how touching, how meaningful those memories were. At the time, they were just a nuisance, but now it was something more.
Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind, she turned away from the sight of the ocean, and began to walk back to the main path.
The scent of doughnuts, fried chicken, and fries was heavy in the air. She wasn’t hungry, and even if she was, she wouldn’t eat outside.
Her stepfather was a vicious man, and would probably find some way to hurt her. She wouldn’t put it past him to send someone to kill her. Were there companies like that? She didn’t know. There was a lot about the world that she didn’t know, and that scared her. Leaving the busy streets, she made her way back to the tiny hotel that she had rented. Without looking back, she made her way toward her door, and paused. Her door was open, and she frowned.
Hadn’t she locked it?
Her heart started to pound.
It may not have locked.
Every time I left this room I locked the door.
She needed to turn around and leave.
But her stuff was in that room, and she needed to get it.
“It’s fine. Everything is fine.”
She gasped, and would have screamed if a hand hadn’t closed over her mouth. “I suggest you be very quiet. I’m not the most patient of men, and I don’t like to be kept waiting.”
She couldn’t see, and with how tightly he held her, she couldn’t move. There was no way to get away, or for her to see who her attacker was.
He shoved her into the room, and the door slammed open, hitting the wall behind it.
Her attacker moved his hand, giving her a chance to bite him, so she did. She sank her teeth into the flesh of his hand, and made sure she didn’t stop until she tasted blood.
Gross. Gross. Gross.
Disease.
She spat his hand out, stamped her foot down hard on his, and then shoved him away.
He shouted, and before she could get away, he grabbed hold of her hair, throwing her against the wall. The impact startled her, and she went a little dizzy. Within seconds he was on her. He punched her in the face, shocking her from the impact, and she rolled away. Her attacker drew back his foot, and she grabbed it, lifting it up so that he stumbled back.
Getting to her feet, she tried for the door, but he caught her again.
“You fucking fat bitch,” he said, wrapping his arms around her neck, and he started to cut off her circulation.
She clawed at his arms, struggling to breathe.
“Now, isn’t this interesting?” a man said.
They turned, and she saw someone who was twice the size of the man strangling her, and looked ten times as deadly.
The first thing she noticed was that he had guns at his waistband. The next thing was how calm he looked while she was getting hurt.
“Who the fuck are you?” the guy behind her asked.
“Me? I’m here on a job. Why the fuck are you here?”
“Got a job. This bitch needs to be taken out.”
The man at the door laughed. “Tell me you don’t have a clue who I am. Do you have any idea who I work for?”
The man behind her stilled, and the hand at her throat actually eased, surprising her. He didn’t let her go, but she was able to think, and for that she was thankful.
“Viper!”
The smile on the man at the door turned deadly. “Exactly. Now, tell me who the fuck hired you.”
“Her stepfather. Who else would? He wants her gone, and he wants it done as soon as possible. Doesn’t matter who gets it done so long as she’s dead at the end of it.”
The man called Viper looked at her as if he was assessing her. “You’re really worth that much?” Viper entered the room, and closed the door. “Let the girl go, and I’ll let you leave here with your life.”
Laughter made her jump as the man behind her erupted as if it was the funniest thing he had ever head. “I know you’ve got a
good reputation, Viper, but I don’t think you can take me.”
“Put the girl down, and let’s see.” Viper stood with his hands behind his back, looking so calm.
The man behind her was strong. She didn’t want either man to win, but she didn’t want the one behind her to win at all. That bastard was going to hurt her.
Viper was going to hurt her as well, but she hadn’t actually been hurt by him yet. He was the best bet.
She was shoved down hard on the floor.
“Stay.”
The man walked toward Viper, and she didn’t know what she was expecting. Maybe a fight, something that was scary. She didn’t expect Viper to reach out, grab the man’s neck, and in one twist, snap it.
Her heart raced.
Her attacker was on the floor with his head at an odd angle. “Now this is curious.” Viper began to rummage through the guy’s pockets, and when he found the wallet, tossed it at her. “Who is he?”
She stared at him. “I’m not touching that.”
“Tell me who he is or I’ll hurt you a hell of a lot more than this bastard ever did, and from the look of your face, he hit you a few times.” Viper glared at her. “Now, who is he?”
Grabbing the wallet, she opened it up, and stared at the name. “It says William Donald.”
He stepped back, and grabbed his cell phone. She stared at him, and then at the door. She was in pain, hurting in places she didn’t think it was possible. Could she make it out in time?
Chapter Two
This wasn’t what Viper expected to find. Some asshole was moving in on his hit. Well, he was. Now he’d have to deal with cleaning up two dead bodies. Killer of Kings definitely had some explaining to do.
“Who the fuck is William Donald?”
Boss made an exasperated sound into the phone. “He’s a free agent. Why?”
“A few minutes ago he was trying to kill my mark. I thought this was exclusive,” said Viper. He glared at the girl when he saw her eyeing the door.