Page 48 of Degrading Her

It must have been someone trying to harass me. Peopleas rich and powerful as Sawyer always had enemies. And ‘action’ obviously meant legal action. But how had the email come from an unknown address? That unnerved me. Who could do that? And why would they? Did it have anything to do with the note on my car? And how did they know I was talking to Sawyer?

It was as if it truly was a warning.

Maybe someone was trying to help me.

Chapter 11

Sawyer

A six-story buildingwas in the middle of a parking lot with potholes and cracked asphalt. Even though it was past ten o’clock, every single light was on inside. Shadows flickered over the windows, like there were people still working, a bustling company with no signs of slowing down. A few old cars were in the lot, most of which seemed fine until you got closer. None of them were in working condition. But it wasn’t obvious until you looked.

We couldn’t find Roth, but that didn’t mean we couldn’t take care of his assets.

I had one of my clients pretend to be in the market for ‘erasing’ his rival company, claiming that he was in the market for a new contractor.Make it look like an accident,he had told Roth. A gas leak, a spontaneous natural disaster, even if each individual had been shot before being burned to a crisp. That same client had a building they were going to demolish soon anyway and lent us the space. He owed us, andnow we were even.

With the decoy sent, we could lure his assets—the Hatchcom Focus soldiers—out of hiding.

We directed the men around the perimeter, assembling our camouflaged barricades of storage trailers and cement blockades. The parking lot had been stacked with landmines, and when the time came, the building was set with enough explosives to wipe Roth’s entire fleet out, if necessary.

“When?” Wilder asked. His finger twitched against the trigger of his sniper rifle.

“Soon,” I said.

I played calm, but in truth, all of us were tense. The only way this would work was if Hatchcom Focus didn’t have the same plan as us. They had already completed one attack on our business, killing one of our most loyal men. And I wouldn’t let that happen again.

“This shit didn’t have to happen,” Wilder muttered.

I knew that. My mind hadn’t been focused enough lately. Fiona was more ambitious than I expected. More challenging overall.

And I admit, I liked that.

Erica flashed into my mind. She was not a challenge like Fiona, but she was peculiar.But aren’t they a communications company?she had asked.What does that have to do with cattle?

Was she connected to Hatchcom Focus?

No. Anyone could find that information; communication was their cover, and cattle ranching was ours. Besides, Roth didn’t seem like the kind of man to value a woman’s opinion. Still, I made a note to look her up once I got a free moment.

“You want to say that again?” I said to Wilder.

He grunted. “After.”

A semi-truck pulled into the parking lot. We fell silent.The first soldier stepped out, unlocking the back of the truck. More emerged, dressed like delivery workers. Once all of them appeared to be out of the truck—twenty of them total—our hunters and ranchers tensed, the energy spiking around us. It was almost time.

The soldiers headed for the building. One of them stopped.

“Something’s not right,” he said.

“Let’s get this over with,” another said.

“Listen—”

“Let’s get this done and go home.”

Wilder turned to me: “Now?”

“Stop being so paranoid,” one of the soldiers said.

Another soldier ushered two of them forward. The pair went inside the building. That was perfect; I didn’t wantallof them dead yet.

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