Page 33 of Unlawful Seduction

“An attempt made.”

He choked. “What? When?”

“Last night. Professional.”

“Well, fuck. I haven’t heard shit, but I admit I haven’t been paying close attention to any chatter. Did you check the dark web?”

“Valenti never used that. But I did. There’s nothing going on.”

“Let me do some digging, but after all this time, I need to be very careful.”

I closed my eyes. “Do what you need. Just let me know.”

“Will do, buddy. Hang in there. You planned for everything.”

Now I was beginning to wonder if that was the truth.

I glanced at the computer screen, the application I’d purchased years before still churning away. With iPhones having the capability of creating a special six-digit number, letter, and symbol password, the program designed for breaking almost any passcode system was taking its sweet time.

As in hours.

However, there hadn’t been a password to date that I hadn’t cracked. It was only a matter of time. I’d found nothing on the man’s driver’s license and doubted he was from Vermont. The one thing I was banking on was that the ordered hit had been from a year before and had been left open ended. If that was the case, the assassin’s lack of checking in wouldn’t be on the radar. He’d likely been keeping the file active just in case a hit was made on some dark source.

But I wouldn’t know for certain. Most hired assassins worked alone, preferring to keep the profit in their bank accounts as well. None of the thoughts running through my mind were comforting.

I sat back, pouring another shot of whiskey into my glass. The first thing I’d done after returning home had been to check the exterior for any breaches, including booby traps. Setting a few around the area while I claimed fallen logs would be out of view of my cameras. I’d rectify that after the goddamn snowstorm passed.

I’d spent four hours combing the property. Then I’d come inside to check on Jax and scour through the computers. I’d seen nothing. No disturbed snow, no footsteps. No hazy shadows thatcould indicate an intruder. Nothing. I had the electric box locked down and the backup generator was impossible to tamper with.

Yet I still wouldn’t take a single fucking chance.

At least the application was getting closer to solving the mystery. With four of the six successfully determined, and thousands of combinations already generated for the other two, it was now just a matter of time.

“What do you say, you hungry bud?”

Two tail thumps this time. He needed to eat. I rose from the chair, shoving my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. The application would allow me to know when the password had been unlocked. I headed into the kitchen, immediately turning off the burner.

He padded behind me, sitting on his haunches and watching me as I grabbed his bowl, filling it with food and a couple of spoonfuls of the stew. After I added some water to cool it down, he whined.

I knew instinctively what he was thinking. What happened to the kind doctor who’d fixed him up like the king he’d been born and bred to be? “Don’t look at me like that. We can’t take what doesn’t belong to us. Well, you’re the single exception.”

Okay, he didn’t need to know there’d been another exception with the woman who’d cared for him. In that case, it would have been unlawful to claim her forever.

What I’d left out of the story I’d told her was that I’d slit the asshole’s throat who’d used to own Jax. I’d caught him swinging a heavy metal chain at the pup and had gone off the deep end. Atleast I’d made certain the fucker wouldn’t have an opportunity to hurt another animal again.

Jax huffed in disapproval and waited patiently until I placed the bowl on his mat. After doing so, I grabbed a human bowl and took out a hefty helping, noticing the wound had bled through the bandage and shirt from all the physical exertion. I’d worry about that later.

I leaned against the counter, eating and drinking, surprised for once Jax was taking his time. He never did, treats gone in a flash. Half laughing, I took another bite, shocked to hear the ping of the application so quickly. I left the bowl on the counter, but grabbed my drink.

“Eat up, boy.” I headed back into my office. Enough time hadn’t gone by to initiate the screen saver. With the passcode staring me in the face, I snatched it into my hand, placing my glass on the desk. I entered the code, immediately searching for emails. There were none. Zero. Not a single one. I could spend more time determining if they’d been trashed but moved to the phone calls instead. There were a couple of numbers, one being local. Those I could check later.

There was a single text and if I had to guess, to a number that wouldn’t work. One word.

Engaged.

I’d been around long enough to know the word meant my attention had been engaged. By whom? I sat back for a few seconds, absently shifting my gaze back and forth as I thought about every interaction I’d had with anyone from town over thelast month. There was a single person who I’d interacted with more than once.

The lovely veterinarian.

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