Page 70 of Beautiful Killer

CHAPTER TWENTY

Zeke

Van shoulder tapped me to get my attention then pointed to the club across the street. “Our guy went in there fifteen minutes ago. He’s still in there.”

Tomas had called in his marker. He wanted payment for the information he gave.

I nodded, pulled my gun from the waistband of my jeans, checking it, then hunkered down. The guy we were here for worked muscle for a local dealer. Tomas wanted the mark trussed up and delivered to him at one of his warehouses, and a guarantee that nothing would lead back to him. Which is why he chose to use me instead of one of his own men. This was personal for Tomas. I didn’t know all the details, but I did know this guy had taken his fists to his woman, beaten her so bad he’d nearly killed her, a woman Tomas had a personal interest in. In my book, that made this guy a fucking low piece of shit. He more than deserved what was coming to him. I’d planned to do this alone, but Van insisted on taking my back.

I stared across at the club’s door. Sitting still wasn’t really working for me, though. My head wasn’t in a good place. I recognized this, understood it, and compartmentalized it, or tried to. Like I’d been doing since I got home from Afghanistan. My men came first on any mission, always, not my desire to run headfirst into whatever shit-storm came out of that club. I was struggling with that tonight. In the past, yeah, I’d given the guys reason to think I had a death wish, but I didn’t pull that shit when it could be their asses on the line. Tonight, I wished like fuck I was working solo.

My day had started utter shit. After hours of tossing and turning, Sunny’s scent all over my sheets, I’d torn them off the bed then gone to my gym and worked out until I couldn’t stand anymore, smoked a joint, and passed out on the couch. My mood didn’t improve when I finally got a lead on Kyle Miller and where he’d been bunking down. By the time I got there, the fucker had moved on. My guess, he was spending a night in one place then finding somewhere else. I had no idea what his next move was, or if that move was going to be aimed at Sunny. At least I knew she was safe. Neco and Ruby were keeping an eye on her and during my sparring session with Ruby this morning she told me she’d seen Sunny last night, that she was doing okay. Julia had stepped up and was helping with the shop, which meant Sunny wasn’t alone there during the day. I had cameras on the place and between me and everyone else at the agency, we were keeping eyes on the shop as best we could. I’d prefer she stayed at home until Miller was caught, but I knew that shop was important to her. I also knew I couldn’t tell her to do shit. That wasn’t my place. She’d made that more than clear.

You told her you didn’t want more. She gave you what you asked for.

The door to the club opened and closed and I tensed. Two women walked out giggling. I sat back and continued to watch.

No, Sunny had given me what I deserved.

What was she was doing right now? Was she feeling better? Was she still scared?

Was she sleeping okay without me?

The door opened again and our guy walked out. He wasn’t alone. There were two others with him. Those odds were nothing for Van and me. Van was stone-cold lethal, and I was fucked in the head enough not to give a shit what happened to me. They rounded the club and headed down the side of the building. There was a parking area back there. Nice and dark. We’d even parked our van there to make shit easier for ourselves.

I stood. “Let’s go.”

Van jerked up his chin and we jogged across the street.

We edged up the alley.

“I fucked her in the bathroom,” Our guy was saying. “Bitch tried to tell me no after being a fucking cock tease all night. Taught her not to fuck with me.”

The other two guys laughed.

Van growled beside me. After hearing that, I didn’t want to just hand this fucker to Tomas, I wanted to help tear him apart. We didn’t see any reason to wait, and rounded the corner.

The three of them looked at us as we approached, had no idea who we were, which was another reason Tomas wanted me on this job.

“You want something?” one of them asked, puffing out his chest.

Neither of us answered and kept on toward them. The situation might not be ideal, but this was the only place we’d been able to get close to the guy. He was never alone, which led me to think he knew he was marked. He confirmed this when he reached for his gun. Van and I did the same. His buddy to the right went for his own piece, but Van aimed and fired, winging the guy. He went down with a howl. Van went for cover, and I charged forward, firing off round after round, sending them scattering. I felt a bullet hit my biceps, causing me to jerk back. It was just a graze, and it didn’t slow me down. I kept moving toward my target. Van was firing shots behind me, covering me as best he could. The guy’s other friend, the one not bleeding yet, backed off then spun and ran away. I let him go. He wasn’t what I’d come for.

The shots stopped and I knew our mark was out of ammunition.

I rounded the dumpster he was using for cover and, gun aimed at the asshole’s head, stared him down. “Someone wants a word with you.”

The guy spat at my feet, but didn’t fight too much when Van and I trussed him up and threw him in the back of our van. I drove to Van’s apartment building and waited for him to get out. He didn’t need to be involved in the delivery of this asshole.

Van hadn’t said anything during the drive here, and when he turned to me instead of climbing out, eyes hard, glittering, I knew that was about to change. “You ever pull that shit again, run into fucking gun fire like that, I’ll shoot you myself.”

I said nothing, just stared at him across the shadowed interior.

“You want to fucking kill yourself?” Van hissed. “Well, tough shit, I won’t fucking let you. You hear me? I’m done waiting for you to stop beating yourself up over this shit. None of it was your fucking fault. Do you hear me?”

I didn’t know what to say. He knew my game, he’d have to be blind or stupid not to. I wanted an out, but I was too much of a coward to pull the fucking trigger myself, and since I got home, I had been waiting for someone else to do it for me.

“Shit.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “Do I need to be worried about you tonight? Are you going to do something stupid?” he growled.