Page 6 of Ghost

A muscle in his jaw ticked.“Hard way it is.”

He went to the tool bench and placed the gun down, then grabbed two more zip ties and knelt in front of her.His grip rough on her calves, he had her ankles strapped to the chair legs in ten seconds.

He stood, his thighs vibrating and his fists clenched.“You’d better think long and hard about who you’re protecting, ’cause it ain’t yourself.”

Mila fought the urge to spit at him.Bastard.She watched his wide back as he stormed up the stairs.Instinctively, she jerked her ankles to measure the slack—none.Leaning forward, she turned her leg to the side.

Shit.He’d pulled the tie so tight she’d have a hard time even slipping a knife between the plastic and her skin.First, she had to get her hands free.

Then she had to decide if she wanted to escape or kill the asshole.If she chose escape, her career was finished.Five years ago, she’d prepared for the event that might make her leave this industry one day.But closing that door wouldn’t be easy or wise.

It’d been so long since she knew anything other than targets and training.

He’d seen her face.She knew absolutely nothing about the guy, so she couldn’t say if he’d go to the cops or not.Often times, these types of targets came with a high price for a reason.

Given the way he moved and barked out orders, and the scars on his back, she’d bet military.She was the best.Her plan shouldn’t have failed.In the bedroom, he’d snagged her arm as if he’d been awake the whole time.

Get it together, Mila.

She needed to get out of here.Then she’d worry about whether or not she’d finish the assignment.She snapped her gaze to the tool bench approximately six feet away.Planting her feet on the smooth concrete, she squatted forward and lifted the chair.Her muscles burned as she hopped toward the bench.

She scanned the top, but the smooth metal surface was immaculate.Besides the scattered zip ties he’d pulled from a drawer in a hurry, not a single object sat on top.Definitely military.

Three drawers ran beneath the tabletop.Surely there were tools in them, but without the use of her hands, she couldn’t pull them open.

She muttered a curse and dropped the chair down.Sweat moistened her skin.Impatient huffs blew from her lips.The tool bench was a bust.She needed another way to free her hands.

Strapped to the chair, she was limited.She couldn’t even adjust her height to get her wrists against something sharp.Her shoulders ached.

Footsteps sounded overhead.She lifted her gaze.Dust fluttered down from the ceiling.Each irritatingly determined footfall told her he wouldn’t be long.

She might be screwed.

***

Ghost, now dressed,tossed his phone charger and his computer into the go-bag on his bed.His phone pressed to his ear, he waited for Rami, his boss and military comrade, to answer.

“Hello?”Rami answered, his voice groggy as shit.

“It’s me.Need a favor.”

His old friend let out a yawn, and the ruffling of covers sounded in the background followed by a concerned female voice.Rami muttered an apology to Ivy, his fiancée, then told her to go back to sleep.

“I hope this is important,” Rami snarled moments later, likely out of earshot of Ivy.

“Someone just tried to take me out in my sleep.”As he spoke, he went to his desktop and fired up his surveillance footage.Before he fled, he needed to know how the hell she’d gotten in.

Where the weak link was.

Rami exhaled.“What the hell happened?”

“No time to go into that.I need to leave town until I find out who’s behind the hit.”Ghost worked freelance for Backcountry Protection Services, Rami and his partner Toth’s business.He needed the guys to know that for the next while, he’d be unreachable.And possibly in need of assistance.

Ghost watched the camera footage from the hour before he’d gone to bed.No sign of entry.He’d been at the gym for a late workout, so she’d probably slipped in then.He rewound the footage to 7:14p.m., when he’d left after dinner.

“Yeah, man.I’m assuming you took out the fucker.We’ll take care of cleanup.Just get yourself—”

“There’s no cleanup required.”