Page 53 of Evil Beautiful

I didn’t have a good feeling about his silence.

Not at all.

I should have pulled him out sooner.

If he was dead it would haunt me forever. He was one of mine, a good friend as well as an accomplished undercover operative. He had started working for me as a guard and had quickly made his way onto the teams. As part of the teams he had been on several undercover missions and had walked away virtually unscathed every time.

I wasn’t so sure it would be the same this time.

This time he was up against the person at the top of the Harrison Syndicate in Africa.

Winifred Harrison.

And she was certifiably insane.

Over the years her actions against Dom and me had proven it.

We both carried scars, both internally and externally, that she had personally given us. But there were also the scars left by her minions.

And for all of those scars they were going to pay in their blood.

Blood I couldn’t wait to soak my feet in.

If they had harmed Mitch like I feared I would be ankle deep in blood very soon.

A touch on my shoulder had me opening my eyes.

We were in the parking garage.

Time to go to work.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Kellen

I woke to warmth and the golden glow of late afternoon light.

Opening my eyes I turned my head. There was a woman sitting next to my bed reading. It reminded me of Brendan sitting next to my bed at the hospital. I had to let him and Bronnie know I wasn’t at the hospital anymore but that I was safe.

I cleared my throat softly and she looked up then smiled.

“You’re awake. How’s the pain?”

I actually felt okay. The pain was a dull ache but not so bad that I needed to take meds for it.

“It’s bearable. I don’t need to take pain meds right now. How long have I been sleeping?”

She set her book down and came to stand next to the bed. Picking up my wrist she took my pulse and smiled as she set it back down.

“You’ve been asleep for three hours. I removed the ice pack an hour ago and the surgery site is looking good, no inflammation. If you’re okay on your own I’m going to go down to the kitchen to get us some tea or coffee, or hot chocolate if you want.”

And suddenly I really wanted a cup of tea. And that was weird because it wasn’t something I usually drank. It held too many memories of my mum dishing it out like medicine when I was a teen and going through a tough time. For some reason I now wanted the comfort it brought.

“Tea would be good, thanks.”

“There’s a prospect right outside the door, call out if you need anything while I’m gone.” She patted my hand and left.

Without realising it I had raised my head off the cushions while talking to her, I lay back down as she disappeared through the door. Frowning I looked around the room. It looked very much like a hospital room. White on white. I hadn’t taken much notice when they brought me up here; I was in too much pain.

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