Page 46 of Death Wish

“Hey, it’s their choice, all right? I don’t make them buy nothing.”

Disgusted, Jesse shook his head. “You’re a real prince, White.”

“Team’s here,” Rayne murmured.

“They can have him.”

“What are you talking about?” White’s eyes widened. “You said if I answered your questions that you would let me go and you’d walk away.”

Jesse unzipped his mike bag and pulled out a syringe he’d prepared before leaving the safe house. “I lied.”

“What’s that?” His voice rose. “What are you going to do? Don’t kill me, man. I’m begging here.”

“Why shouldn’t I kill you?” Jesse snapped. “You put Simone into the hospital more than once. Why she put up with you for as long as she did, I’ll never know but it stops now.”

“You know her?”

“Oh, yeah. I know her.” He leaned down and jabbed the needle into White’s neck and depressed the plunger.

The slimy man screamed. “No, don’t kill me.”

“You shouldn’t have touched what’s mine,” Jesse said. “Simone is off limits to you. If I ever see your ugly mug again, you’ll leave our encounter in a body bag. Am I making myself clear, White?”

The other man’s eyes had glazed over already. He blinked sleepily. “Yeah, okay,” he mumbled.

“I will kill you if you ever touch Simone again,” Jesse murmured into his ear as the other man slipped into unconsciousness.

“Do you think he’ll heed your warning?” Rayne asked.

“Nope. He’s stupid enough to come back around and try to take her.”

“And if he does?”

He looked at Rayne. “What do you think?”

After a slight nod, she opened the back door to admit the team of mercenaries sent by Fortress to take White and detain him in the jungle.

The tall blond’s eyebrows rose when he saw White. “He’s dead?”

“Unconscious.” Jesse tossed the used hypodermic in a hard plastic case and zipped up his mike bag. “He’ll stay that way for twelve hours. When he wakes, he’ll be thirsty and very disoriented.”

“What do you want us to do with him?”

“Hold him until you receive word that it’s safe to let him go. Watch him. He’s cocky and dangerous enough to be a problem. He also loves to play with weapons and uses underhanded tactics.”

“We’ll take care of him. Any other instructions?”

“I want to know the minute you turn him loose.” He gave the leader his number. “Same instructions if he escapes.”

“Want us to hunt him down?”

“Until you get word that our op is finished, yes. Otherwise, just a notification will do. We’ll be ready for him.”

“Understood.” Blond glanced at Rayne and gave a slight nod. “Good to see you again.”

“Same. Take care of this garbage, all right? We don’t need him causing trouble for Jesse’s girlfriend. Their lives are on the line if White blows their cover.”

“He won’t get the chance.” After shaking their hands, Blond signaled for his men to haul the unconscious White from the bungalow. A minute later, they were gone.

---