Page 55 of Targeted By Vengeance

“How’s the vendetta going? I didn’t want to ask her and potentially ruin the mood.”

“Great. She’s been plucking them off her list like flies.”

He nodded. “I’ve seen. There’s been lots of news reports about former and active agents turning up dead. The journalists are starting to think there may be a connection between their deaths.”

“And let me guess: you’d like us to wrap it up?”

“Can’t let the fun end when it’s only begun.”

I nodded. “Understood. Anything else you need from us?”

His smile faded as he lowered his eyes and stared at the crumbs on the plate on the table. A cough crept up his throat, and he covered it with a napkin over his mouth. I didn’t doubt there was blood staining it when he crumbled it. “No,” he finally said. “Not at the moment.”

I saw right through the lie. After all these years, I could tell when he was holding back the words he really wanted to say. “You’re dying, aren’t you?” I asked.

Ares gave a slow nod. “Advanced heart disease.” He cracked a small smile. “I spent all those years dodging bullets and grenades, and now my own body is giving out on me.”

“How much time do you have?”

“The doctors said a year. Maybe less.”

An invisible weight lay on my chest as I stared at him. I knew Ares wasn’t going to live forever. Death was inevitable for all of us. But I was content in not knowing when that day would come. Hearing that it was coming so soon made the back of my eyes burn. He may be an asshole more than half of the time, but he was still my mentor - the closest thing I’ve had to a father.

Losing Roscoe was one thing, but losing Ares? I’m not sure how I was going to be the same after he was gone.

“Fix your face,” Ares scolded. “Don’t waste your tears on me.”

I blinked back the moisture trying to crawl to the forefront of my eyes. “Are you scared?”

“Nah. Been around death so much, I’ve found comfort in it. Shit, with the shit I’ve done in life, I deserve worse than this. Whoever’s running shit up there is being too merciful.”

I almost laughed. “Have you told the others?”

He shook his head. “I’m not close enough to the others to share my business - or for them to care. Believe it or not: they respect you more than me. They won’t even question it once you’re in charge.”

To anyone else, his nonchalance would’ve been unsettling. But I’ve known him long enough to know he truly wasn’t bothered by his diagnosis or impending death. He’d fulfilled all he wanted to do with his life. Now, he was going to pass on without any regrets.

Simone returned to the table. Her eyes bounced between the two of us as she sat back down, noticing the distinct change in mood. “Is everything alright?” she asked.

“Yes, dear,” Ares replied, his happy mask sliding back over his face. “Mateo was just trying to fight me for the check.”

Simone smiled at his joke, and glanced at me for confirmation.

I feigned a small, tight smile to reassure her - probably the worst thing to do.

Her smile dimmed as she saw right through it. Underneath the table, she slipped her hand onto my thigh and laid it open.

Without hesitation, I reached down and squeezed it tight.

THE AGENT

I haven’t been home since my funeral.

The streets I used to know by heart are like strangers now. I barely recognized the routes I used to take for my runs or the shortcuts I used to take when I was running late to work. Has it really been that long? Or have they just lost meaning all too quickly?

The house I used to know as a second home definitely didn’t hold the value it once did. I kept staring at the door that was always open to me, trying to remember the warmth I felt in my stomach whenever I walked inside. But the memories never came. Tainted by the truth, nausea was the only thing that accompanied them now.

It was a good thing the bastard wasn’t home. I couldn’t guarantee I wouldn’t shoot him the first chance I got.