Page 10 of Erik's Redemption
Why the fuck was the guy calling his sister beautiful? Before he could respond, Andi held out her own hand. “Andi. The sister.”
As Andi and Leo spoke, Hannah looked up at him. “Everything okay?” she asked quietly.
“Yeah. I didn’t expect to see you here.” A plate of fries and a half-eaten sandwich sat on the table. “Lunch break?”
She nodded.
He shouldn’t be angry. All the guy had done was touch her arm and make her laugh. But when it came to Hannah, none of his emotions made sense.
“The job go okay last night?” she asked.
“Yeah, it went okay, Angel.”
Then, because he couldn’t stop himself, he lowered his head and kissed her. And every worry, every bit of panic and fear, just…left him.
CHAPTER 4
Erik lay on his stomach, finger on the trigger of his .338 sniper rifle as he looked through the scope. Cool evening air filled his lungs, the scattering of stars across the dark sky offering dull light, while the only noise was the quiet breath of his spotter behind him.
His spotter was responsible for observing the target and providing information about wind speed, distance, and anything else that might be useful. Erik would use that intel to make the necessary adjustments to hit the target.
The roof offered little in the way of protection, but he didn’t need it. The apartment building was five floors, and they were on the rooftop. It was the dead of night. This would be an easy in-and-out job.
His heart didn’t pump too fast in his chest as he waited for the command. His hands didn’t shake. The lack of nerves wasn’t just because of his training and previous experience as a Marine. It was because in this line of work, he had to be steady. He couldn’t make a mistake. He had one chance to hit his target. But it was all he needed.
Tonight, a man who didn’t deserve the air he breathed would die. A man who was not only part of a trafficking ringbut one of the leaders in the organization. A man responsible for countless women being sold off to the highest bidders. Fucking scum of the Earth.
There wasn’t an ounce of guilt in Erik that he was taking away this man’s right to a fair trial. As far as he was concerned, predators like this didn’t deserve one. He deserved to take his final breath, then never hurt anyone again.
A rustle of movement sounded behind him. His spotter had already searched for any immediate threats and identified any dead space. He’d also broken down the sector into smaller quadrants and identified reference points.
They were ready to go.
“Fire eye, go to the exit point of Redisence Bar,” his spotter said quietly.
Erik positioned the crosshairs on the location, watching through the scope as the door opened and a man stepped out. “Contact.”
The word had just left Erik’s mouth when the man moved out of his view through the scope.
“From the exit point, go toward three o’clock approximately three mils,” the spotter said.
Erik shifted the rifle, and the man came back into view. “Target acquired. Crew cut, suit.”
The asshole was exactly who they were after. He matched all the photos Erik had studied. He was the man who needed to die tonight. Still…Erik waited for his spotter to confirm.
“That’s your target. Check parallax and mil.”
Erik adjusted his mil. “One point one-six.”
There was a short pause while his spotter plugged the information in and searched for the ballistic calculation. That would tell Erik if there were any adjustments he needed to make to hit his target, given the distance.
“Check level,” Spotter said after a short pause. “Hold over three point nine.”
It was time.
Erik exhaled slowly, the outside world fading as he slackened his finger on the trigger. With his last bit of breath, he said, “Ready.”
“Left point two.”
