Page 60 of Assassin's Mark
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I felt a little like a mole climbing out of its hole for the first time in days. Sunlight seared my eyeballs, making me stumble as we left the alleys near the safe house. Levi didn’t ask if I was okay, just helped steady me until I could blink away the blindness, then headed for the SUV parked on the other side of the dumpsters.
Neither of us had addressed the fact thathe was trusting me not to yell for help or run away as soon as we were among people again. I could only assume that the trust he’d shown this morning, letting me hear his conversation with his brothers, had extended to public appearances. He didn’t threaten me or insist I follow his lead. He just…took me outside.
The feeling of the sun on my face—and his trust in my soul—was intoxicating.
Butthere was still something nagging at me, something I needed to clarify. I strapped myself into the passenger seat, then turned to Levi. “I’m assuming we think Anthony Clark came into town, specifically to go to this address, looking for his sister.”
Levi glanced over his shoulder as he backed out of the alley. “Yeah.”
Classic noncommittal response.
“And if going there was what tipped Derrickoff? Made him set up…” Sayingthe hitsounded too much like we were inThe Godfather, so I didn’t finish the sentence at all.
Levi shook his head, eyes on the road as he navigated the alleys and back roads I hadn’t been able to identify in the dark. Still couldn’t, for that matter. “Derrick won’t have time to get a new team together before we get there.”
“Axe’s men won’t pick up where he leftoff?”
“There aren’t any more of Axe’s men. And his was the best team on the East Coast.” Levi shot me a cocky grin. “Except for me, of course.”
Of course. My father always hired the best, and I’d seen for myself the ease with which Levi had taken down Axe’s team. And Axe.
I turned my head to look out the window, and knocked the brim of my ball cap on the glass. Levi had insisted it was allI needed to disguise my face. No one would expect Abigail Roslyn to walk the streets in ratty jeans and a worn sweatshirt two sizes too big, and no way in hell would they expect a ball cap. I had been raised to be the epitome of grace—even if I’d fallen short of those high expectations time and again—and that meant ball caps were out. The thing felt odd on my head, constricting, but the brim hid thetop part of my face well.
When I wasn’t trying to knock it off, at least.
It didn’t take us long to get there, which meant Levi was hiding the two of us in an equally run-down part of the city. The address led us to a neighborhood of small duplexes, almost too small to believe someone could live in them, but the presence of kids running on the cracked sidewalks and dirty toys in the yards saidfamilies were sharing the tiny spaces. Levi drove through the neighborhood once, his eagle gaze scanning constantly. I didn’t know what he was looking for, so I helped as best I could by keeping quiet. Finally he circled around to a duplex in the middle of the complex and parked.
“Stay behind me,” Levi said as I grasped the door handle. I nodded in understanding—though not necessarily in agreement—andgot out.
There weren’t any toys in this yard, only two clotheslines strung along the outside perimeters, one for each side of the duplex. Levi headed toward the right side, and I followed. I’d always loved his wide shoulders and tall, muscular build, but right now they left me frustrated—I couldn’t see anything! Even at five-five, the body in front of me blocked out any possibility of a view.I made do with glancing around the neighborhood, wondering if Levi could be wrong and some hit man had us in his sights right now. I was so busy looking that I bumped into Levi when he stopped at the door.
The sharp sound of his knuckles on wood startled me, loud in the relative quiet of the neighborhood. No answer. Levi rapped again, and I could see his head tilt as if he was listening. To seeif someone was home but refusing to come to the door? If I wasn’t expecting someone—or if I was expecting trouble—I might not answer either, but I listened as well, and didn’t hear a whisper of movement inside.
“If you’re looking for the Johnsons, you’re too late. They moved out last week.”
Levi swung to the left, blocking me from view once again. I fought the urge to growl in frustration.
“I’m sorry,” he said to the woman who had spoken. I immediately recognized the tone—pleasant, unassuming, all choir boy meets door-to-door salesman. “The Johnsons?”
“Yes. They were the last tenants. Or maybe you were looking for the Smiths?”
Seemed the residents here tended to come with generic last names.
“No, actually.” Levi turned more fully to face the woman. “I’m looking for a tenant fromaround twenty years ago. You wouldn’t happen to know if any of the residents have lived here that long?”
“Well, honey”—I couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of someone calling Levihoney—“I’ve been right here in this little corner of the world for nearly thirty years. My memory’s not what it used to be, but I can probably help you.” The sound of a screen door creaking open reached me. “Why don’ty’all come on in?”
I wanted to yell at the nice older lady to not be so trusting, to not invite someone she didn’t know into her home, but Levi was already moving forward, charm oozing from his thanks and appreciation for being willing to talk with us.
We walked into the dim interior of the woman’s house. The place was almost as small as the hideaway Levi and I were in right now, but much morehomey, all aged wood and doilies and green plants in hangers. The older lady, I could now see, was a petite black woman, hair gray with age, a bit of a stoop to her shoulders, but when she turned around, her eyes were sharp as tacks.
“Have a seat,” she said, gesturing to the worn plaid sofa near the recliner she occupied. “May I get you some refreshments?”
“No, thank you, ma’am,” Levi said.Ma’am.A word I’d never thought to hear coming out of his sexy, dangerous mouth. “I apologize, but your name is…?”
“Geneva. Geneva Sanderson. And you?”
