No More Mr. Nice Guy (31 page)

“You certainly seem like you're in a rush, darling,” the truck driver said as she pulled over to let me out. After being silent and practically comatose during most of the ride, I became jittery and anxious as soon as we entered Manhattan, and she had obviously noticed the change. I was hoping it wasn't too late to reach Niles before he went ahead and did Jonathan's dirty work. I was playing against time today, but I'd be damned if I didn't win this one. One way or another, I was going to make Jonathan pay.

I gave her arm a little squeeze, my way of thanking her for rescuing me. “Yeah, I have an important appointment to make.”

“Really? I sure hope that appointment includes some hot water and some soap,” she said, waving her hand in front of her nose. “No offense, girl.”

“None taken. Thanks for putting up with me and my smell,” I told her as I opened the door and hopped out of the truck. She blasted the horn as she drove away, making heads turn in my direction.

All around me, people were hustling to and from work, so the streets were busy as fuck. I hurried into the new building, full of my take-no-prisoners attitude. I had two things on my mind: the first was saving Niles from the trap Jonathan had set before it was too late, and the other was making damn sure he paid for it with his life.

I entered Dynamic Defense's new headquarters, punched in my pass code, and headed straight for the elevator. I was being watched by damn near everyone in the lobby. When I saw my reflection in the elevator doors, I understood why they'd given me such strange looks. I looked like a tragic ex-fashionista. Even though my outfit was high-end, it had seen better days. My hair—well, my hairstylist would cry if she saw me looking this bad.

I got on the elevator, pressed the button for my floor, and started imagining all kinds of scenarios where I eviscerated that psychopath. I couldn't wait to see the look on Jonathan's face when he saw that I was alive.

From the elevator, I stormed through the doors into the executive suites. I didn't even acknowledge the director's secretary. She tried to get up to stop me, but by then I had let myself in.

“Douglas!” I shouted for him, but he wasn't there. I was surprised to see Senator Stove sitting on Douglas's desk, talking to Nadja of all people. For a low-level bitch, she seemed to have no problem finding herself in high-level places, but I certainly wasn't there to worry about her right now.

“Bridget,” she chirped. Judging from the look on her face, she thought we were peers.

“Nice to see you, Miss Saint John,” the senator added in greeting, giving me the once over.

“Senator.” I nodded in response then turned toward Nadja. “I'm gonna need a double shot of espresso, pronto.”

I turned back to the senator, but Najda didn't budge. I still couldn't understand why she was even there. Did they really let this bitch suck and fuck her way up the food chain that fast? I would have to talk to Douglas about that. To have her inefficient ass as an assistant was a real rookie move, if you ask me.

“Senator, I really need to speak to Douglas. It's a matter of life and death.”

“I'm sorry, Bridget, but that's impossible.” Nadja smiled too warmly for me.

I turned to address her. “Didn't I send you to get coffee? And can't you see two adults are talking and this is important? Like I said, this is a matter of life or death.”

“Well, that's impossible,” Nadja answered in a tone that said she thought she was in charge.

“She's right,” the senator chimed in, which really pissed me off. Somehow, it seemed, they'd become best friends. “Douglas isn't here, and he can't be reached for at least the next two hours. He's in a closed door meeting with some top Canadian border officials.”

“Maybe you should call Jonathan and talk to him. Let him deal with whatever problem you're having,” Little Miss Sunshine suggested.

“That won't work,” I said, standing my ground. I didn't have time for this shit. “Jonathan is the last person I want to deal with, so if he calls, don't even mention that I was here.”

The senator stood up, looking concerned. “You're having a problem with Jonathan? I thought you two were close.” He and Nadja shared a look I couldn't quite read.

Nadja was the one who piped in with a response. “Bridget, if you're upset with Jonathan, I'm sure it's something you two can work out. Let's not burden the senator with office dynamics.”

I narrowed my eyes at that bitch. “You're a part of this, aren't you?”

“I'm not part of anything,” she said with no expression on her face. “I have no idea what you're talking about.”

“Neither do I, so I suggest you start talking right now!” The senator's anger matched my own now.

“Gladly,” I said, sitting down on the leather couch in the waiting area. “Let me tell you about your favorite employee. He kidnapped me and tried to have me killed.”

“What?” the senator yelled. Clearly I had his attention.

“You think I look like this for some other reason? I don't exactly make it a habit of, shall we say, dressing down,” I shot back. “I've been in a basement somewhere in Connecticut for the past two days. Too bad for that motherfucker that his little flunkies failed to finish me off. . . . Oh, by the way. You shouldn't expect Lance or Frank to show up for their next shifts.”

Another look passed between the two of them. What the fuck was going on here?

I continued my story. “So, yeah, Jonathan thought I would be dead by now. I guess that's why he felt comfortable telling me all the details of his plan to fill his bank account with stolen funds and then take over the director's job.”

The senator stared at me, taking in everything I was saying.

Nadja, on the other hand, had to throw in her two cents again. “How did Jonathan plan to take Douglas's job?”

The thing that threw me off was that she didn't ask it like she was doubting me, but more like she was gathering information. But why?

“What the hell is going on here?” I finally asked when Nadja and Senator Stove gave each other yet another one of those knowing looks.

“We've suspected for a while now that something was going on with Jonathan,” Senator Stove explained. “That's why we brought Nadja in from our Western European office, to see what she could flush out. We expected this to be a fairly long investigation, but it looks like what you're telling us has just moved our timeline up.”

I looked at Nadja with a newfound respect. I had thought she was nothing more than a bimbo sleeping her way up the food chain. The girl sure knew how to keep her cover.

“She's a highly trained agent, just like you,” the senator said when he noticed the way I was staring at Nadja.

I nodded at Nadja to let her know there was no beef between us.

“So tell us whatever you know,” Nadja said.

“Jonathan has the whole thing planned. Right now he has the stolen funds—including Niles's money—planted in my account. Once I was dead, he was going to frame me for the theft.”

“And what about the director's job?” Senator Stove asked. “How does that play in to all of this?”

“He didn't tell me all the details, but he cooked up some sort of plan to manipulate Niles, to give him a reason to take out the director. With Douglas gone, I guess Jonathan figures he's next in line for the director's job.”

The senator stated the obvious. “This is bad. Very bad.”

I jumped up from my seat. “Yeah, it is bad. But enough talking now. I need to know where Douglas is meeting with the Canadians. Jonathan plans on taking over the director's job today, which means he's probably already talked to Niles. If I know my student at all, then Niles will be on a rooftop waiting for Douglas to come out of that meeting. We need to get to him before he can take a shot.”

The senator nodded to Nadja. “Take her over there.”

“I got this,” I said, not ready to relinquish my spot as top bitch in the organization.

“She's a highly trained agent, Bridget, just like you,” the senator reminded me again.

“Believe me, I can more than handle myself in the field,” she said and then opened her jacket so that I could see she was strapped.

“Ladies, handle this!” the senator commanded.

“All right,” I answered, staring at Nadja in disbelief. “Then let's go.”

Dropping my bag on the ground, I set up my equipment then tested the wind to line up my scope for the perfect shot. Jonathan had called me the night before and named Director Bonaventura as Bridget's accomplice, and that information just put me over the edge. The two of them had cooked up the whole scheme and made a fool out of me. I could have come home from the Army and lived a nice, quiet life if they hadn't dragged me into Dynamic Defense and all this other bullshit.

Now I was one pull of the trigger away from revenge. Once I took out the director, Bridget would be the next one on my list, as soon as I figured out where that bitch had gone into hiding. Jonathan had already promised that he would help me get my money back once I took care of those two, so I could rest easy knowing I could still afford to get my mother the care she needed.

Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to focus on the job at hand, my thoughts kept traveling back to the reason for it: Bridget. How the hell could I have been such a chump? Every woman I'd ever been close to, except my mother, had somehow ended up fucking me. I was pissed at myself for letting my guard down, but now that I could see the bigger picture, it all made sense. The bitch was a master manipulator. First she made sure my only choices in life were jail or Dynamic Defense. Then she worked hard to win my confidence. Seduced me with some crazy ancient sexual voodoo, and then played my emotions until I thought I was in love with her. I thought I'd felt wounded by Keisha, but this shit with Bridget was on a whole other level. As far as I was concerned, I was swearing off women from now on and just doing my job, making money and taking care of Mom.

I checked my watch. If the director's meeting with the Canadians was on schedule, then I had less than five minutes before my target would appear. The black Town Car was already sitting at the curb. I lined up the shot and waited for him to step out of the building.

“Don't do it!”

I recognized the voice right away. Turning my head from the scope, I saw Bridget burst through the rooftop door. She looked a hot mess. As much as I hadn't expected to see her, I wasn't surprised either. If anyone was good enough to find me, it was Bridget.

“When I have a job to do, I do it.” I said angrily. “You should know. You were the one who trained me to finish whatever I started.”

“Niles, don't do this,” she said again.

“Jonathan said you might try to stop me.”

“Jonathan is using you,” she said, still out of breath from running upstairs.

“And you weren't?” I spat.

“Niles, he's jealous of us. Of what we have together. Don't throw it all away, please.”

I laughed derisively. “What we have together! That's a joke. Why the fuck would I believe you? You've been lying to me from the beginning. I was just too stupid to see what was right in front of my face.”

“It's not what you think,” she insisted.

“What I think? I think you were the one using me to fatten your own pockets. You didn't care about me,” I said, the bitterness spilling off my tongue.

I glanced through the scope, knowing the director could be coming out at any time. “I'm not gullible anymore, Bridget. From this day forward, I'm the one who's going to be fucking people over.”

“No, I swear. It's not like that. Niles, I love you.”

“You don't love me!” I shouted. She had me so furious that I couldn't focus on my target the way I needed to. I turned around to look at her.

“Yes, I do. I swear. I love you,” she said.

“If you loved me, you wouldn't have stolen my money.”

She looked surprised, and maybe even a little confused. I'd caught her off guard with that statement.

“Why, Bridget? If you love me, then why did you steal from me?”

“I wasn't trying to steal from you, baby. I did take your money, but I took it for us. I put it in an account for us in the Caymans. Look, I've seen what happens when someone who is not used to having money suddenly has access to such a large amount.”

“What are you saying? I'm not mature enough to handle my own money? Fuck you.” I spat out at her.

I turned back to my scope to see some men in suits exiting the building. I realized that the meeting must have been ending. Director Bonaventura could be coming out at any moment.

“Niles, God dammit! Please don't make me use this,” she said. I was sure she had a gun aimed at me, but I refused to take my eyes off the scope. She kept talking, filling the air around us with her lies. “Yes, I took the money, but I did it so that you would have a future, so we would have a future. I know I shouldn't have, but I did. I'm sorry.”

“That money was for my sick mother and you knew it!” I shouted, my back still turned to her.

“What are you talking about?” she asked. “I left you plenty of money to care for your mother. I only took ten percent for your retirement.”

“Don't listen to her. She's a lying bitch. She took your money and mine.” Jonathan appeared on the roof, throwing off my concentration again.

“Well, Bridget,” he said, “when I found Frank and Lance in their unfortunate state, I knew I wouldn't have to look far to find you. I knew you'd be up here trying to talk your way out of this mess you created.”

I spun around for a second, trying to understand what was going on. What the hell was he saying about Frank and Lance? Something wasn't adding up, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

“Don't worry about her,” he said to me. “I got your back. Take the shot! Take the damn shot! If you want your money back—”

That was all he had to say. I turned around again to watch for the director's exit from the building. Bridget and Jonathan continued their war of words behind me.

“You bastard, you took his money, didn't you?” Bridget hissed at him.

“Niles knows who took his money. He's seen the proof.”

“Proof? Look at me! I'm a billboard for proof. Did you tell him that you held me hostage? Kidnapped me?” She was screaming, but it only made him burst out into laughter. This shit was getting weirder by the second.

“Why would I kidnap you, Bridget?”

“Because you're jealous of me and Niles.”

“Man, she really thinks her twat is that good; that you're stupid enough to believe her lies,” he goaded me.

“There's the director,” I said as I looked through the scope and saw him coming out of the building with two other men.

“You've got your target. Take the damn shot!” Jonathan screamed. I lined up my shot, wishing Bridget was my target instead. I wanted nothing more than to blow her away for her lies.

“Niles, you kill that man and they will hunt you down,” she said.

I tried to pull the trigger, but my finger wouldn't move. I didn't know exactly what it was, but something still didn't feel right about this whole situation. I dropped my arms to my sides as I watched the director get in the car.

“What the fuck did you just do?” Jonathan screamed.

“You did the right thing, Niles,” Bridget said, lowering her gun.

Jonathan appealed to me. “Who you gonna believe: me, or this lying bitch who had a gun pointed at you? If you're not going to kill him, then kill her. Take the shot.”

I glanced from one to the other, growing more confused by the minute, but then I changed my target and aimed my gun at her.

“Go ahead. Do it. I don't care what happens to me if I've lost you already, Niles,” she said.

“What the fuck are you waiting for? Kill her!” Jonathan yelled.

“Why don't you kill me yourself, you fuckin' pussy?” Bridget yelled at him, shocking the hell out of me.

I looked at Jonathan, and I could see the truth in his eyes: He couldn't pull the trigger. Maybe he really did love her.

“Don't do it, Mr. Monroe. Bridget is telling the truth.”

I turned in the direction of the voice and saw a very attractive Middle Eastern woman standing in front of the entrance to the roof.

“Who the fuck are you?” I asked.

“She's nobody,” Jonathan said. “A damn secretary. She don't know anything. Pull the fucking trigger.”

“My name is Nadja,” the woman said, ignoring Jonathan. “I'm an operative out of the Western Europe office. I was sent here to investigate Jonathan.” There was something honest about her voice, something real, that made me trust her more than either of the other two.

Jonathan damn near lost his mind. “What the fuck! You're investigating me? You traitorous bitch!”

Again, Nadja ignored him, totally unfazed by his tirade. “Niles, I don't know what's going on with you and Bridget, but she's not the bad guy here. Jonathan is.”

“What about the money? She stole your money,” Jonathan continued, jumping around like a madman. He really looked like he was losing his mind. “You gonna let her get away with that?”

“We'll figure your money situation out. I promise,” Nadja said, as calm as can be.

“Shut up!” Jonathan reached behind his back with his right arm, and when he brought it forward, he was raising a weapon. He quickly let off a shot.

BANG! I watched as Bridget crumbled to the ground.

“I told you to take the goddamn—”

Before he could finish his sentence, I put two shots right between his eyes; then I turned to Nadja angrily. “You better not be lying.”

“I'm not.” She ran over to Bridget.

I nudged Jonathan's body with my foot to confirm that he was dead then walked over to stand next to Nadja. Bridget had been hit in the arm.

“Niles,” she said softly.

“I just wanna know two things,” I said, feeling absolutely no sympathy for her.

“Anything.” She was crying, and I didn't think it was because of the gunshot.

“Did you kill Rodney and them so you could recruit me?”

She hesitated for quite a while before she finally admitted, “Yes, I killed them, but it was for your—”

“Save it, okay? I've had enough of your bullshit.” I glanced over at Nadja. “You got this?”

“Yes, I've got it,” she said calmly.

I walked away. Bridget called out to me as I approached the door. I stopped with my hand on the knob, keeping my back to her.

“You said there were two things you wanted to know. What was the second?”

I opened the door and stepped into the stairway. “When am I gonna get my fucking money back?” was the last thing I said before I shut the door behind me.