Page 45 of Eden and her Mercenary
The security man said something I couldn't hear. Whitmore shook his head frantically, but after a moment of tense discussion, the car door opened.
Whitmore emerged slowly, hands visible but shaking. "You said twenty-four hours."
"That was yesterday," I replied, moving closer. "Time's up."
"I was going to call the authorities from overseas," he said desperately. "Safer that way, for everyone involved."
"Running away isn't the same as taking responsibility."
"Please," he begged. "I have grandchildren. They'll grow up without—"
"Fourteen people had families too," I interrupted. "Did you think about their grandchildren when you ordered their deaths?"
"It wasn't supposed to happen that way—"
"But it did." I stopped five feet away from him. "And now you have to answer for it."
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice breaking. "Money? Information? I can give you names, locations, everything about the program."
For a moment, I considered it. The information could help expose the entire network, save other potential victims. But then I thought of Eden lying in that hospital bed, machines breathing for her because of this man's greed and I knew it would never truly be over. He would still hunt her and Stella down.
"I want justice," I said simply.
The shot was clean, professional. Whitmoredropped without a sound, his body crumpling to the asphalt. The security man started to move, then thought better of it as Ryker emerged from the tree line.
"Smart choice," Ryker told him. "Drive away. Forget you saw anything. Find a new line of work."
The man nodded frantically, reversing the sedan and speeding away. He'd keep quiet — men in his profession understood the value of selective amnesia.
We disposed of the body in the deep waters of Pearl Lake, weighted down with chains that would keep it hidden indefinitely. By morning, James Whitmore would simply be a missing person, another wealthy man who'd disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
"Think his people will come looking?" Ryker asked as we cleaned up.
"They'll try to determine what he knew, who he might have talked to," I replied. "But without proof of what happened, they'll eventually write him off as a liability who ran."
"And the program?"
"Will continue under new management. But they'll be more careful now, more paranoid. That's something."
“We need a diversion for this.” I motioned to the plane sitting at the ready.
“On it. You take the boat and get back to Eden.”
I was halfway across the lake when Whitmore’s plane flew overhead with Ryker at the controls.
∞∞∞
I returned to the hospital as dawn broke over Pearl Lake. Eden was awake, sitting up slightly and sipping water through a straw. The improvement in her condition was remarkable.
"It's done," I said simply, settling into the chair beside her bed.
She searched my face, then nodded. "Good."
"The program will continue," I admitted. "There are too many people involved, too much money at stake. But they'll be looking over their shoulders now."
"And us?"
"We go home. Build our sanctuary. Help dogs like Stella heal."
