Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 407(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
“What’s going on?” Kai asked, trying to put them on to the topic he’d called about rather than letting Justin distract them all.
“Are you in Washington?” There was no teasing in Gabriel’s voice.
“No. Vegas. On a job. What’s wrong? Did something happen to Devlin or Jake?”
There was a moment of silence, and Kai could easily imagine the two men sharing a look, communicating so comfortably without words despite the fact that they’d been together only a few years.
About six months ago, Kai had teamed up with Justin and Gabriel on a job to take down a drug boss. Kai always worked alone, but for them, he’d made an exception, mostly out of curiosity. He didn’t trust anyone within their field, but there was something about Justin and Gabriel that just seemed honorable and trustworthy. And he had to admit—he’d wanted to see them work.
He hadn’t been disappointed. It was as if the two assassins shared a single brain. They moved with an ease and fluidity he’d never seen before. Despite his years of experience and skill, he’d struggled a bit to keep up with them.
And through it all, he was always sure they had his back. It had been a very nice feeling, if a little creepy.
“Jake is fine,” Justin finally said, his tone deadly serious.
“Devlin?”
“Dev discovered a dead body in his bathtub.”
Kai had been pacing the small area from the moment he called Gabriel, but all his muscles froze with that statement. His brain simply locked up. A corpse in Devlin Relic’s bathtub? Who? How? Why?
At least, those were the most pressing questions once the gears started turning again.
“A corpse?” Kai choked out.
“In his tub,” Gabriel confirmed.
“It also disappeared between Devlin’s discovery and the arrival of the police,” Justin added.
“A disappearing corpse?” Kai repeated. “Devlin was one hundred percent sure the person was dead?”
“Yes, he checked. The man had a single gunshot to the chest. Skin was cold to the touch and no pulse.” Gabriel’s calm, measured tone was soothing despite the topic of their conversation.
A new thought popped into Kai’s brain, and he started pacing again. “Do you think I did this? Is that why you asked if I was in Washington?” he snarled in a low voice.
The silence was telling. Someone cleared their throat, and Justin chuckled softly.
“Well, the thought did cross our minds since Devlin doesn’t know a lot of assassins other than the three of us.”
In Kai’s mind that was three too many for a sweet, caring guy like Devlin, but he couldn’t argue that they’d kept him safe when he’d needed the protection the most.
“But we couldn’t come up with any logical reason for you to do such a thing and not contact Devlin about it,” Gabriel said firmly. And then his voice dipped a little lower. “It’s not like you’d watch him or speak to his son without telling him.”
Kai winced. It didn’t matter that they couldn’t see him. He was blushing, and his head was ducked down toward his shoulders. They knew. He’d known that Devlin would find out about his brief conversations with Jake. And maybe there had been the birthday present and the Christmas present…and that tablet for the first day of school.
To Kai’s utter confusion, he found that he genuinely liked Jake. He’d spent no time around kids once he’d become an adult. Generally, he didn’t know what to say to them or how to act around them, but Jake made it easy. The kid was great at talking, and he loved to talk about his dad. Kai had enjoyed the few times they’d spoken, and he’d loved hearing about Devlin.
“No, I didn’t do it. I’ve been in Vegas the past two days. Prior to that, I was in Barcelona.” He wracked his brain for a moment, backtracking through his recent jobs. “It’s been at least three months since I was even in the state. No, four,” he corrected before finally getting a handle on his mouth. There was no point to this outpouring of information. He didn’t need to explain himself to Justin and Gabriel. “What did the body look like? Did Devlin recognize him?”
“No, Dev said he’s never seen the guy,” Justin replied.
Gabriel ran through a quick description of the man and a lead weight settled into the pit Kai’s stomach, growing heavier with each word Gabriel spoke.
Truman Argent.
He wasn’t completely sure, but it definitely sounded like the financial advisor he’d gotten information from on one of his last jobs. But that had been in Los Angeles, not Seattle.
“I might have a lead on who the corpse is, but I need to make some calls, do some digging. Where are Devlin and Jake?”
“Dev is at home alone. Jake is away at camp for the next two weeks,” Gabriel stated.
“Should he not be? Is he in danger?” Justin demanded.