Page 8 of Killing Emma

“It’s a long drive.” And there are sedatives in the jet.

“I’ll get the plane ready then. I take it you’re bringing her with you, yeah?” The amusement in Manny’s voice grinds against my nerves, but I’m not ready to kill Emma Nightingale yet. I’m still so curious as to what makes the woman tick. And why? I don’t know.

Plenty of hitmen I know play with their targets though, especially when they’re women. It’s just the nature of the hunt, and if it’s not fun, then it’s not worth doing. I don’t even do it for the money. I don’t have to. I have a hefty trust fund. I do this because I don’t know how to function without it. It’s my stress relief. Some people go for a run, and I blow off steam by stealing the light from people’s eyes.

“I’ll be at the airport in about forty-five minutes,” I say, calculating the time as I ease through the trees. Emma had sounded like a large animal when she barreled through the night, leaving an easy trail to follow. But now, with her in my arms, I move silently, the only sound being the occasional snap of a twig beneath my boots.

“Looks like someone called the cops.”

“Shit,” I mutter, picking up my pace. “I still have to carry her to the car.”

“Take hers. I’ll schedule a pickup for the burner car.”

“Good idea. How long do I have?”

“Fifteen minutes. According to the dispatcher, they’re still trying to figure out where the screaming came from.” Manny cackles. “You know they won’t take it seriously. They never do.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t want to be a part of the first time they do,” I grunt, glancing down at Emma’s body. If it weren’t for the pink hues in her cheeks, I’d think she was dead, her body light in my arms. My eyes linger there on her thick natural lashes, halfway expecting them to flutter open. She’s more stunning up close, despite the forest debris tangled in her sunset-colored hair.

Little Red.

I chuckle to myself, and slip across the yard, noting the broken glass on the pavement. “We need to get a clean-up crew here if possible.”

“Yeah, I know. She’s got more rage than I expected. I figured she’d be a dud, and damn, the way she came for—”

“Shut the fuck up,” I bark, a bad taste filling my mouth.

“Whoa,” he draws out. “Someone’s touchy tonight. You don’t have to kidnap her, you know. You can just kill her, and we’ll move on to the next. But I have to admit, I like that you’re trying something new.”

“Trying something new, yeah,” I scoff, shaking my head. I slip inside Emma’s house and shut the front door behind us. Emma still hangs limply in my arms.

My grip on her tightens as I grab her keys from the counter, and head for the garage. Honestly, I just want to break her open and see what’s inside of her mind. She came alive when I chased her through the woods, she turned into a slut when I wrapped my belt around her neck, and then she almost escaped me.

And that’s the first time that’s ever happened.

“Get moving,” Manny chimes in a warning. “They’re dispatching an officer to the address.”

“They won’t be able to get in the gate, right?” I kick open the garage door and make my way to the Land Rover.

“No, but they’ll buzz the house, I’m sure.”

I sigh. “Got it.” I open the backseat, and lay Emma down. Shaking out my arms, I wrap the belt around her wrists, and use zip ties for her ankles. It’s probably not a good idea to drive with her like this, and so I move her to the back, covering her with a blanket. For all I know, she’ll be dead before we get to the airport, anyway.

“Go, go, go,” Manny’s urgency intensifies as I start the car and hit the garage door opener. “You’re going to be cutting it close.”

“Shit,” I mutter, smashing the gas pedal and careening backward. I whip it around, and speed down the black asphalt driveway, hitting the gate opener the entire time.

“You through it yet?”

I speed through the opening and take a hard left, heading back to the main highway. “Yeah. We good?”

“Yeah, they’re still two miles away, coming from the opposite direction,” Manny answers, blowing out a sigh of relief. “Glad we didn’t have to murder any cops tonight.”

“We never murder cops.”

“Yeah, damn the luck.”

Relaxing, my shoulders drop. “I don’t know what the hell I’m doing with her. I was planning to leave her.”

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