Page 24 of Shadow

This time, I was thinking like the sniper.

Andthere.

Mother fuck, am I fucking good.

Sure enough, it was coming from an apartment. The rifle was just resting on the edge of the window. I would’ve missed it if I didn’t knowexactlywhat I was looking for. I zoomed in, taking in the furnishings. It was a small apartment, just a studio. A bed was against one wall, and a TV was mounted across from it. There was a bowl of some kind of food sitting on the kitchen table. No doubt, he’d paused his dinner to try to take out Anatoly.

A smirk curved my lips, and for the first time since I got that soul-crushing phone call that split me the fuck apart, I felt like I was coming back together again.

“Gotcha,” I whispered.

It didn’t takeme long to figure out which apartment it was and who it belonged to. Joseph White—ex-military, SEALs to be specific. Grew up in foster care. Not married. No kids. No girlfriends or fucktoys. He was a man that went to work as a quiet little accountant and took hitman jobs on the weekend.

He was well known on the dark web. He only took high dollar kills. Didn’t know what he did with all that money considering where he lived, but I imagined it wasn’t about the money for him.

Nah… it was about thethrillof the kill.

I found his information and sent him a little message under some bullshit alias I created on a message board, asking him if we could meet for coffee at a quaint little coffee shop in a small town. The owner of the cafe I planned to meet at was the wife of one of Anatoly’s guards, Akim, and I knew she’d keep her mouth shut. The woman was fierce and ex-military as well, only she’d served in the Marine Corps. The only reason she’d left was because she’d fallen in love with Akim.

And the only reason she wasn’t one of Anatoly’s soldiers was because her husband would not hear a word of it. Honestly, it was the only control that fiery woman let him have.

I thought it was adorable.

She had Akim by the balls, and we all knew it.

When Joseph responded we could meet that night at nine, I closed my laptop and gathered my keys. I didn’t have long to getthere if I wanted to have the element of surprise on Joseph. Once I was on the highway, I called Larisa, Akim’s wife. She answered on the third ring.

“Rurik,” she drawled.

“Hey, doll,” I rasped, forcing myself to keep my tone pleasant even though I’d felt anything but since Anatoly had fucking called me. “Need to use your coffee shop.”

She sighed. “I’m not cleaning up after your mess, Rurik. You better get a clean-up crew.”

My lips quirked in amusement. “Don’t I always get a clean-up crew?” I asked. “I’m a big boy, Larisa.”

She snorted, and I cracked a grin. “What time do you need it?”

“Nine, which is after closing, so it won’t interfere with your business hours,” I told her.

She scoffed. “So considerate, Rurik.” Sarcasm laced her tone. I snickered. “Sure. I’ll be in my office doing paperwork. Don’t bring the local law enforcement to my doorstep.”

“Never,” I promised.

With that, I ended the call and tossed my phone into the passenger seat.

The coffee shopwas dimly lit, and I was nursing a latte when Joseph pulled into the nearly empty lot. He turned his vehicle off and stepped out, every move confident and sure. Like he was in control of how this meeting would go.

The moment he stepped inside, he would realize he wasn’t. Because I’d taken the time to hide my SUV in the back, and I’d moved Larisa’s BMW to the front of the store. If he’d taken time to run the plates, he’d realized it was owned by the coffee shop owner. It made him feel likehehad the element of surprise. Likehewas in control of how this meeting went.

My gun was resting on the table, and Larisa had turned off all her security cameras, even going so far as to unplug them. And since we controlled them, no security company would be calling her to bug her and try to come fix the problem.

The bell above the door jingled, and he stepped further inside, his eyes scanning the room as the door shut behind him. When his eyes landed on me, he froze, his face paling the tiniest bit. I smirked and sipped at my latte.

“If you run,” I warned as he took a step back toward the door, “Iwillcatch you. You’re only postponing the inevitable. It was, after all, all too fucking easy to find you.” I smirked. “I’m sure you thought taking out a target like Anatoly from your apartment would give you an added bit of protection, right?” My smile dropped from my face, and I stared at him with an expression empty of anything. “But then you made the mistake of shooting the wrong mother fucker. I wasn’t stopping until I found you, Joseph White.”

Lifting the gun, I pointed it at his head. “Want to know something about me, Joseph? Whether I’m at close range or I’m shooting from the distance you shot my man at, I don’t need a laser. And Ineverfucking miss.”

“Wait—” he rasped as I clicked the safety off. I arched a brow at him. “I can tell you who ordered the hit.”

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