Chapter One
“You don’t understand what you’re getting involved with,” the woman said as she backed away from the man with the knife.
“I need your token,” he spoke just above a whisper so she wouldn’t recognize his voice.
She shook her head. “You’re making a huge mistake. They won’t let you get away with it.” Her hand closed around the railing; her knuckles bone-white in the gloom.
He inched closer. His hand, holding a nine-millimeter with a suppressor, was steady.
His plan was unfolding as he’d planned. It was much easier than he thought it would be.
She was staring at him, studying him. Trying to memorize every detail, he was sure.
It didn’t matter. The black hoodie he was wearing masked his features.
He knew he seemed familiar to her, but she wouldn’t be able to place him.
Already he could tell there was no recognition in her eyes.
The wind blew her dress around her legs, and she stumbled a bit as she tried to back up.
“Give me your token, or you die,” he rasped.
She licked her lips. “You really have no idea what kind of trouble you’re asking for. This is way more than anything you can imagine.”
She was trying to stall, to figure a way out. He admired her fortitude in the face of danger. “I know exactly what I’m getting into.” He moved yet another step forward. “Your token. Now.”
“Archer won’t let this go. He’ll come after you.” Her voice shook.
He smiled. “Archer Gray has to live by the rules of the Society. When someone shows up with your token, he has to be let in. You will be on the outside. Archer can’t help you.”
Her eyes got big. It was sinking in that Archer’s hands would be tied by the Society rules. “You’re already a member.”
He chuckled. “Of a sort.” Oh, the irony of it all.
“You’re getting this for someone else.”
“You talk too much, Angel,” he ground out. “Token. Now.”
“I-I don’t—”
“Don’t even try it. Everyone knows you never leave home without it. It’s the reason I chose you. I don’t have to go looking for the token.” He waved the gun in front of her nose, and her eyes widened. A burst of triumph flitted through him. “Last chance.”
Her reaction told him she’d read the situation correctly. He was serious. Her hands shook as she pulled her token out of her bra. “Archer has extra tokens, and he can choose who to give them to. When I get back in, I’m coming for you. I’ll tell everyone what you’ve done.”
He reached out and snatched the token out of her hand.
Damn. She was right. He’d forgotten the loophole that allowed Archer to add members whenever it suited him.
He paused for a second. He’d always planned on killing her.
No point in leaving any witness alive, but now he really didn’t have a choice.
Pulling the trigger, he put two bullets into her heart.
He glanced around quickly as if even with the suppressor there might have been someone to hear.
Still no one in sight. Adrenaline was his friend at the moment so he managed to heave her body over the railing into the river below.
He watched her corpse plunge under the surface, bob back up, face down, and then smiled grimly as she was swept downstream by the current.
He regretted having to take this step so soon, but witnesses to what he was up to would bring about drastic consequences that could cost him his life.
And he wasn’t willing to give that up. Not just yet.