Page 98 of Heartless

Would she be glad to see him? Certainly not. Surprised? Most definitely. Getting the best of Iris would be the ultimate reward. He owed her many things, and many of those things he’d been fantasizing about for years.

Plus, he would finally get to meet Hawke in person. He’d fantasized about that for years, too—meeting him and then killing him.

How had Hawke convinced Olivia to marry him? He was a man without any real connections, without seemingly anything going for him other than being some kind of badass spy. Hell, he could beat that kind of man with his eyes closed and one hand tied behind his back. And Olivia had actually married the prick?

Hawke would be expecting a setup. And it was, but not in the way he might imagine. He had every intention of saving Olivia’s life. It had never been his intent that she would die this way. The lifesaving drug was stored in a safe-deposit box at a bank in Alexandria, Virginia. Once he had what he wanted, he would use Hawke’s phone to contact the people he worked with so they could get to the drug and save Olivia’s life.

The ring of his cellphone brought him back to the mission. He didn’t have to check the screen. Only one person knew this number.

“Is it set?” a gruff, heavily accented voice growled.

“Yes.”

“And?”

“We’re ready.”

“You won’t get another chance, you know.”

“I’m well aware.”

“I want her head. You can have the rest of her.”

What he would do with a headless corpse wasn’t something he wanted to think about. The deed would be done, and his debt would be paid. A part of him knew he would mourn the loss of Iris. At one time, she had meant everything to him.

The voice on the phone said, “You’re still not off the hook. The Gonzalez fiasco will follow you for the rest of your life.”

They had chosen him as the scapegoat for all that had gone wrong.

His assignment had looked simple enough. A restlessness had been seen in Juan Gonzalez, and he’d been told to take care of the problem. He’d thought that scaring the hell out of the kid would work, thought Juan would quiet down and do what he was told. All the fool had to do was buy his expensive toys, fill his belly with gourmet food, and sleep in a mansion fit for a king. Who wouldn’t want that kind of life? Instead, Juan and his mother had disappeared. People throughout the organization were looking everywhere, but so far, they’d found nothing.

In the grand scheme of things, Juan and his mother weren’t important. They’d been silly, meaningless pawns. However, their disappearance had been just the first phase of the destruction that had followed. The Gonzalez cartel had been decimated. Someone had to be blamed. It pissed him off that the responsibility was being laid at his feet, but he’d do what he must to repair the damage.

“What do I have to do to pay off my debt?”

There was a slight pause, and he wondered if the man was really thinking this through, or if he just liked to torture him. He figured it was the latter.

“Send me Hawke’s head, too.”

That would be easy. Chopping off the head of a dead man would be no problem. Before he could feel the slightest relief, the man added, “We’ll consider that your first down payment.”

The line went dead.

Determination driving his steps, he walked the perimeter again. This had to go perfectly. He would get only one chance to take them both out. A dozen men would assist him.

Iris Gates and Nicholas Hawthorne would not walk out of here alive.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Five miles from the meeting site, the team stopped their SUVs to prepare. Hawke figured there would be lookouts close by, so this seemed a good distance to finalize their plan.

The sun beat down on Olivia as she exited the passenger’s side of the large, specially designed SUV. Humidity had made a mess of her hair, so while the team gathered for one last review of the plan, she quickly braided and pinned the locks into something cooler and more manageable. It might be just a short drive ahead, but as their traveling accommodations would be cramped, it was going to be a hot, humid one.

“All right,” Hawke said. “Let’s check weapons and comms one more time. We know what we’re here for. Anyone we can keep alive, let’s do it, but not at the cost of any of ours.” His eyes targeted each team member. “Got it?”

He waited to get a nod of agreement from everyone and then continued, “Comms good. Weapons ready.”

With Sean, Jazz, and Xavier still out, the team was smaller than usual. Also, everyone had agreed that Ash should sit this one out, too. Jules needed him, as did their new son. If this was going to get hairy, not one person wanted Ash in danger. Telling the head of Option Zero this had not been well received, but he had eventually given in.

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