Page 7 of Final Exit

The flash of guilt that swept through her at that thought was surprising. After noticing him grimace and favor his leg, she’d purposely driven her knee into his thigh muscle. She shouldn’t feel guilty about that. Hurting him was self-defense. Totally justified. And if she repeated that often enough, she might eventually believe it.

Her thumbs flew across the screen as she started typing again.I exploited his weakness. Will give deets later. Don’t know his name. He had a team. Not sure how many. Only saw two.

There are four after me,Hawke texted.

Then there are probably a dozen after me. I’m more of a badass than you any day of the week.

An eye-roll emoticon popped up on the screen.

She grinned and continued typing.I didn’t get a good look at the men after me, just an impression in the light of the bathroom doorway. But I think they both had shaggy hair. And one of them had a tat on his neck. If it weren’t for the FBI lettering on their flak-jackets, I’d have thought they were common thugs. What do you make of that?

When he didn’t reply, she typed,Hawke?She was just starting to sweat when another text popped up.

Sorry. Had to hold my breath there for a minute. They got pretty close.

Alarm shot through her.You need to get out of there.

Don’t I know it. These guys are more persistent than a revenue officer when I’m on a Blackjack winning streak. What’d you mean about the FBI? You think they’re fakes?

A thump sounded. She froze, listening carefully, trying to identify the sounds around her.

Bailey?

She typed faster. It was almost time to make her move. But she wanted to pass the important information to Hawke in case the worst happened. One of them needed to survive to warn the others.

Not sure.She gave him a description of the Ghost and mentioned his leg.Must be a recent injury, still healing. He almost passed out when I slammed my knee against his thigh. And get this. He carries a James Bond gun.

A few seconds went by. Then,James Bond gun?

Oh, come on. Really? A Walther PPK. I almost called him Craig, Daniel Craig.

Another eye-roll emoticon.Are you somewhere reasonably safe for the moment?

Not even a little bit,she texted.

Then stop wasting time and get out of there.

Look who’s talking. Why don’t you stop texting and get yourself to safety?

My best chance is to lie low and wait. Back to you. Are you surrounded?

Yes, and no, she replied.But my objective isn’t escape at the moment. I can’t risk losing this opportunity. Enforcers are an endangered species. We may not get another chance like this.

Chance like what? Bailey, what are you planning?

I’m going to bring down the Ghost.

Not by yourself, you aren’t! Too dangerous. Get out of there.

She shook her head as she typed her reply.Last I checked, you weren’t my boss.

A truly impressive string of curse words popped up on her screen. Maybe the cliché about sailors having a commanding knowledge of salty language was true. After all, Hawke had been a Navy SEAL once, ex-military like a lot of her peers. And then he’d answered his country’s call by becoming an Enforcer, only to become hunted like an animal by the very people who’d once recruited him.

Do you have a gun?he asked.

Nope.

Tell me where you are, Bailey.

---