Page 34 of Fast Kill

He caught a glimpse of the driver, confirming it was the same guy. A coworker, she’d said. Dillon’s instincts said otherwise. What was he to her?

Though part of him wanted to hide out and watch the house to see whether the man went inside or not, he couldn’t afford the risk. Time was ticking and his window for escape was closing fast. He had to get out of the area.

And he had to deliver the report to his boss. With a heavy heart, he pulled out his phone and dialed him.

Carlos answered in his usual brusque way. “Well? Will she do it?”

“No.” And Dillon admired her for that more than she’d ever know. She’d always had such stringent morals, more so than anyone else he’d ever known.

How she’d held on to that internal compass throughout all the shit life had dealt her, he’d never know. Somehow she’d pulled free of the muck and done okay for herself, had stayed on the straight and narrow while he’d fallen into the darkest cracks of society and thrived there. God, he’d pay all the money he had to change things.

“Then deal with her.”

Even though he’d expected it, hearing the command to put out a hit on her made his gut clench. “There’s another way.”

“No, there isn’t. The order comes directly fromEl Escorpion. We need the heat turned down on us. She has to be dealt with immediately, and it needs to look like theGuerrerosdid it. She’s the senior forensic accountant working the case.El Escorpionwants her dead to slow down the investigation and make them look at theGuerreros.” There was no give in Carlos’s voice.

Fuck. When an order like that came from the top, there was no disobeying or ignoring it.

“You know what to do.”

Yeah, carry out a hit bearing the signature of the rivalGuerrerocartel. Burn her body, cut out her tongue and leave her severed head behind as testament to what happened to those who spoke out about theGuerreros.

He took a deep breath, the queasy sensation in his stomach worsening. “I’ll handle it.”

“No. You’re too personally involved. Have one of the boys do it.”

“I can’t do that.” A moment of surprised silence filled the line. Dillon never defied his lieutenant. But he wasn’t willing to give in on this one. “I’ll do it myself.” There was no way he’d let anyone else handle it.

His men and the othersicarioshe worked with were ruthless, vicious killers. Sending them after Taylor made him want to puke up the wine currently gurgling in his stomach.

He didn’t trust any of them to simply put a bullet in her head, kill her quick and clean without fear or pain, and then walk away. He’d seen their handiwork firsthand too many times to have any illusions about what they’d do to her before they finally killed her.

There was no fucking way he would ever allow that to happen to her. Not after how much she’d meant to him.

“All right,” Carlos finally said, sounding pissed off. “You have two days, and if it’s not taken care of yet, I’ll order the hit myself. That’s the best I can do.”

Dillon’s fingers were numb around the phone. “Understood.”

The line went dead.

He dropped the phone into his lap, his chest and stomach full of lead as he took the onramp to the highway and headed south, speeding away in the darkness.

The only kindness he could give Taylor now, the only way to protect her from the suffering one of the cartel hit men would inflict, was a humane, unexpected death. Delivered by his own, merciful hand.

Chapter Ten

There was no car in the driveway and Taylor’s garage door was shut when Logan parked his truck out front, but her kitchen light was on. It had taken him longer to get here than he would have liked because of road construction, so she’d probably beat him here by a good fifteen minutes or more.

With the help of his crutches he walked to the front door, putting as much weight on his left knee as his pain tolerance would allow. The swim this afternoon had been great for non-weight bearing exercise and range of motion but the PT session afterward had been tough.

He rang the doorbell, anxious to see Taylor. A full minute ticked past without any sound from inside, and he was reaching for the bell again when he heard her footsteps. Her silhouette moved past one of the transom windows beside the front door and she pulled it open a second later.

The friendly greeting he’d been ready with died on his tongue when he saw the look on her face. Pinched and worried. “Hey.” What was wrong?

“Hi.” She darted a glance past him toward the street, and he could feel the waves of anxiety coming off her.

His hackles went up and he automatically half-turned to face the street, scanning for any threats. There was nothing but an empty sidewalk and a few cars parked along the curb in front of the other houses on this part of the street.

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