Page 130 of Assassin

He reassured him.

“Actually, that’s not for me to say. That’s for you to decide. If you are never getting back on that bus, so be it. I’m here to help you empower your life, not make it what it was. The old Gamble is dead. Here’s where you remake him. Here’s your second chance to be a new man.”

He was surprised.

“Uh, okay. I guess.”

Poe held out his arm, even though Gamble was bigger—or was when he had his weight on him.

“Shall we?” he asked. “I’ll keep you from falling.”

Without hesitating, Gamble took it.

Why?

He was intrigued as to why this man wasn’t going to force him to relive his past.

Was he really going to let him die and be reborn someone new?

This he had to see for himself.

* * * H U N T E R – C R O F T * * *

Washington, DC

Her Day Off

In The kitchen

When Elizabeth Blackhawk’s phone rang, it was almost never good news.

It was just something she’d grown accustomed to since being forced into the deputy directorship.

Now, with the mess in Boston and New Orleans, it could go from bad to worse in a heartbeat.

There was no hiding.

So, she took the call. As soon as she saw the number, she knew trouble was brewing.

NOLA trouble.

Reaper didn’t call unless there was a situation. The man was anti-tech, and preferred to do things face-to-face, but with her up North…

The phone it was.

When she answered it, the call, like she suspected, was quick, succinct, and right to the damn point.

They had a problem, and unfortunately, she’d called it beforehand.

Damn it.

She hated that she was right.

Only, she had been.

After speaking to her old friend, and hearing how Thomas Bernard was making one hell of a spectacle of himself outside the Hunter’s home, she knew this was on the cusp of exploding.

Elizabeth’s job was to anticipate and handle anything heading their way.

---