Page 25 of Seven Deadly Sins

He sighed. Sarah had been much more enjoyable as company. Beautiful, willing to carry on a conversation…among other things. This woman in front of him was nothing more than what he’d hired her for, and a bit of a disappointment.

Shrugging, he poured himself a glass of fine whiskey and settled back to enjoy the show on TV. Were the detective and agent starting to figure out why he’d chosen them?

“Why the seven sins?” Lucy piped up, finally putting her phone down.

“I thought you weren’t interested.”

“I changed my mind.”

“I’m working on making the world a better place. That’s why I became a plastic surgeon. To make people more beautiful. I could do wonders with you, if you’d let me.”

“No, thanks. So, you’re playing God. Deciding who lives and who dies. Everyone sins, Carl. Even you.”

Was he playing God? He supposed so. “The only sin I’ve committed is murder, and that in a roundabout way. I can live with that.”

She laughed. “You’re the epitome of pride, thinking you can change the world. Heck, I’m prideful knowing how good of an assassin I am. Is that really such a bad thing?”

His hand squeezed the whiskey glass as he pretended the glass was her neck. “Some carry it to extreme.”

“So?” She laughed again. “I’m enjoying this way more than I should. I can’t wait to see what you do next, my Lord.” She got up and poured herself a glass of whiskey and raised her hand in a toast.

He’d never hated anyone more. He picked up the phone again and gave the next order.

~

The chief’s phone rang. He snatched it off the car, listened, and hung up. “He wants the two of you to approach the building. When the door opens, you’re to go inside. Once you do, he’ll release the other hostages. Leave your weapons with me.”

Liam didn’t move or speak for a second. His hold around Harper’s waist tightened. “Did he say why?”

“Nope. I want the two of you wired. I need to know what goes on in there.” He snapped his fingers and ushered over someone to put a wire on them as they set their guns on the hood of his car.

Liam averted his gaze as Harper unbuttoned her blouse so they could attach a wire to her bra. While one woman worked on her, a man worked on him. Within five minutes, they both wore a wire and an earpiece.

“If things start going south,” the chief said, “SWAT team will storm in. Try not to get yourselves killed.”

“I don’t think it’s time for him to kill us, sir.” Liam took Harper’s hand. “Ready?”

“Not really.” She gave a shaky laugh. “But, here goes. On to see what’s next in this diabolical game.”

“I mean it, Harper. Don’t die.” The sheriff’s words choked off.

“Definitely won’t, Chief.” Her hold tightened on Liam’s hand. “I sure hope you’re right about it not being our time.”

“He’ll want to meet us face-to-face. Tell us why he chose us. No, sweetheart, this is only the beginning.” A thought that left him very cold inside.

In his career, he’d seen a lot of bad things, but nothing as insane as this. He hated feeling helpless, with no clear plan on moving forward. This perp pulled all the strings and knew he did.

As they approached the front door, it swung open. Taking a deep breath, Liam entered first.

The man in black still hadn’t removed his helmet. He stood in the back corner, an automatic rifle trained on the front door. “Everyone else out. The two of you stand in front of the window. Make it quick.”

The hostages shoved past, pushing each other out the door. Liam moved to the window, Harper next to him. The other man stepped forward.

“Now that the two of you are effectively keeping me from being shot, I’ll introduce myself. Call me Billy. Not my real name, but it won’t matter in a while.” He grabbed a soda from a cooler and popped the tab. “Thirsty?”

“No, thanks.” Liam sent a quick glance around the store. “Why are we here?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” He leaned against the counter.