Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
As he protested, his voice swung out of control, going to a high-pitched shriek. Shylah had never taken her focus from that very real threat. She saw it in his eyes first, that insanity that overcame good sense. Movement started, his arm muscles jerking and dancing before he went for the throw.
Now. Take him out, Rubin. He had been selected as the sniper. Diego was his spotter. She’d been told they were a pair that didn’t miss.
She threw up her hands and cast with silk, needing to be more precise than she ever had been in her life. As with her blowgun, like everything else she did, she had practiced for hundreds of hours and that training didn’t let her down. The vial went into the air and she followed the trajectory even as she wove her funnel web. She spun fast, marking where the vial would fall and placing the silk cone directly beneath it. The glass hit the funnel and slid down the silk to land safely in the bottom of the basket.
The sound of the rifle was loud, reverberating through the swamp. Agus Orucov’s head seemed to jerk back so hard he flew backward, his feet leaving the ground as he went over like a bowling pin.
Shylah calmly drew her weapon and shot Cameron and then Tyler right between the eyes. “Yeah, Cameron, you were directly responsible. All three of you, for every single life that was lost.”
Skirting around the bodies without looking at them, she retrieved the silk basket. Draden came up behind her, attending to the dead, making certain their eyes were closed. She could have told him it didn’t matter. She didn’t want to look at the three men who had deliberately caused so many innocents to die and then expected a free pass.
“You’re damned fast,” Joe said.
She shrugged and handed the vial wrapped in silk to Trap. “They all three have backpacks. They dropped them when we came upon them. God only knows what they have inside them.”
“No worries,” Malichai said. “We’ll do cleanup. Not bad for a girl. Zero hesitation.”
She heard the teasing note in his voice. For an answer, she threw out more silk, dropping it over his body fast, spinning it in tight circles so he was wrapped and cocooned in the web. She sent him a smile. “Zero hesitation every time. Your skills aren’t up to a girl’s, my man. I suggest more training.”
The GhostWalkers reacted with taunting laughter. Draden whipped out his phone and took pictures along with all the rest of his team. Malichai pretended to take a nap. Shylah ignored him when inside she was laughing. His antics definitely helped to calm the adrenaline pouring through her body.
Draden held out his hand to her and she put hers in his. His fingers closed around hers and they walked away together, back toward the Fontenot home. “Did Whitney really make them that offer?”
Shylah shrugged. “Does it matter? It was never going to happen.”
“You didn’t tell me.”
“What difference would it have made? It was my job to take care of them, and I did. They weren’t going to be rewarded for what they did. If they were turned over to the military for a trial, Whitney and his friends in high places still might have gotten them free. They were always going to die.”
“You sounded very convincing when you were making your offer.”
She glanced at him. “That’s why I’m so good at my job, Draden. I do whatever it takes. I make myself believe what I’m saying so they believe it. I used my knowledge of Whitney as well as what I’d learned about them. Tyler and Cameron were weak. They would want to take the out offered to them because they’ve skated their entire lives. They thought because they were intelligent, that made them superior. Agus Orucov was always the wild card.”
His hand moved up her back to the nape of her neck. “You’re upset, Shylah. You didn’t have to do that. I would have done it for you.”
She glanced up at his face. “I had no problems taking them out, Draden. None. Zero. They were dead the minute Whitney put me on their trail. I wasn’t certain how you’d react. I’m still not certain. There’s a part of you holding back from me. That’s part of who I am. I track down the ones that think they can escape justice. I don’t hesitate because I believe they need taking out. I absolutely know there is no other way.”
“Are you apologizing to me?” He sounded and felt incredulous. “Are you out of your mind? I thought you were magnificent. I was so fucking proud of you I could barely breathe. Not to mention you’re the hottest woman in the world. Watching you work is a thing of beauty, Shylah.”