Page 54 of Secret Mission

Not my idea of a party. I’m not into wakes. Especially my own.

I’ve got a girl to wife up—well, I don’t have the girl yet, but I will.

And then there are the babies I’m gonna make. And lots of other shit that I’ve got all planned out.

“Whoa, now…” I rasp. “Let’s all take a big breath and talk about this.”

Allison’s eyes are snapping with fury, but when she looks at me, her chin tenses, then quivers, and the first cracks hit her resolve.

Dread spills over me, icy cold.

She does the unthinkable. “Put your guns down, and I’ll go. But they have to bring Truck here right now so we can see he’s safe.”

My eyelids flare.

This time, I don’t hide my headshake. “She’snotgoing with you.”

“Right,” dickhead beside me drawls. “She wants her lover to be safe.”

Lover? Oh Jesus. This is getting complicated.

I whistle to get everyone’s attention. “We were hired to find her. You’ve been sent to bring her back. Don’t you think we’re on the same side?”

Clearly not, given their tactics, but maybe my weird logic will add up to the idiots.

My question adds momentary confusion, and the three men share a strange look between them.

I grin internally. Fuck, yes. This could work.

“People, why don’t we coordinate a phone meeting with Allison's father to get to the bottom of this?”

Axle’s eyes flick to me. Unreadable.

What crazy shit is he thinking now?

I’ve never worked with the man, and now is not the time to try to figure out what his cryptic dead-eye stare is about.

Allison makes a sound, both sad and defeated. “I’ll go. No one needs to die here.”

“Except the stupid girl who doesn’t even carry the boss’s DNA,” mutters one of the masked intruders with a chuckle.

I pivot my head in his direction.

The other gunman shakes his head dramatically. “Did you just say that out loud?”

“Yep, he did,” I supply, feeling like I’m in some kind of weird black-ops spoof.

These clowns are just competent enough to be dangerous.

Only, the news about daddy’s paternity has landed like a bomb.

“What are you talking about? Jonathan Westerly is my father!”

“Yeah, about that…” Thomas smirks from his position in Axle’s sights. “You might want to ask him about a paternity test.”

I make a cutting motion across my throat. “I think we’re all done with the surprises for the day. Allison, they’re just fucking with your head.”

She breathes hard for a few seconds, swaying on her feet as she faces off with Thomas again. “You’re lying.”