Chapter 2
vera
Whitecliff assassins. Dammit. How did they already know about Elaine?
They tried to cover their faces, dress in plainclothes, but I could sense Whitecliff stench anywhere. It was the way they walked, how they held themselves. They thought they ran Merona, the whole city.
They were about to learn who did.
I saw them from across the lot as I drove in, three of them, cornering the target I recognized as Elaine, one of them reaching for his gun.
Plenty of people lately who thought a gun could solve all their problems. Plenty of people about to learn one last, very memorable lesson.
Call me an educator.
There wasn’t a second to lose. I slammed down on the gas, whipping the car around with a screech behind them, and they whirled back on me, reaching for their sidearms. The man in the middle pulled his when he saw me throw open the car door, and normally I’d take cover, but I couldn’t afford the risk of a gunshot drawing attention right now, so I gambled.
Threw open the door and dropped out to the ground, and I threw a knife that lanced straight through his hand, sending the gun to the ground as he roared in pain.
The other two pulled their guns as well, lunging forward, but I preferred not to kill people if I didn’t have to.
Bad form. I lunged to the side, throwing a decoy grenade into the midst of them, and when they leaped back for cover, I vaulted over the fence to drop down on one of them, wrenching the gun from his hand and slamming him headfirst into the asphalt.
He groaned, going mostly still, and I slipped behind the dumpster and around to grab Elaine from behind, a hand over her mouth.
She struggled, but I pulled her behind the dumpster with me as the other two went searching for me once they realized the grenade was a fake.
“Wait,” Elaine said, muffled into my hand. “The cat!”
“The—” There was a fluffy little white kitten in the trash pile. Fuck’s sake. The Whitecliffs had probably planted it there to distract her. “Cat’s fine.”
“No!”
“Do you want to get shot?”
“But…”
This girl was already a handful. “Fine,” I said. “Climb the fence and stay there.”
I hoisted her over the fence behind the dumpster, and I turned back just in time to see another masked man turn the corner, his gun out.
I lunged in and grabbed it from his hands, wrenching it away while he tried to pull the trigger, hard enough I heard the crack of his finger bone breaking, and I slammed his head back into the side of the dumpster, throwing him to the floor with a dazed look in his eyes.
I grabbed the cat, and fuck it, they had nine lives.
I threw it over the fence in the direction I’d sent Elaine, but it took me a split-second too long.
The guy whose hand I’d stabbed leaped out from around the dumpster, lunging in with the very same knife I’d thrown at him, and it nicked my arm before I managed to grab his arm and twist it back, breaking his elbow and throwing him back into the dumpster hard enough he pitched over the edge and fell in, the lid closing behind him. Fitting.
I winced as I hoisted myself over the fence, the cut on my arm stinging.
Mission was fucked up even before I’d arrived.
I’d need a very long night with a very attractive woman once this thing was settled.
For better or worse, that was my coping mechanism—had never been one for wild drugs and alcohol.
Just women. The most dangerous of the three.
And a very dangerous woman was here waiting for me on the other side of the fence, her face flushed as she finished pulling the kitten out of the tangled wrappings.
She was a very pretty one. Shame. Hated killing beautiful women.
She had long, brown curls that fell just past her shoulders, big blue eyes that looked at me with wonderment even in the midst of everything.
“You… saved my life,” she said.
I dusted my shoulder. “And not a moment too soon. Elaine?”
She swallowed, looking between me and the cat that was needling its little claws into her chest while she picked the mats out of its fur. “That’s… that’s right. What’s happening?”
“Do you know Robert Gabor?”
Mutely, she shook her head.
“Then I won’t offer condolences. Your mother’s uncle. He passed a week ago and left an inheritance to you.”
“An inheritance?” She shook her head, wide-eyed. “That can’t be right. I never knew him.”
“That’s probably why. He wanted it to disappear for a while. But they found you sooner than expected.”
“I don’t… understand.”
“There’s no time to explain now. Get in the car. There’s a safehouse I know nearby.”
“A safehouse? Who are you?”
I smirked. “I’m a problem. But right now I’m someone else’s problem.”
“That isn’t an answer.”
“My name’s Vera. I’m here to keep you safe. Get in the car. Leave the cat.”
“I’m not leaving the cat.” She held it closer to her chest. “It’s hurt.”
“The assassins planted it there to distract you, Elaine.”
“What?”
I sighed. “Fine. Bring the cat. Just get in the car. We don’t have time to argue.”
She stepped towards the car, but she hesitated there. “Vera… how do I know I can trust you?”
“You don’t.” I climbed in the car. “So decide how you want to take your chances. I think the guy in the dumpster is going to climb back out soon.”
She hesitated a long time, but finally, she opened the passenger door, and she sat next to me.
“All right,” she said quietly. “Just… promise me you’ll explain.”
I shut the door, locking them. “I’ll explain everything. Now buckle in, before—”
A gunshot rang, an ear-ringing sound as it plinked off the side of the car. Elaine screamed, jumping and ducking her head, and I threw the car into reverse, slamming the gas.
“Before that!” I shouted, and Elaine screamed something as she buckled her seatbelt, but I tore out of the lot and hit the road as I heard another pair of engines revving after us.
Pursuit.