Page 5 of Targeted By Desire
Maria could hear, but she couldn’t speak much. The eerily straight line running across her neck, and the damage left underneath it, prevented her from doing so. When she couldn’t sign to me, she used an automated text to speech to communicate. In times like this when I was out on a mission, whatever she typed went straight into my earpiece. Usually, she alerted me to any signs of encroaching law enforcement or unexpected company. But, surprisingly, she was quiet throughout my whole ordeal with the agent. Unless she did say something, and I was just too amused with the agent to pay attention.
“Slight change in plans,” I admitted. “But, our target was taken care of.”
And the fed?
“Will be dealt with.”
Slumping back in her seat, she let out a dramatic sigh. We won’t have time to do it tonight. We’re supposed to be in Texas by tomorrow afternoon for our next job.
“And luckily for the fed, we will be. She gets to breathe for another forty-eight hours.”
Forty-eight hours is too generous. All she needs is one to put the rest of the cavalry on our trail. She let out a huff of frustration. And you know the protocol. No witnesses. He’s going to be pissed when he finds out we left one.
I gritted my teeth at the reminder. I wasn’t afraid of our handler, but the rest of the assassins underneath him were. He’s always been a looming figure in the shadows of our underground organization. Always watching. Always looking for mistakes. Always eager to take his blade to correct them.
“He won’t find out,” I assured Maria.
She ignored me and continued signing. Her fingers moved rapidly as she communicated her rambling thoughts. What if we sent someone else to finish her off? If she’s wounded, then they’ll send her to a hospital. I can scope out who’s in the area and see who’s closest.
I grabbed her hands to silence her. “No,” I said. “I’ll take care of her.”
Her brows rose as she looked up at me, surprised by my touch.
I never interrupted her when she was signing, determined not to ignore any of the new voice she’d regained after the first was cruelly taken away.
Realizing my mistake, I quickly released her. “Sorry,” I muttered. “But this one is mine.”
The surprise on her face transformed into disbelief. She’s a fed, she reminded me. Not a play toy.
“Understood.”
And do it sooner rather than later. We don’t need him, or the feds, on our backs.
“As soon as we finish our next job, I’ll start planning. Promise.”
Maria pursed her lips in a stern look. I thought she was going to argue with me some more, but she turned on her heel and started powering down the surveillance station.
She left me in the loading bay to climb up into the driver’s seat. The engine quietly rumbled and the cab jiggled as it came to life and pulled off toward the main road.
On the drive toward our next assignment, I entertained myself with thoughts of the agent’s end. I could see it perfectly. Her body pinned underneath me. Staring at me with a fierce glare that could burn cities. And my hands wrapped tight around her pretty little neck.
THE AGENT
“Agent Nichols,” a soft voice called my name from a million miles away.
My gaze was fixed on the agent-swarmed chalet a few feet away, staring through the walls to the room where I watched Lorenzo’s cold-blooded murder. If he hadn’t stepped in, it would’ve been me lying on the floor with a bullet in my skull. It should’ve been me.
I was the one sworn to serve and protect. Not him.
Criminal or not, tonight I was supposed to keep him safe. And I failed.
Acknowledging the fact made my heart sink deep into my stomach.
“Agent Nichols,” the voice called again, closer this time.
“Huh?” I finally responded, blinking back into the present.
A paramedic stood in front of me with a worried frown. She was dabbing a large cotton ball against the wound on the side of my head. When our attacker hit me the final time, his gun broke my skin and created a small gash.
