Page 17 of Avenging Kelly

During my training when I’d started working with the trainers for Operation Jackpot, I was taught how to do most of my work at night. During the day, I’d been instructed to stay out of sight in the worst fucking roadside motels and dirty apartments the government could provide. Those were the memories that weren’t erased from me.

I stopped on the deck and cast my eyes out over the bay, thinking of the days that many people might have spent fishing or skiing or watching sea creatures as they surfaced. It had the makings of a perfect dream with the right person. If that person existed and could tolerate the monster inside me…

Unfortunately, all of that water had triggered something else. “I, uh, I need to use the restroom,” I stated.

Rafe nodded and pointed to a staircase. “Upstairs. Pick a bedroom while you’re up there. Each has its own ensuite.”

I rushed up the stairs with my duffel and took the first bedroom I found. The room was painted a pale gray with creamy white trim. The air was thick with the scent of fresh furniture polish, and I was sure if I had white gloves, I wouldn’t find a speck of dust.

I grabbed my toiletry kit and headed to the bathroom, finding it gleaming, as well. I set up my fix and wrapped the rubber tube around my arm to pop the vein to take my shot.

Shooting up wasn’t my favorite thing, but The Gambler had taught me how to do it. I didn’t have the luxury of not succumbing to that fucking siren’s call.

* * *

As I climbed the stairs from the beach after walking barefoot along the shore’s edge while the cold water lapped at my ankles, I considered my options. I didn’t really have many.

The monsters at Sin City had chipped me like a cocker spaniel, so even as I stood on the teak deck and gazed out to sea, I knew they had my location pinpointed. I had to get away from London and company before I brought hell down on their heads.

During my walk, I’d noticed a National Park Service vessel anchored about a mile up the beach. I’d need to check the next day to see if it was still there, so I’d know when I could make my escape.

What I needed to do to avenge my sister wasn’t a group effort. It was my wrath to rain down alone.

“You hungry?”

I turned to see London coming outside to join me. He was wearing a faded blue hooded sweatshirt with gold letters on the front, D E A. It looked as if he’d had it for a long time. I wondered if he missed his time with the agency as much as I’d missed my time in the Army before everything went to hell.

“I could eat,” I answered as I slid off my sneakers and put them on the mat by the large bi-fold glass doors.

“Rafe made seafood chowder and… something else. I think it’s vegetables,” London told me.

“I really don’t give a shit what it is. After the food they served in Leavenworth, anything tastes good,” I replied as I pulled out my phone. No signal.

“What time is it?” I asked, noticing the sun was low in the sky.

London lifted the sleeve on his sweatshirt and looked at his watch. “Just after four. You won’t get a signal out here. Scramblers,” London said.

My head whipped around as if I could see static in the airwaves. “Scramblers?”

“Uh, yeah. Dallas told me about the chip in your spine, and I passed along the word to Giuseppe. He had jammers installed around the property. You’re safe here, Kelly,” London assured as he touched my bicep, sending a jolt up my spine. How someone’s touch—someone I barely knew—could extract a visceral reaction from me was fucking crazy. It scared the shit out of me.

7

LONDON

At my mention of jammers, relief seemed to wash over Kelly. He’d been exploring the compound for about an hour, staying off by himself. I was worried that he’d take off, but Rafe assured me there really wasn’t a way off the island without a boat, and the captain and his mate had taken the tri-toon back to the mainland with them.

“You’re safe here, Kelly.” I couldn’t emphasize it enough.

Dallas had told me about the chip in his spine, and until we could figure out how to get it out or destroy it, Kelly had to stay on the island. I could see he was restless, not that I could blame him.

“You’re all at risk if I’m anywhere near you, and I can’t have that over my head. I’ll be the one they want, and the longer you keep me from finding the fuckers who harmed my sister, the sooner they’re going to get to me. I only have two-and-a-half weeks’ worth of Poker Chips. After that, I’ll go looking for them,” he answered with such sincerity that for a moment I was speechless. Clearly, the man was cognizant of the hold his addiction had on him.

“Do you have a little of that we could have analyzed? Maybe if we know what’s in it, we can get you off it,” I suggested.

Kelly chuckled. “There’s no getting off of it without the antidote that The Gambler claims to be working on. I’ll die if I stop taking it.”

For reasons that would confound me for a lifetime, I knew I couldn’t let him die. Hell, I wasn’t willing to let him leave, much less suffer, because something about Kelly had me under his spell. There was a vulnerability in him I saw in small snatches at a time, and it touched me.

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