Walker (Bowen Boys) (16 page)

“And if she fails? Then what do we show
her?” He sat down on the couch again and looked out at the gardens behind the
office. “Do we let her fix this, finish this, or do we step in with guns
blazing and fix it ourselves?”

“Or,” he said softly again. “We could
make a trip to the little town and help her out. There’s nothing to say that a
trip to Ohio would be remiss. Of course, we could get you out of here and no
one would be the wiser. We could put you in the hospital for your yearly
physical. Might catch a bit of the flu while you’re there.”

Warren liked the idea. Something was
going to go down soon, very soon if what she had told him yesterday was any
indication, and he would love to go somewhere and run. He looked out the doors
again and thought about running with a pack of cats again. Moving through the
woods and…

“Fix it. I think a week should do it. Then
another week with the flu.” He glanced at the desk. “And while we’re there, I
want you to help me convince her that she is the perfect man for the job.”

The rest of the conversation was said in
a normal tone of voice. Neither man mentioned the fact that they were both on
their cells making arrangements that would bring Congress down on their heads,
not to mention if anyone found out what he really was, maybe even some lab
boys. Warren closed his phone an hour later and smiled. He was going to get to
do what he’d been dreaming about since he’d taken office three years ago. Run
with someone who would not care what he was.

And maybe he wasn’t a panther like the
Bowens were, but he was a tiger and he knew that once they got to know him as
human, then they’d accept him for what he was. A fellow were. At least he hoped
so.

~~~

Norris Freeman waited until everyone was
off the plane before he stood. He hated people as a rule and less so when they
were trapped together like sardines in a tin can at about thirty thousand feet.
As he was pulling down his bag from the overhead, the pretty little stewardess
came toward him.

“Sir, there’s a man outside waiting for
you. He asked if you were on board and all we told him was that we couldn’t
release that information. He doesn’t look like he’s too happy.”

Norris thought he probably wasn’t.

“Would you like for me to call security
and have him escorted out of the airport?”

“No. I’ll take care of him.”

She nodded, but still looked unsure.

“He isn’t a very easy man to make happy.
I’ll go out and then he’ll leave with me. Sorry about this.”

Norris didn’t think that if the woman
were to go out and ask him to leave that he’d walk away. Seth Clarke was not
known to be a very forgiving or patient man. His way of doing something was to
shoot first and walk away. He’d never known a deadlier man in his life, with
the exception of himself, of course. As soon as he stepped off the last step of
the walkway he saw why the woman was nervous. He’d be too if he didn’t know the
man.

“Christ, Clarke, next time why don’t you
wear a sign that says ‘I’m a fucking killer. Stay back if you want to live’. Might
draw less attention to yourself.” Norris handed him his bag and took the nine
millimeter that Seth slipped to him. “What kind of car did you get? If you got
one of those small little sporty things I’m fucking going to kill you myself.”

“Nah. Got one of those big fucking
trucks. Has a nice bed for rolling dead things in and a little holder for all
your fancy clothes. Why the fuck would you wear a suit to Ohio? They probably
don’t even know that that thing cost more than they made all of last year.” He
ran his finger down the sleeve. “Is that fucking snake?”

“No, you moronic dick, it’s silk. And I
suppose you are going to make the cover of
GQ
with your torn up jeans
and holey shirt? Ever hear of a tailor?”

Clarke laughed, showing that since the
last time he’d seen him he’d lost another tooth, this one in the front. “Yeah,
I had a Taylor once. But she didn’t give good head so I had to fucking shoot
her.” They went outside and there it was, one of the biggest trucks he’d ever
seen. “You wanna drive?”

He didn’t bother answering, but got into
the passenger side. When they were moving down the highway toward the hotel
Clarke turned to him, grinning.

“Ever think we’d get to take out McCray?
I mean, holy shit, McCray is the best we’ve ever seen. I’ve got a hard-on just
thinking about killing her.”

Norris looked over at him and grinned
too. “You get a hard-on with every kill we do, and ones we don’t get to work
together on either. But I agree, she is going to be fun. Caitlynne McCray has
been a fucking thorn in my side since I shot my first contract.”

She’d been at the restaurant where he’d
been watching his target for the good part of an hour. He’d paid little
attention to her other than to notice that she was beautiful. When he stood up
to get the shot, she stood as well and blocked his path. They had smiled at
each other and when she stepped around him she’d grabbed his arm in what he
thought was a small trip. The handcuffs on his wrist were a surprise, as were
the nine Federal agents that threw him to the ground and held him down while
his target managed to walk out of the busy restaurant. He’d been in jail just
long enough for the target to move and he’d had to start all over with tracking
him.

It had taken him nearly a year to
relocate him and another month to end him. But in the meantime he’d run into
McCray three more times until he wanted to bash her skull in just to get her
off his trail. Escaping from the small jail had been hard enough, but she
seemed to have him in her sights and he hated her for it.

The hotel room was nicer than he’d
thought. He’d expected Clarke to have rented the cheapest one he could find in
the worst part of town. That way he could still have his fun and have a place
to sleep it off afterward.

Clarke killed women. It was his thing. Mostly,
if not on a contract, he’d kill only prostitutes, but lately he’d taken to
breaking into nicer homes and killing whatever female resided there, leaving
the males to wonder what the fuck had happened. He glanced at the man when he
sat down in one of the overstuffed chairs.

“You know you have to behave while we do
this right? Garrett said that she is our only target and she needs to be made
gone in less than seventy-two hours after we get here.”

Clarke smiled and nodded.

“I mean it. I want to be paid for this
one and your habits will not fuck it up for me.”

“I know what to do. She dies then it’s a
free for all. But I get to kill her. She can be dead, but I want the pleasure
of killing her.” He licked his lips. “I know just how I want to do it too. Slow
and easy. I’m going to start by peeling her scalp off. You know how much they
scream when you do that?”

Norris turned his back on Clarke when he
started rubbing his cock. The man would sit there and jerk off if the mood
struck him even if there were a hundred people in the room. When someone
knocked on the door Norris turned back to see that Clarke indeed did have his
dick out and was jerking off.

“Put that thing away. What the fuck is
wrong with you?” Norris went to the door and looked in the peep hole. A man was
there in a hotel outfit with a large rolling cart in front of him. “Did you
order anything?”

“No.” Both men pulled out their guns. They
stood up with their weapons behind them as Norris opened the door.

The man slid the cart in and smiled at
them both. “Here you are, gentlemen. Also, the package that was delivered for
you is on the left.” He began taking the covers off the food and setting it up
on the table near the window. “The gentleman who made the arrangements for this
said to tell you it’s a lovely day for a ball game. Though I don’t believe the
season has begun yet. But he said it was important for me to tell you.”

Both he and Clarke relaxed. Their
contact had sent the dinner and the package. As soon as everything was set up
Clarke sat down at one of the plates and the waiter moved toward the door. Norris
pulled out his wallet to tip the man and he told him he’d been taken care of. He
left before Norris sat.

They both ate in silence. The dinner was
what both would have ordered. Steak for Clarke and a nice piece of salmon for
him. The salad was perfect, as was the wine for him and a cold draft for
Clarke. They both finished their meal before opening the package.

It was everything they had on her and
then some. Her address, the type of vehicle she drove, and the kind of gun she
preferred. It seemed to Norris that she liked them all, including any kind of
knife. He handed the one picture they had been given of her to Clarke. She was
still as beautiful as ever.

“Damn, you didn’t tell me that she was a
redhead. All you said was she was a pretty little thing.” Clarke handed it
back. “How tall is she anyway?”

He thought she was around six foot, but
wasn’t sure. He told Clarke that she was still off limits until they had a
plan. The girl was lethal and there wasn’t any joking about that. Clarke
snorted, something that Norris had always hated about him.

“She can’t be all that hard to take. I mean,
she is only a woman.”

Norris rolled his eyes, but before he
could comment, Clarke continued.

“Why don’t you let me go and bring her
back and you can have some fun with her before I get her? You’d better rest up
too, ‘cause I got a feeling she’s a wildcat in bed.”

Norris thought about letting him go and
do just that, but told him to stay put. According to the information they’d
been sent she was staying at a doctor’s house and there was little to no
security around the place. He told Clarke that they’d go and get her tomorrow
night after getting some sleep. He’d come in from across the world and he
thought that Clarke had been down under. They both went to their separate
bedrooms in the suite and Norris took a long, hot shower.

Tomorrow, he’d have the bitch. And when
he did he’d make her pay for every moment he had doubted himself after the
restaurant debacle. It had taken nearly five years to get another well-paying
job and two more before he felt like he was the man he’d been. And all because
some cunt had decided to stand up and have him arrested when he’d been there
first.

Norris went to the door to listen for
Clarke. When he didn’t hear anything, he went to the bedroom door and looked
in. The man was already in bed and the room was silent. Norris went back to his
room, closed the door, and crawled into bed as well. He closed his eyes,
smiling about the fun they were going to have with the bitch in less than
twenty-four hours.

Chapter Thirteen

Lynne went from sleeping to across the
room in seconds. She had no idea what had startled her awake, but she wasn’t
going to take a chance by laying there waiting for it to take her. The low
voice from across the room where she’d been made her tense up tighter.

“What are you doing up in the middle of
the night? Come back to bed and let me sleep for another couple of hours before
you jump around like that.” She didn’t move. “Caitlynne?”

“Why do you call me that?” She had no
idea where that question came from, but now that she thought about it, she
wanted answers. “No one else in the world calls me that and you insist on doing
it. Why can’t you just call me Lynne or McCray?”

She heard him move around on the bed and
wondered why it sounded so loud. “Because it’s your name and I happen to love
it. And I refuse to call you McCray. That sounds like we’re in a locker room
full of football players. Come back to bed.”

She didn’t move. There was something
wrong and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. When he moved again she
thought it sounded like he was right next to her and she flinched at the sound.
Before she could comment, he spoke.

“You’re feeling some major effects right
now and if you come back to bed, I’ll explain what I can. Are you sore?”

 She tried to think why she’d be sore
when she remembered the bite he’d given her. She put her hand over her neck and
shook her head, forgetting he couldn’t see her. “No. I don’t hurt. I feel weird,
but I’m not hurt.” She did feel off. Not really a bad kind of off, but not her
usual self either. “What happened after we had sex?” She knew he had stood up,
and when he walked toward her she could see him in the dark room. When he was
standing close to her she thought she could hear his heart beating too. Lynne
looked up into his eyes and realized she could see them as if it were bright in
the room. “Walker, what’s going on?” He picked her up, something he had been
doing a lot, and sat with her in a chair. She was suddenly afraid and she never
got afraid.

“Don’t freak out on me. And please let
me finish before you draw your gun.”

She got up off his lap and sat in the
opposite chair. She reached for her gun on the table and held it. “Talk.” He
leaned back in the chair and stared at her. She felt the hair on her arms and
neck tingle. She looked at the door when someone walked in. It was Khan. He
looked pissed.

“You’re a part of this family now and
I’m here for you to pledge yourself to me.”