Page 29 of Mine to Keep (Bloody Desires #10)

eighteen

the others

“Fuck,” Skylar cursed as he came back to awareness. His head was fucking killing him and his ribs hurt like a bitch.

He couldn’t see Viper and Martha anymore.

He struggled to his feet, listening for any sounds of heavy fighting.

Nothing.

The apartment was silent.

Martha asked if she could have some face to face time with Viper, still pissed about killing the wrong man in the hotel room. She was even more upset because she was no longer in the mood for shopping since they’d botched a job.

But what should have been a quick kill turned into both Martha and Viper turning the place into a fucking WWE match. When Skylar had joined the fight, they fucked the place up even more, but Viper got the drop on him and he was honestly surprised he’d even woken up.

Now, with Martha nowhere to be found, his heart was beating like a bass drum.

“What the fuck,” he murmured to himself as he weaved out of the apartment.

It was a risk for The Void to set up this kill here, but from jacket, the girl who lived here needed to be eliminated because she knew too much. Viper had been tasked with her kill so they could pick them both off.

Looks like they were one for two if Martha didn’t get this kill.

From what The Director told them, there was only one other family in the building and they were taken care of already, so no one would have called the cops when bullets started flying and the fight got out of control.

Skylar stumbled down the sidewalk, trying to keep to the shadows as much as possible, even though he was still dizzy as fuck. His combat boots hit the ground heavily, but that couldn’t be helped.

Scrambling noises ahead of him in the alley made him pull back a little and press his back into a doorway of one of the other apartments.

It gave him time to rest and clear his head of dizziness as he strained his ears to listen.

He pulled out his Sig Sauer from under his jacket, mentally kicking himself that he didn’t use it when he entered the apartment.

But he wanted Martha to work out her frustrations on Viper before he took the kill shot.

With the Sig in hand, Skylar creeped around the corner, making sure to keep his eyes peeled for Viper or Martha.

When he rounded the corner, he had to blink once. Then again. Then one more time for what he saw to come into focus. There, in the middle of the alley, was Martha, lying on her back with shards of glass around her.

And one of her blades buried in her chest.

“Mar,” Skylar said, his steps heavy as he walked towards her. But he knew she wouldn't answer back. She was too still, her eyes wide open and lifeless. That didn’t matter to Skylar—he continued to walk forward, calling Martha’s name, hoping she’d answer.

When he made it to her lifeless body, he dropped to his knees beside her, looking her over. Her face was bruised, but not overly so. If her eyes were closed, he could’ve lied to himself and said she’s sleeping. But she wasn’t sleeping. She was gone.

Tears filled his eyes, blurring his vision of his wife. “You put up a good fight, baby. He probably looks worse,” Skylar said to the body as he pushed her hair from her face. “I’ll fucking make him pay for this. I swear it.”

Guilt assailed him as he closed her eyes.

Martha wanted to leave. Hell, she’d barely wanted to take the job in the first place.

He should have listened to her. He shouldn’t have been so greedy.

They’d had enough money for the island and to build on it.

Greed clouded his judgment, only seeing easy money instead of wondering why The Void was trying to kill one of their best assets.

If Martha’s body wasn’t lying in front of him, he would have said fuck killing Viper and left him alone. The hit had already been more trouble than it was worth.

But he killed his wife, his love, his fucking life . He had to fucking go. Then Skylar would go too. He had nothing to live for anymore.

Scrubbing the wetness from his face, Skylar pulled out his phone and called his handler. When Skylar told him he needed to get in touch with The Director urgently, his handler connected him almost immediately.

The Director said, “Did you finish the job?”

Voice hollow, Skylar said, “Martha is dead. Where the fuck is this motherfucker? I will fucking kill him.”

Dead air from the other side of the phone greeted Skylar for a few beats. “How did it happen?”

The Director’s voice was too calm, too much I don’t give a fuck in his tone for Skylar’s liking.

He swore that as soon as he was done with Viper, he’d kill The Director for setting them up on this suicide mission.

But right now, he needed him. He needed to find Viper and his head was too fucked up for him to do it alone.

Pulling a long breath through his teeth, Skylar said, “Stabbed in the chest. With her own fucking blade.” His voice caught on the last word. It’s some fucked up karma to have Martha’s weapon of choice used against her. “I need her body taken back to the States. I want to bury her.”

“Done. Now,” The Director said, the inflection in his voice not changing at all. He really doesn’t care , Skylar thought to himself. “I have eyes on where Viper has been staying. He’s in Siloq. About an hour away. He’s with?—”

“Send me coordinates. He can’t be too far ahead of me.” He swallowed roughly and said, “Martha is still warm. The death is recent.”

“Coordinates sent. We’ll clean up this scene. Don’t fuck up again.”

With a growl, Skylar hung up the phone and muttered, “Fuck you.”

He pulled Martha’s body close to the only garbage bin in the alley, hiding her from prying eyes. He didn’t want anyone to see what was done to her. She wouldn’t want anyone but him to see her like this.

Wiping at his eyes once more, Skylar bent down to Martha and kissed her rapidly cooling lips gently. “I’ll get him,” he whispered against his mouth. “I swear it.”

His phone pinged in his hands and he looked down at a set of coordinates with the name and address of a hotel. There wasn’t a room number included, but that was fine. He could wait until Viper stepped out of the hotel and put a fucking bullet in his head.

With one last look at his wife, he stood and jogged down the alley to collect his gun case from the apartment across the street.

And to kill the man that took away his entire world.