Whatever It Takes (24 page)

Setting his face in a practiced scowl, William snapped, “You’ve disappointed me once again.”

“Making murder look like an accident isn’t easy.”

“If you want easy, you’re in the wrong line of work. You took the job, knowing my rules…my parameters.”

“He’s a difficult man to get to.”

Despite all the prep work beforehand, William was glad he’d insisted on a videophone meeting. Instead of relying on a voice inflection, he could see the man’s face. The killer he had hired had proved to be an abysmal disappointment. Not only did he lack creativity, the arrogance was still there. No apology for screwing up. He would pay dearly for his lack of humility.

“Your predecessor had no such problems.”

A flinch in the man’s right eye showed that a point had been scored. Even as William fought a smile, he thought that perhaps it was unfair to compare this idiot to Hill Reed, a man who, by anyone’s standards, had been the perfect killing machine. But when it came to eliminating enemies, fairness was a weakness William would not allow.

Although the outcome had already been decided, William deserved an explanation for what had happened, or hadn’t happened, to Eli Slater. “You changed your tactics today. Shooting him was not to my specification.”

“Your request to make it look like an accident wasn’t working.”

“That wasn’t a request.”

Another slight flicker of discomfort, this one a bit more obvious, flared in the man’s eyes. “That kind of killing takes time. You were becoming impatient. It was a judgment call.”

“You have poor judgment.”

“James Johnson understood that—”

“You dare speak of my father?”

“I meant no disrespect. I was just going to say that I accomplished several jobs for James. He was pleased with my work. We had a good partnership.”

That was an extreme exaggeration. The man had eliminated only two people for James. Both hits had been outright assassinations, unrelated to this current contract. Which was probably a good thing for this man. William knew for certain that James would not have tolerated this man’s ineptitude and lack of creativity.

“That was then, this is now. Your incompetence offends me on many levels. It’s time for new blood. Your services are no longer required.”

“You can’t just fire me. We have a contract.”

“A contract you’ve not honored.” William added slight amusement to his tone. “And who are you going to complain to? I don’t believe the EEOC will be interested in hearing how unfairly a contract killer feels he’s been treated.”

The glare the man gave him might concern someone else. William paid it no mind. He had a backup plan, as always. 

“You’ll regret this.”

No, he wouldn’t, but much the way a cat would play with a dead mouse, William couldn’t resist taunting the man. 

His voice low and lethal, just like he had practiced earlier, William said, “I won’t take that as a threat because I refuse to believe you are really that stupid. However, you need to know that if anything happens to me, I’ve already made arrangements for you to be taken out. Do you really want to spend your twilight years running for your life?”

At last, fear leaped into the man’s eyes, and a surge of power swept through William. 

The killer said at a rapid clip, “I misspoke. I won’t let you down again.”

“Excellent. Then we’re on the same page.”

A knock sounded at the man’s door, and another bolt of power swept through William, practically lighting up his surroundings. Fighting to keep smugness off his face, he murmured, “You’ll want to get that.”

Before he ended the call, William heard two distinct, soft pops, telling him a silencer had been used. Though he longed to see the results, he told himself that was a crass desire. One does not stare at the remains of a meal once one has finished eating. Still, he entertained himself by imagining the brain matter that was now decorating the man’s low-budget motel room.

Though still infuriated at the imbecile’s screw-up, William was relieved to be rid of the man. It had been a mistake to hire him.

Once again, he lamented not only his father’s death, but the death of his father’s favorite employee.

Hill Reed had been the best when it came to killing. Not a year had gone by that James hadn’t employed the renowned contract killer to take out a competitor or enemy. There had been so much more to do. Reed had died last year, much too soon and under suspicious circumstances. 

His death had been a blow to James. Only days after learning of Reed’s death, James had ordered William to his bedside. What he’d asked him to do was no surprise. William had known for years about certain enemies who were being put down in a variety of ways because of past sins. James Johnson had been a man of enormous vision and immense patience. 

William had both feared and revered his father who had been larger than life. Whatever James wanted, so did William. Which was why the son had promised the father he’d continue the vendetta. Nothing would stop him from carrying out his father’s wishes. All his life he had strived to please James and had often failed. He wouldn’t fail at this. It had been too important to his father, which made it of utmost importance to William.

Perhaps if Reed had still been alive to handle the remaining contracts, all would have been well. After his father’s death, William had felt overwhelmed. Not only had he been grieving, he had taken over the family’s businesses and he’d had to see to this matter. Interviewing contract killers was a time-consuming, tedious, and enormously scary thing to do. Since there were so many people to eliminate, William had thought that spreading out the work to several assassins was the smart thing to do. For the most part, things had worked out well, but the man he’d hired to handle the Slaters had been as inept as he’d been unimaginative. 

William had learned his lesson. Diversification was not the way to go. Only one killer would be charged with eliminating the remaining targets. Even though he’d made a few mistakes along the way, William comforted himself that at least the hired killer who’d just put down this dud had worked out phenomenally well. He had found her himself. And not only had she proven her competence and skill by completing several assignments, she had come to him and asked for more. He liked her initiative and drive. Having been trained by Hill Reed himself, she came from good stock. 

Besides, who was he to turn down a lovely lady’s request?

Chapter Thirty

Dallas

“I’ve seen people in the morgue look healthier than you do right now.”

Eli’s eyes popped open to see his younger brother standing over him. He’d thought to rest his eyes a little before getting to work. Apparently, he’d fallen asleep instead. 

Pulling himself from his chair, ignoring the throb of his head and vicious aches throughout his body, he grabbed Jonah in a hard hug.

“It’s damn good to see you.”

“You, too, but seriously, bro, you look like dried-up ape shit.”

Eli eased back into his chair, grinning. “And that’s one of the things I’ve missed about you. Your poetic way with words.” 

“What the hell is going on?”

“I’ve had a few issues lately.”

Dark green eyes glimmered with temper. “And why am I just now hearing about it?”

“Because you had your own issues to deal with. Watching over Mother, on top of the other stuff you’re doing. You didn’t need me piling anything extra on you.”

Jonah dropped into a chair across from Eli and slouched. The relaxed pose didn’t fool Eli. Before his stint in prison, Jonah hadn’t exactly been soft, but he had been less wary, more trusting. After all that had happened—prison, losing his fiancée in such a horrific way—any softness that had remotely existed was gone. In its place was a hard-eyed, edgy man who rarely smiled and trusted only a handful of people. Eli felt honored to be among that handful. Especially since he felt a great guilt for not preventing what had happened.

“Since arguing with you is like trying to reason with a rock, I’ll let that go for now. Tell me what’s going on.”

In a few succinct sentences, Eli explained about the emails, the odd incident with the window-washer platform, and today’s near miss. 

“And you actually believe Adam’s claim that he only sent the one email? That he isn’t the asshole behind the whole thing?”

“Yeah, I do. Not because he’s not evil enough. We both know he’s that and then some. But doing this without direction from someone else? That’s not Adam. Without Mathias calling the shots, the man’s as helpless as a turtle on its back.”

“I’ll reserve judgment about that, but nevertheless I trust your instincts. So, if Adam only sent one of the emails, there’s someone on the inside doing the others.”

“Yeah.” Knowing how Jonah would take it, Eli sighed as he added, “I’ve asked Justice to use his influence to get Adam moved to another prison.”

Jonah shook his head slowly in disbelief. “You’re protecting the man responsible for your wife’s death.”

“Don’t you think I know that, Jonah? There’s a huge part of me that says just let him die in prison. But if I do that, I’m not any better than he is. This family’s had too much heartache as it is…too many deaths.”

“You’re a better man than I am, Eli.”

Eli wasn’t going to argue with him. Beneath Jonah’s hard shell of bitterness and indifference was the good, kindhearted brother he’d grown up with. He hoped like hell he’d see that man again someday.

“So what’s the game plan?”

“Find out who’s doing this and shut them down. Justice has assigned Kennedy and Nick to help out. Between the four of us, we’ll find him.”

“Four? Who else is working with you?”

“Kathleen Callahan. She’s a bodyguard I hired for the girls a few weeks ago. She’s a trained security specialist, freelances for Justice. She’s agreed to stay here and help out.”

“Is that right?” 

The gleam in his brother’s eyes told him he hadn’t hidden his feelings. Jonah had a way of reading him when no one else could.

“I’ll look forward to meeting Miss Callahan. But for now, tell me what I can do to help.”

“Take care of my daughters. There’s nothing more important than their safety.”

“With the bodyguards already there for Mother and Lacey, they’ll be safe. There’s gotta be something else I can do.”

“There isn’t. I promise. The estate is well hidden, the chalet invisible until you’re practically at the doorstep. Only the family, with the exception of Adam, knows I own the property. They’ll be safe there.”

No need to discuss the reason he’d originally purchased the small estate. His plan to get Jonah out of prison, one way or the other, and hide him there had never materialized. Jonah had managed to escape from prison through the most surprising source imaginable. 

“Knowing Sophia and Violet are safe will free me up to find out who’s behind this.”

“If that’s the way you want it, no problem. You know I won’t let anything happen to them.”

“Thank you. Now, what about you? Any news on your end?”

Any lightness Jonah had in his eyes died. And though it wasn’t easy to see, Eli was encouraged that the rage had been tempered by determination. Jonah was on a quest to find the man who had murdered, at Mathias’s orders, Teri Burke, Jonah’s fiancée. After her body had been discovered, Eli didn’t think he’d ever see anything in his brother other than a pure, unadulterated hatred. It was still there, but focusing on finding the bastard had steadied him, channeling the anger toward that goal.

“I have leads but no name yet.”

“You still doing side work for Justice?”

“Yeah. Here and there. I’ll turn down anything he offers until this is over.”

“I’m sending two of the bodyguards I hired to watch the girls along with you—Macon Yates and Trevor Yost. They can protect them if you need to take a job.”

“They’ll be in good hands, but I’ll stay there as much as I can.”

“Appreciate it.”

“Before I go see my nieces, why don’t you tell me a little more about Kathleen Callahan?”

“Like what?”

His brother gave him a knowing look. “I grew up with you, remember? You might look like hell, but that gleam in your eyes is unmistakable. Tell me how, in just a few short weeks and with everything that’s going on, you managed to fall in love with your children’s bodyguard.”

Kathleen finished unpacking and then gazed around the bedroom Teresa had assigned her. It was lovely, feminine without going overboard. The color scheme of seafoam blue and off-white was both restful and elegant.

When she’d asked the housekeeper if Eli’s late wife had decorated it, sadness had come over her face. “Mr. Eli had the entire house redecorated. I just think there were too many bad memories for him.”

After what Eli had told her about his marriage, that was understandable. How sad that drugs and alcohol had stolen Shelley Slater’s life. Sadder still for the ones she’d left behind. 

But Eli hadn’t given up on Shelley. That, more than anything, showed what kind of man he was. Tenacious and stubborn to a fault, Eli Slater did not give up. 

 So many things to think about right now, so many things to accomplish. None more important than finding out who was behind the attempts on Eli’s life. What she felt for him, what she couldn’t allow herself to consider feeling, would have to be shoved aside. 

Smoothing down her hair, straightening her spine, she opened the door and walked out. Eli’s bedroom was right across the hall from hers. She told herself that was a good thing—expedient. She’d need to check on him through the night, and being so close was convenient. And when he was well again? She ignored the shiver that zipped through her at that thought. 

She was startled when Eli’s bedroom door opened. A large, dark-haired man with glittering, emerald green eyes and a stone hard face walked out. He closed the door behind him and then, turning to face her, gave her a quick up-and-down perusal. “Kathleen, I assume?”

She gave him a smile, held out her hand. “You must be Jonah.”

He took her hand, shook it in a brisk, business-like manner. “That would be me. Mind if we talk a few minutes?”