Page 34 of Mine to Keep
She and Skylar checked Viper’s hotel floor plan once more, then headed out. The hotel Viper was staying in was only a five-minute walk from theirs. Not the smartest move by The Void, but they planned to check-out the next day and be long gone before anyone discovered the scene of the hit.
No one spared a glance at them when they entered Viper’s hotel or when they headed straight to the elevator. They got off on the third floor, then took the stairs up to the fourth floor, then down the hall to Viper’s room.
The Void provided them a master key that unlocked any door in the hotel. Skylar stood on one side of the door, while Martha stood at the other. She took one of her knives out, and held it by her side, out of view of the camera at the end of the hall. Skylar did the same with his gun, flicking the safety off.
Meeting her eyes, Skylar held up three fingers, then counted down in a soft whisper. When he got to ‘one’, he waved the keycard over the lock and pushed the door open.
Quick as a flash, Martha darted inside the dark space, heading to the bedroom. She saw the lump of a body under the blanket and threw a knife in the direction of the torso.
A scream tore from the man’s throat and he sat up, reaching for the knife embedded in his flesh. But before his scream could reach a fever pitch, Skylar came around the corner and pumped three slugs into the man’s forehead. Blood and brain matter sprayed on the wall and pillow as he fell back.
Martha hurried over to the bedside table, clicking the light on so they could get confirmation that the kill was done so she could go shopping.
But when she looked down at the body, she saw a muscular white man with wide open blue eyes, not a leanly-muscled Black guy with light brown eyes.
Did they come to the wrong room? No, they were at room 4845, the room the intel said Viper was in.
So who is this guy? His friend? A lover? Some unlucky bastard in the wrong place at the wrong time? She pulled the knife from the man’s belly and wiped it on the sheets, looking into his unseeing eyes.
Skylar walked over to her and cursed “Who the fuck is that?”
“No clue. He wasn’t supposed to be here.”
“No shit, Martha.”
“Hey,” she said, pointing at him with the knife she yanked from the man’s abdomen. “Don’t give me shit. I thought this hit was supposed to be clean.”
Skylar blew out a long breath. “You’re right. I’m sorry. We gotta get out of here. We’ll call The Director when we get back to the room, and figure out our next move. The intel he gave us was current as of this morning, West Coast time. What the fuck changed in a few hours?”
It was on the tip of Martha’s tongue to tell him shit could change at the drop of a hat, but she wasn’t in the mood to spar words with Skylar.
Especially now that it looked like they wouldn’t be going shopping.
Skylar gathered her in his arms, kissing her cheek. “It’s all good, baby. Let’s do something fun today. How does that sound?”
She huffed, but said “I better get at least three pairs of shoes out of this.”
“Five. And I’ll carry the bags.”
twelve
life as a tourist
“Knox!”Talon shouts to be heard over the crashing waterfall. “You have to come see this! It’s amazing!”
He and Javier are practically hanging over the rails of the boat, water mist spraying their faces as they stare at one of the wonders of nature.
We decided to come to Niagara Falls first, so we’d have enough energy to go to a museum about thirty minutes away.
When my boys said they wanted to do touristy shit, they meant it. Javier mapped out an entire itinerary, even marking down some alternatives in case he and Talon changed their minds.
He tried to use the cash he had on him to pay, but I told him to put his money away, and I’d be treating them until they went home. Javier attempted to argue with me, but I sternly told him not to disobey.
Talon looked at me then, heat creeping into his gaze as we got dressed. “Fuck, you even have a Daddy voice. Let’s just stay in.” He rubbed his hardness against my thigh, making me smile.
Javier relented, but told Talon we could stay in tomorrow, but he wanted to show him around since Talon hardly left thecountry. It didn’t take much convincing to get him to forget about sex and help with the planning.
I’ve been smiling the entire time we’ve been on the boat. They’re so animated, so happy, soexcitedto see new things.
