Blaze of Fury (2 page)

Night had fallen. Beams of light from a full
moon danced off his shiny black hair. He appeared as magnificent
and powerful as the motorcycle he rode.

“I like your bike,” she said in attempt to
ease the tension.

“First time, huh?” His eyes stared into her
in a most disconcerting manner.

She nodded. “How could you tell?”

He swept one large hand over his six-pack
abs. “I think you left a fingernail or two in my gut.”

“Sorry,” she said in soft response, though
she was not sorry at all.

A mischievous glimmer shone in his eyes but
he refrained from speaking on it. “We’ll spend the night here while
I explain to you how I work. Are you hungry?”

“A little,” she replied with a light
shrug.

She followed him to the fire pit and watched
as he grabbed two chairs with one hand and wrapped long slender
incredibly masculine fingers around both at the same time. He
plopped them down, unfolded each one then motioned for her to sit.
After handing her a can of soda, he proceeded to build a fire. His
huge biceps flexed in the moonlight—all his muscles moved like
poetry as he worked on preparing a meal.

They ate in silence. His skills at camping
impressed her. The fish he’d cooked over the flames was tender and
delicious. She devoured it with ease then ate the roasted potato.
Once finished, he tossed their paper plates into the fire then
chugged bottled water.

“I’d think a man like you would be drinking
beer,” she said, then immediately wished she hadn’t. She watched
his face for any indication that she’d insulted him.

“Alcohol is for the weak.” He shot her a
fiery glance.

“I’m sorry.”

“Do you drink?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

His question took her off guard. She fumbled
for an answer. “I-I don’t know. Never saw the need I guess.”

“Good.” He wiped his mouth with the back of
one hand. “A lot of women in your position might be inclined that
way.”

“I was tempted but didn’t want to give them
reason to think they were right.”

He gave an approving nod. “You have inner
strength. You’ll need it.”

“I made it this far…no turning back now.” She
hoped her words sounded more confident than she felt.

Balancing his weight on one bent elbow, he
leaned back on the grass. Again, his eyes met and held hers in a
spellbinding stare. “What’s your story, Sasha? How did you find
me?”

“Before I tell you, may I ask your name?”

“Is it necessary?”

“I guess not.” She sighed. “I don’t imagine
manners count for much in an arrangement such as this.”

An openly intrigued expression flitted
through his eyes and a slight grin touched his lips. “No they
don’t. But since you asked, my name is Ice and no, I am not Native
American. So there, I saved you a question.”

She smiled at his reply and found him even
more fascinating with each passing moment. “Just Ice? No last
name?”

He shrugged. “Don’t need one.”

“Oh.” Sasha wrinkled her brow.

“Now tell me, how did you find me?”

“I can’t tell you that,” she stated.

He raised one brow. “Why?”

“I was told not to. I don’t break
promises.”

“You do realize that I could kill you and
nobody would ever know what happened, don’t you?”

“Yes. But if you’re threatening me, I still
won’t give up my contact.”

“I’m impressed.” He paused and stared
straight through her. “Did your source give you a code word?”

Sasha reached into her jeans pocket and
pulled out a scrap of paper with the words
crazy
diamonds
written on it then handed it to him. “They said you
might ask for it to verify that I’ve been screened by your
connections.”

He studied her face in open scrutiny for a
few minutes before unfolding the paper. “Yes, they gave you
accurate information. The code matches your profile. It changes for
each case so you don’t need to remember it.” He tossed the scrap
into the fire. “Now, what’s your story? Who is it that you want me
to take out?”

She breathed a sigh of relief that the
initial phase had been passed. “I want you to take out three
men.”

“Three?” He arched both brows this time. “You
better have one hell of a good story and some serious cash.”

Chapter Two

“I’ll tell you my story but I get the feeling
I may not have brought enough cash.” Sasha laid a manila envelope
in front of him.

Ice glanced at it but didn’t pick it up. “You
have piqued my curiosity. Nobody has ever hired me to take out
three targets. Go ahead and tell me what has driven you to this
point.”

“I was married for twenty-two years to a
family that hated me but wouldn’t let me go until my kids were
grown.”

“
A family
?”

“Yes. I didn’t know when I agreed to marry
him that the entire family was part of the deal. They only wanted
the kids. Took them nineteen years but they eventually succeeded in
turning my oldest daughter, Leah against me. My other daughter
sided with me.”

“What about your husband?”

“I left him four years ago. I tried to leave
twice before. The first time he stalked me then threatened to take
custody of the girls. I gave in and went back home. His parents
have money and power. I didn’t stand a chance. By the time I got
enough strength to leave again, Leah was already lost, she idolized
my ex’s father and his word became law to her. But my youngest,
Sienna was not in a good place. She had a nervous breakdown from
everything that had happened. I backed down and stayed again to see
her through.”

“Is she better?”

Sasha nodded. “She had a baby girl about a
year ago and lives on her own now. They were doing fine until the
father of her child began abusing her. We slapped a PFA on him but
the cops won’t enforce it. Now the sharks are circling again.”

“How so?”

“By some uncanny twist of fate,” she said,
clutching her hands tightly together on her lap. “The little prick
joined forces with the
ex-laws
. Anytime she tries to back
away they threaten her with a custody suit.”

“Maybe they’re bluffing.”

“No,” Sasha stated with a firm shake of her
head. “They have money…lots of it, and they get off on suing
people. I was in court three times because of them, defending
myself against things I absolutely did not do. They did everything
in their power to beat me down.”

“What was the outcome?”

“The first two times, the charges were
dropped once we got to court. The lawyers and the judge saw that I
was clearly innocent. Cost me thousands in attorney fees
nonetheless. At the last hearing the judge chewed him up and spit
him out.”

“Who is
him
?”

“Leah’s husband Jake. She broke the heart of
a very nice young man to hook up with some bastard ten years older
than her. He quickly joined the ranks. The
ex-laws
had their
hand in that, too. Her first fiancé had been her high school
sweetheart and she never considered leaving him until
they
got involved. That evil son-of-a-bitch grandfather of hers didn’t
like the boy. He and
his
people brainwashed Leah into
leaving him.”

“What happened to the boy?”

Tears blurred her eyes for a moment but she
fought them back. “That boy was like a son to me…he died of an
overdose a couple years after the breakup.”

“These people have caused you a lot of pain.”
A hint of compassion laced his voice.

“That’s an understatement. Not only did they
traumatize me after I finally broke away, but the two decades of
marriage were sheer hell. I was threatened, blackmailed, shunned,
ridiculed, and basically verbally and emotionally tortured since
the day I said
I do
.”

“So you were abused.”

She wrinkled her brows. “They didn’t hit
me…just threatened to kill me once or twice.”

He looked mildly impressed. “And you’re
stoic. I like that.”

“Ah,” she said with a shrug. “I don’t like
throwing the abuse word around much. My daughter was physically
abused. Though the
ex-laws
tormented me and stole a huge
chunk of my life, I fought back in the end. I don’t play the victim
well.” She released a tense breath. “I regret backing down when the
girls were young. I thought I was doing the right thing by staying
for them…there are so many gray areas when children are involved.
In hindsight, I think it made me look weak. Maybe I was weak to
stay. I should’ve stood my ground the first time I left and took
them on in court then.”

“You’re stronger than you think.”

“Thanks.” She stared at him for a couple
minutes before adding, “At least I was there for my youngest
daughter. Sienna didn’t share her sister’s feelings when it came to
them. She is more like me and has a mind of her own. In that family
having a mind of your own is a mortal sin. If you don’t bow to
their demands there is hell to pay. I thought they’d finally given
up on trying to break Sienna. But since she had the baby she’s back
in their crosshairs again.”

He looked down at the ground, mindlessly
drawing circles in the loose soil. She wondered what he was
thinking.

She decided this might be her one chance to
finally tell someone about the horror her ex-family had put her
through. He remained quiet as she spoke, but she could tell he was
listening. She relayed more details of how they ganged up and
treated her cruelly at family gatherings. Everything tumbled out
about the many ways they’d terrorized her, the long years, the
night terrors, and endless tears she endured while trapped in their
clutches.

“I barely survived,” she concluded in a soft
voice. Tears threatened to break through. “I will not let them do
to Sienna what they did to me.”

Without looking up he said, “When you started
telling me this I assumed your motive was revenge.” His gaze
shifted and their eyes met. “Now I see that this isn’t a selfish
case of payback. You’re out to save what’s left of your battered
life…your daughter and grandchild.”

“Yeah…”

“You’ve been trying to get away from these
people for years, yet they keep coming at ya.”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah…”

“So tell me, who are the targets?”

Sasha pulled a small envelope from her bag
and handed it to him. He examined the details she’d written on
paper and each photo for several minutes.

“Which one is the husband?”

“He’s not on the list.”

“Why?” he asked in that commanding way of
his.

“Taking him out would be like plucking a leaf
from a huge tree. He’s weak and simply bows to their command.” She
pointed to the photos. “Those three are the head of the snake. Kill
them and my daughter will be safe…especially the two oldest
men.”

“You’ve given this a lot of thought.”

“Twenty-six years worth, I’m fed up with
their bullying.”

“I assume the gray-haired guy is the
father-in-law. These two guys here,” he said while tapping the
photos. “What is their connection?”

“The big arrogant-looking prick is Leah’s
husband and one evil bastard. The scrawny guy is Sienna’s
ex-boyfriend, but don’t underestimate him, he’s bloody insane.”

“I never underestimate anyone,” he said with
a hard stare. “Once we start there is no turning back.”

“You’ll help me? You didn’t even count the
money.” Her pulse quickened.

Ice pushed the manila envelope toward her.
“Woman…after everything you’ve been through you still had the balls
to come looking for someone like me and take a stand. You’re either
fucking crazy or one of the gutsiest women I’ve ever met.”

She felt somewhere between tears and laughter
but remained composed. “The sanity plea is still on the table.”

For the first time he laughed. “I’m starting
to like you. Keep the money. And yeah, I’ll help you. This job I’ll
do for free. I hate weak men, especially those that prey on
women.”

“Thank you…thank you so much…” Her words came
out on a soft rush of air. She wanted to hug him to show her
appreciation but refrained. He did not look like someone who would
take lightly to an uninvited touch.

“You’re welcome.” His dark eyes shone with
sincerity. “I can’t let you return to civilization until the job is
done. Doing so would be too risky. Now that we’ve met and reached
an agreement, you must stay in hiding. If someone in the family
contacted you after the first kill, you could easily slip and pose
a threat to my mission. Are you okay with this?”

“Where will I hide?”

“With me.”

“Oh.” She hid her emotions. She didn’t want
him to know that the thought of camping with him excited her more
than it should. After all, she’d just struck a deal with a
mercenary and now would be living alone with him.
Maybe I have
gone crazy
, she mused.

“If you are having second thoughts now is the
time to bow out.” He tossed the pictures along with her notes into
the fire.

“No…I am sure. I’m not backing down this
time.” She watched the flames eat the evidence. “Won’t you need
those?”

“Nope. I have a photographic memory.”

“Wow.”

He leaned toward her and picked up the packet
of money. His face was dangerously close when he turned his eyes
toward hers. “You might want to keep this in your bag. You won’t
need it while you’re with me.” His voice sounded much softer than
the intense expression on his face.

“How did you acquire the name
Ice
?”

Hot breath feathered her lips as he spoke, he
was that close. “I kill with ice-cold precision and show no mercy.
But then again, you probably heard that about me or you’d not have
cleared your entire savings account to hire me.”

“They did mention something along those
lines. How do you know about my savings?”