The specialist
Chapter 31: The Specialist
Amara Queen woke up angry.
Not unusual.
Not surprising.
Not even noteworthy.
The reason, however, was unusual.
Someone had put a suit jacket over her while she slept.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The surgeon sat upright in the recovery room.
Immediately.
The jacket slid into her lap.
Black.
Expensive.
Familiar.
The betrayal.
The Lorenzo-shaped betrayal.
Undefeated.
Amara stared at it.
Then at the neatly folded blanket covering her legs.
Then at the bottle of water sitting on the bedside table.
Then at the untouched breakfast beside it.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Because she knew exactly who had done this.
The man was becoming predictable.
A concerning development.
A very concerning development.
Her phone buzzed.
Immediately.
A text message.
Lorenzo.
Of course.
Eat breakfast.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The audacity.
The complete audacity.
Amara looked at the breakfast.
Then at the phone.
Then back at the breakfast.
The betrayal.
The caring-man betrayal.
Undefeated.
She typed:
You're annoying.
Three dots appeared instantly.
Eat.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The surgeon rolled her eyes.
Immediately.
Then opened the breakfast container.
Unfortunately...
It contained one of her favorite meals.
The traitor.
The complete traitor.
Across the city, Lorenzo smiled when he received a photograph from one of the nurses.
Amara eating breakfast.
Victory.
The worst kind of victory.
One of his captains watched from across the conference table.
Then sighed.
Immediately.
The universal sound of secondhand embarrassment.
"Boss."
Silence.
Lorenzo looked up.
"What."
The captain pointed toward the phone.
Immediately regretting it.
"You're smiling again."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The room collectively pretended not to notice.
Very smart.
Very, very smart.
Unfortunately, business quickly ruined the moment.
The conference room doors opened.
A security chief entered.
Fast.
Purposeful.
Concerned.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The atmosphere changed immediately.
Because nobody entered a meeting like that with good news.
Ever.
The security chief dropped a file onto the table.
"We have a problem."
Silence.
Immediate silence.
Lorenzo's smile vanished.
The king returned.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"What."
The man opened the file.
Photographs covered the table.
Several were grainy.
Several were distant.
Several were recent.
All of them featured Amara.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The room temperature dropped.
Immediately.
Because somebody had been watching her.
A lot.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
One photograph showed her entering the clinic.
Another showed her leaving.
Another showed her inspecting construction.
Another showed her getting coffee.
The realization settled heavily across the room.
Someone was conducting surveillance.
Professional surveillance.
Dangerous surveillance.
Lorenzo's jaw tightened.
Slowly.
"What am I looking at?"
The security chief swallowed.
Hard.
"We traced the photographer."
A pause.
"He works for a contractor."
Another pause.
"Not Romano."
Silence.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Lorenzo looked up.
Dangerously.
"If not Romano..."
The answer came quietly.
Almost reluctantly.
"Someone else hired him."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Every person in the room understood what that meant.
Another player.
Another enemy.
Another problem.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Meanwhile, several states away, a woman stepped off a private jet.
Tall.
Elegant.
Dangerous.
The kind of beautiful that made people underestimate her.
A mistake.
A terrible mistake.
Her dark coat moved in the wind as she descended the stairs.
A driver waited below.
Patiently.
Professionally.
The woman entered the vehicle without speaking.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Only once the door closed did she finally ask a question.
"Where is my target?"
The driver handed over a file.
Immediately.
The woman opened it.
Then smiled.
Slowly.
Dangerously.
The photograph inside showed Amara Queen.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The woman studied the image.
The dark skin.
The natural curls.
The intelligent eyes.
The confidence.
Then another photograph.
Lorenzo Vitale.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
The smile widened.
Because suddenly...
She understood exactly why she'd been hired.
Back in Chicago, Amara exited the underground hospital carrying a tablet and two cups of coffee.
One for herself.
One for Lorenzo.
The realization annoyed her.
Deeply.
Because she wasn't entirely sure when she'd started doing things like that.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
She stepped into the elevator.
Completely unaware that someone was already watching.
Someone new.
Someone dangerous.
Someone patient.
And somewhere in the city...
A specialist smiled while looking at Amara's photograph.
Because unlike Viktor Romano...
She wasn't interested in intimidation.
Or threats.
Or failed assassination attempts.
No.
She specialized in something much more effective.
Manipulation.
And unfortunately for everyone involved...
She was very, very good at it.
End Chapter 31