Page 228 of The Reluctant Hero

I coldly refuse to let her come into the building and instruct the driver to drop her off somewhere. We won’t be using that vehicle again. In an office two floors below mine, we stop to change clothes. Shade is waiting there, busy on a laptop. He glances up and goes back to it without a word.

We hand the worn clothes off to Shade to check for anything untoward. He finds a tracker on the thigh of my pants. Right where she tried to slide up to my crotch. I shake my head and wave it away. Jake calls in a staff member and slaps the patch onto his back while they chat amiably.

“Fun times,” Shade deadpans. “Now get out so I can focus.”

For the first time I wonder how I can get out of this life completely. Shade is proof that it never really goes away. Trouble always finds you in one way or another. I dismiss the thought quickly. I’d rather be fully aware before an attack comes than live in blissful ignorance. That’s what antacids are for.

Jake meets up with us on the elevator, watching his phone.

“What’s she doing?” Cade asks quietly, as if he shouldn’t be allowed to know.

Jake shrugs and says, “Not her. I have an old friend waiting in the office. The real reason I tipped Matthias off.”

We all blink at him in surprise.

“What?” He looks around us with his friendly smile. “I had to get his attention somehow. Plus, he wants out, so he’ll get whatever we need done.”

“Who is it?” Ace asks, resigned.

“Heretic.”

My brows furrow. I’m not familiar with the name. A glance at Cade shows confusion. Ace is still resigned, but Mikael is stiffening up to be ready for whatever is waiting for us. If even Cade doesn’t know this friend that means Jake met him before he and Cade became partners. It makes me uneasy.

Jake was out of control at one point. On the verge of being taken out himself until Cade came along. What kind of friend would he have made in that time?

“What’s his specialty?” Ace focuses back on Jake with a glare.

“He’s clean-up crew.”

We freeze up as the doors slide open, and Jake merrily makes his way out.

Clean-up crews are the worst of us. The ones that kill without question and don’t have any loss in their lives to make it seem morally ok. When an assassin goes too far, it’s a clean-up crew that gets called to take care of it.

I don’t have to wonder how they met. It’s obvious that this Heretic was sent out to kill Jake. How did they become friends? And he wants out? There is no out for clean-up other than death. There aren’t any strings I can pull here. They’re ghosts, with only a select few aware of their existence.

Ace steps in front of me, Cade nervously taking up position right beside him, with Mikael following behind me. We all know that protesting or trying to reason with Jake won’t work. But if we remain friendly, to a point, and calm, we might be able to work out a deal. Clean-up may be unseen boogeymen, but they aren’t infallible.

Jake knocks on the door and calls out, “Five friendlies, clockhead.”

He knocks on my office door as if it’s this man’s space. Jake's polite gesture is on point, but it leaves a feeling of dread in my gut.

Cade and Ace prepare themselves mentally in their own ways as Jake opens the door just far enough for us to enter before closing it behind us.

The man has his back to us, staring down at something in his hand. His hair is longer than the usual assassin’s and hangs over his face. A ticking sound makes me pause. It’s coming from him and so evenly paced it sounds like a loud timepiece. He doesn’t look up or even act like he knows we’re here.

He’s standing in the middle of the floor which leaves me clear space to walk around him and take my seat. Ace and Cade settle in front of the desk on either side just in case they need to provide me coverage.

“This is Gabe, the boss’ son. He’s good people. You know Cade, of course, and this is Ace and Mikael.”

I glance at Cade. He acted confused before, as if he didn’t know this person. He looks even more befuddled now.

“I don’t know him,” Cade says with a scowl.

“But he knows you,” Jake wiggles his brows. “I’m sure he knows all of us. I’m being polite.”

“Why are we here, Jakob?” A bored voice pipes up from my desk phone. I frown down at the red light in confusion.

“Hey, Blue, it’s so good toseeyou,” Jake laughs.

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