Page 70 of Storm Warning

“Black site. Two hitmen have come after Riley already today. I don’t want their employer to know for sure the second man failed, too.”

“Do you know who commissioned these men?”

“Riley’s working on it.”

The operative shifted his gaze to her. “Need a hand?”

“Zane is helping us chase down a few leads. If I run short of time, I’ll let you know.”

Jon gave a slight nod. “You know how to reach me.”

Yes, she did. The scary SEAL was one of the kindest men she knew, and Riley genuinely liked him and his wife, Dana. He was also one of the deadliest operatives Fortress Security employed. You didn’t cross Jon Smith without fatal repercussions.

“Let’s load this guy up.” Jake zipped his mike bag. “I need to get home. I have plans with Lacey.”

Eli and Jon used their Ka-Bars to slice through the zip ties holding Cliff to the chair. When the prisoner slumped, they hauled him off the chair, draped his muscular arms over their shoulders, and headed for the back door.

Eli reached for the doorknob. “Let us know if you need help. We don’t like it when someone targets one of our own, especially a woman our wives consider a good friend. We’ll clear it with the boss and be on standby.”

“Appreciate the offer,” Iona said.

Soon, the operatives and Cliff were gone.

Elias unhooked the jumper cables. “Let’s clean up and go before we have another unwanted visitor.”

In minutes, the garage was back to its normal empty state, and the tools they had gathered were in their regular places.

Riley walked into the midmorning sunshine and followed Andre to his SUV. Unbelievable. Two killers for hire in one night.

Who was desperate enough to hire two killers without receiving confirmation that the first one was out of commission? Why would anyone be that desperate to kill her, and what would it take to stop him?

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

AS ANDRE DROVEaway from the cabin, he used his hands-free device to call his boss.

“Yeah, Maddox.”

“It’s Andre. You’re on speaker with Riley.”

“Sit rep.”

He updated Maddox about the events of the past few hours. “Jake, Jon, and Eli are transporting Cliff Carter to a black site. We need to keep him on ice until this mission is over. After that, turn him over to law enforcement. Cliff will take any contract if he’s paid enough. I think we’ll learn Cliff took some of his victims across state lines.”

“That means we can dump the problem on the feds. I’ll see what I can find out. Several fed agencies owe me favors. If we play this right, they’ll owe me more favors for taking a serial killer off the streets, a killer they weren’t aware of.” Maddox laughed. “Not a bad morning’s work.”

That meant a federal law enforcement agency would have a terrible morning. Brent Maddox collected favors like some people collected comic books. Worse, he actually cashed them in. Andre rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome, sir.”

“Riley, how can I help?”

“I have what I need at the moment, sir. Zane is helping with research. Something new may pop up as we dig.”

“If that happens, I want to know about it. Our resources are at the disposal of Artemis and Echo. I don’t like anyone targeting my people.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Christopher is having a blast with Alex.”

“Alex?”