Page 3 of Twin Deception

“The hit has been changed. Someone must have found out and tipped off Flores.”

No wonder.Given the reason for the businessman to have a hit, I wasn’t shocked. Flores was duplicitous by nature, so I bet he was a paranoid bastard to think someone was out to get him.

Me.I was out to get him.

“He’s going under and is hiding.”

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. Great. Just what I needed. Just what I didn’t want to hear. I’d need to track him down all over again to kill him now. The promise of freedom and not working seemed further away.

I glanced through the windows, spotting the random blonde still seated at the bar.

The allure of a quick, meaningless fuck seemed out of reach now too.

Or maybe not.

“Is the hit canceled?” I asked.

“Um, no? Yes?”

I’d let him decide later. “Then I’m off the hook. I was hired to take him out, and if something’s changing…”

“No,” Drago replied. “You’re not off the hook.”

Dammit.

“Your new orders that relate to this job have changed, is all.”

I narrowed my eyes. Contracts to kill weren’t prone to revision. Someone pointed a finger and said kill that person, and I did. “Changed how?”

“Instead of hunting down Louis Flores, you are to find his daughter.”

“To… eliminate her?” I shoved my hand in my pocket, strolling among the shadows out here, lest someone listen in.

“No. To kidnap her and use her to lure her father in.”

I stared ahead at the ocean, letting my expression harden into annoyance.

Kidnapping? That implied hanging on to someone and keeping them captive for who knew how long.

So much for one last job before having a break.

2

ISABEL

Ileaned over to peer past the person in front of me in the line to check in at the glitzy hotel I’d call home for the next couple of weeks.

Oof.This queue was nine guests deep.Yeah. I’m gonna be here for a while.

My flight to Acapulco’s international airport had been a trial of patience. I wasn’t the most hurried person out there. I could roll with the flow, take the punches and carry on. But my God, had I forgotten how hellish it was to fly anywhere this close to Christmas.

I smiled, recalling the tired expression on travel-weary parents with screaming babies. The snarky banter frustrated airline employees shared with each other. And the oh-shit gasps from people in the cafés when they realized they were going to miss their boarding time.

Seven long hours, I’d been in and out of airports. On planes, waiting to take off. In terminals, standing around to get on.Walking back and forth as connecting flights were canceled and rescheduled. All for this. For me to… be stuck in another line.

Traveling from Calgary to Acapulco shouldn’t have felt like a journey of a lifetime, but it was what it was. I was here now, and I’d?—

“Excuse me.”

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