Chapter 8
CHAPTER 8
M allory
“You do remember how bad the roads get around here when it snows. Right?” Marjorie had called just to nag me about the storm that was swirling around Stowe with a series of ominous clouds. The snow showers from the night before had given way to a sunny morning, but with the clouds quickly rolling in, it was only a matter of time before the frigid mass of air settled in to wreak havoc.
“I’m closing in ten minutes. Okay? I swear to God.”
“Pinky swear.”
“You’re terrible, but fine. Pinky swear.” At least this time I wasn’t lying. I’d flown home for a quick shower and a change after waking late, finding both the dangerously seductive man and his brave dog AWOL. I’d experienced the hottest sex of my life, finally falling into a sweet and incredible night of sleep and he’d left like some Neanderthal dude who couldn’t handle the morning light after such incredible passion.
Damn him. Maybe I should feel angry, but I’d been tingling all over since I’d opened my eyes. Granted, my bottom ached a little, but thoughts regarding the spanking only added to the taste of the forbidden.
At least he’d left a note of sorts along with thirty crisp one-hundred-dollar bills. Who the hell carried around three grand in their pockets in perfect bills? His words of thanks were succinct, written on one of my personalized notes from my note holder.
Thanks. Your kindness won’t be forgotten.
Whatever that meant. I wasn’t certain I should want to find out.
But I did.
It was the last line that I held onto, the one that would make me smile for months to come.
You’re an amazing and beautiful woman.
The mystery around the man continued to increase and intrigue.
Especially after he’d nearly crushed me in several games of Scrabble. His vocabulary had been like no other.
How could I forget about the kiss? Wowzer was all I could say. Every nerve had been on fire, every synapse in my brain running on an ethereal sensation of passion. Of course my usual ‘how dare you’ mode kicked in just when the experience of locking lips with the man had gotten overheated.
Who knew where it would have led had I not shoved him off?
He’d left me sleeping on the couch, where I’d remained for several hours without waking. I could barely sleep three hours a shot in my own bed and I’d managed to carve out six with a brutal stranger inside my recently purchased clinic?
Even worse, I hadn’t checked on my patient. Either one. And they’d both been shot.
Was it all about the hot sex? I guess it was.
At lunch, I’d checked to see if any gunshots or crimes had been reported. In a small town, it was easier to find than in a city like Baltimore. The only thing registered was that someone had heard an explosion. That could mean anything from propane tank being used inappropriately by a tourist to a car careening off the mountain. I couldn’t believe I was thinking about either as mundane.
Living in a big city for several years had altered my thinking patterns.
I flicked the lock on the door, refusing to allow anyone to barge in fifteen minutes before closing. I owned the joint. I could close down early for an impending storm.
“You seem out of sorts, but also giddy if that combination is possible,” she said and only then had I realized I was still on the phone with her. My mind was still reeling from the night I’d spent with the sexy stranger.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Right. Did you do something deliciously bad last night?” Her laugh made me grin.
“Who, me? Never. Boring night.”
She scoffed. “Come on. You can tell me.”
“Nothing. It’s just been a long few days. At least I’m taking the weekend to rest and prepare. I have a full schedule on Monday when the doors officially open.” The soft opening had been wildly successful.
“If you can get out of your driveway.”
My thoughts drifted back to Beckett, which was silly of me. “It won’t be that bad.”
“Said the woman who broke down on the side of the road in the first storm.”
“Don’t hold that over my head.”
“I plan on it,” she said, laughing. “And you never told me who saved your ass on that desolate road.”
“Try the mystery man.” I wasn’t going to go any further, including providing details from the night before. Doctor–patient confidentiality and all. Or maybe I just wanted a saucy secret to keep in my memory banks for a little while longer.
“Are you kidding me? I thought he choked chickens or hunted down babies or something.”
“Very funny.” I returned to my office to grab my things. The note he’d written was right on top of my desk when I’d glanced at it more than once during the day. “I’m not kidding. Thank God he was there, or I might have frozen to death. You know, he has a precious dog, a white German Shepherd. Beautiful creature.”
“And how about the man?”
“Not too shabby.”
She sucked in her breath before laughing. “Right. You think the guy winning the sexiest man in the People Magazine is not too shabby. Maybe one day you’ll meet a man you actually find attractive.”
“Maybe, but that’s not today. Okay, I’m cutting you off so I can keep my pinky swear going. Happy now?” A part of me wanted to spill the beans about what had occurred, but I’d likely never hear the end of it.
“Happier, but I’d be even happier if you set me up on a date with the mystery man.”
“That I won’t do.”
“Won’t you even tell me his name?”
I thought about her question. “You know what? He never mentioned it and I didn’t ask.”
Why was I lying to my friend? Hmmm… Perhaps because I wanted to keep my filthy secret all to myself. How wicked of me.
“We really need to teach you the art of dating,” she chided.
“I’m not dating.” We just had sex.
“And you never will, given your obvious dislike of men.”
“I’m hanging up now.”
“Fine. We’ll talk about this later.”
“No, we won’t.” I didn’t dislike men. I adored them. I just had no desire to live with, date long term, or marry one. Not after… Shit. Memories. I hated all of them. I shoved my phone into my purse and grabbed my heavier jacket, thankful I’d tossed the snow boots into the truck before leaving to return.
But I would admit to myself at least that the one night had changed my outlook. Maybe not entirely, but enough I wouldn’t bad-mouth the idea of a sexy one-night stand ever again.
It was time to stop thinking about him. We weren’t dating and I doubted I’d see him again even in town. Stowe wasn’t that small.
After turning off the lights, I thought about the leftover Chinese food. It would add a pungent aroma to the office on Monday morning. Nope. I wasn’t going to have that. I grabbed the bag he’d brought everything in, tossing in all the containers. I couldn’t believe I’d eaten so much in front of the man.
A chuckle formed in my throat as I kicked the fridge door with my foot. At least I knew what was on my dinner menu for the evening.
I headed out, scanning up and down the road. There were still plenty of people on the roads, either ignoring the winter weather warnings or waiting until the last moment to hunker down. That took a lot for true Vermont folks to do.
Thank God it was Friday, and I’d have the weekend to relax and enjoy life for a change.
As I walked to the truck, I scanned the street and parking lot one more time. “You are so pathetic.”
It had been far too long since I’d found a man attractive. Pining away for what I knew I wouldn’t touch wasn’t necessarily a sin, now was it? Not in my broken world. It was a method of getting by.
Which was all I was doing at this point in my life.
Beckett
Why had I fucked her?
The question would haunt me even if I already knew the answer. I hadn’t been with anyone in years. At least two. She’d captured my attention from minute one, but it was her spunk and refusal to back down from me that had held me in a suspended state of need.
Things had gotten out of hand. I’d let my guard down and it couldn’t happen again.
Not that I anticipated Mallory would insist we enjoy ourselves again, but I’d need to make certain she knew it wasn’t going to occur.
I would admit that I was grateful she’d offered me her card.
For Jax’s sake, of course.
The fire was roaring, extra wood cut and piled on the extensive hearth and real beef stew providing comforting scents in the house. When the fuck had I cared about scents?
Jax sensed my discord and lifted his head. At least his eyes had returned to the normal brightness from before.
“Just rest, buddy. You’ll get a treat later.”
I’d almost felt guilty for taking him early in the morning. He’d been as antsy as I’d been to return home and I’d heard his stomach growling.
His tail thumped once and he rested his head on his soft bed. Thankfully he’d acted like his normal self through the entire day.
I’d already begun thinking about alternative states to live in. I’d scoped out various locations where I could hide in plain sight, becoming one of the locals. One thing I’d been smart about years before was using a contact that had nothing to do with the Valenti world. The talented man had created several aliases complete with social security and credit cards. They were foolproof. They’d also been pricey, but well worth the money.
When my phone rang, I knew instinctively it was Mike returning my call. I rarely bothered him by phone, preferring a more secure environment, but I needed to hear from his lips there wasn’t something going on I hadn’t been made aware of.
“Mike,” I growled.
“Oh, I don’t like that tone. What’s going on?”
“An attempt made.”
He choked. “What? When?”
“Last night. Professional.”
“Well, fuck. I haven’t heard shit, but I admit I haven’t been paying close attention to any chatter. Did you check the dark web?”
“Valenti never used that. But I did. There’s nothing going on.”
“Let me do some digging, but after all this time, I need to be very careful.”
I closed my eyes. “Do what you need. Just let me know.”
“Will do, buddy. Hang in there. You planned for everything.”
Now I was beginning to wonder if that was the truth.
I glanced at the computer screen, the application I’d purchased years before still churning away. With iPhones having the capability of creating a special six-digit number, letter, and symbol password, the program designed for breaking almost any passcode system was taking its sweet time.
As in hours.
However, there hadn’t been a password to date that I hadn’t cracked. It was only a matter of time. I’d found nothing on the man’s driver’s license and doubted he was from Vermont. The one thing I was banking on was that the ordered hit had been from a year before and had been left open ended. If that was the case, the assassin’s lack of checking in wouldn’t be on the radar. He’d likely been keeping the file active just in case a hit was made on some dark source.
But I wouldn’t know for certain. Most hired assassins worked alone, preferring to keep the profit in their bank accounts as well. None of the thoughts running through my mind were comforting.
I sat back, pouring another shot of whiskey into my glass. The first thing I’d done after returning home had been to check the exterior for any breaches, including booby traps. Setting a few around the area while I claimed fallen logs would be out of view of my cameras. I’d rectify that after the goddamn snowstorm passed.
I’d spent four hours combing the property. Then I’d come inside to check on Jax and scour through the computers. I’d seen nothing. No disturbed snow, no footsteps. No hazy shadows that could indicate an intruder. Nothing. I had the electric box locked down and the backup generator was impossible to tamper with.
Yet I still wouldn’t take a single fucking chance.
At least the application was getting closer to solving the mystery. With four of the six successfully determined, and thousands of combinations already generated for the other two, it was now just a matter of time.
“What do you say, you hungry bud?”
Two tail thumps this time. He needed to eat. I rose from the chair, shoving my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. The application would allow me to know when the password had been unlocked. I headed into the kitchen, immediately turning off the burner.
He padded behind me, sitting on his haunches and watching me as I grabbed his bowl, filling it with food and a couple of spoonfuls of the stew. After I added some water to cool it down, he whined.
I knew instinctively what he was thinking. What happened to the kind doctor who’d fixed him up like the king he’d been born and bred to be? “Don’t look at me like that. We can’t take what doesn’t belong to us. Well, you’re the single exception.”
Okay, he didn’t need to know there’d been another exception with the woman who’d cared for him. In that case, it would have been unlawful to claim her forever.
What I’d left out of the story I’d told her was that I’d slit the asshole’s throat who’d used to own Jax. I’d caught him swinging a heavy metal chain at the pup and had gone off the deep end. At least I’d made certain the fucker wouldn’t have an opportunity to hurt another animal again.
Jax huffed in disapproval and waited patiently until I placed the bowl on his mat. After doing so, I grabbed a human bowl and took out a hefty helping, noticing the wound had bled through the bandage and shirt from all the physical exertion. I’d worry about that later.
I leaned against the counter, eating and drinking, surprised for once Jax was taking his time. He never did, treats gone in a flash. Half laughing, I took another bite, shocked to hear the ping of the application so quickly. I left the bowl on the counter, but grabbed my drink.
“Eat up, boy.” I headed back into my office. Enough time hadn’t gone by to initiate the screen saver. With the passcode staring me in the face, I snatched it into my hand, placing my glass on the desk. I entered the code, immediately searching for emails. There were none. Zero. Not a single one. I could spend more time determining if they’d been trashed but moved to the phone calls instead. There were a couple of numbers, one being local. Those I could check later.
There was a single text and if I had to guess, to a number that wouldn’t work. One word.
Engaged.
I’d been around long enough to know the word meant my attention had been engaged. By whom? I sat back for a few seconds, absently shifting my gaze back and forth as I thought about every interaction I’d had with anyone from town over the last month. There was a single person who I’d interacted with more than once.
The lovely veterinarian.
Huh. Every time I’d seen her, the moment hadn’t seemed planned or forced. However, there were books written on clandestine methods of seeking information from decades before.
Still, who had the fucker been texting? Was there any chance Dr. McGregor was a plant and nothing more? With the iPhone likely used as a burner phone, nothing personal would be handled on it, all business operations deleted nightly. If the man was truly a professional anyway. However, sweeping the trash would be necessary. The second application could do that overnight.
My instinct screamed that the assailant had been a tracker. I had to admit I’d spent several months running like a wild animal, attempting to escape a past that would always return to haunt me. From what I’d read online, there’d been no survivors of the fire.
Three dozen men had lost their lives. While the Don’s wife and daughter had been spared, they weren’t players in the organization.
The bad news was that there was extended family, including a brother of then Don Valenti I hadn’t been capable of snuffing out. As soon as I’d enacted the hit, every other family member had easily been placed on lockdown. That was the way of the syndicate world.
I was fucking finished with leaving my surroundings, starting yet another new life. Sure, I had the money to go anywhere, but what was the point? I had no family. No friends. I didn’t have a regular job to go to.
“What’s wrong, bubba? Admitting you’re lonely?” The words sounded hollow after speaking them out loud.
Maybe I was. Let the fuckers come after me. It was time to end the feud once and for all.
I tossed the phone on the desk, rubbing my jaw. Finally, something occurred to me. What about pictures? A quick check and I realized I’d been right. I sank onto the chair as I filtered through. The bastard had been following me for a few days prior to deciding to make the hit. From what I could tell, he hadn’t trailed me to the house, but that didn’t mean shit.
I flicked through the group. None meant anything other than he was watching me.
Until one.
The only one on the fucking camera roll that mattered.
How interesting. He’d taken a selfie with the beautiful and potentially dangerous veterinarian. My instinct established the single logical reason why.
And I didn’t like it.
In fact, I had only one thing on my mind.
Extermination.
I jerked up from the desk, bounding from the room. I’d always known my past would come back to bite me. I simply hadn’t realized it would in such a dangerous manner.