“Look. I can give you the name and location of the man who hired me. But you have to let me live if you want it.”
“One thing you should know, Grim,” Cain said. “Your client got burned. There’s no money to pay you.”
Grim was silent for long moments, apparently trying to gauge how much truth there was to Cain’s statement. Stunner could almost feel sorry for the guy except he had orders to hit Suzie if he could.
“Now. Knowing you got stiffed, is there anything you want to get off your chest?”
Grim closed his eyes. “First fucking job I took,” he muttered.
“Why?” Cain said, leaning forward. “Why’d you take this job?”
The other man shrugged. “It was easy money. And a bonus if I could get the girl with my target.”
“Do you even know who your fuckin’ target is?” Stunner demanded. Hearing him reduce Suzie to a “bonus” set off his rage.
“Some biker dude and his girlfriend.” Grim shrugged. “Ugly fucker with his beard and shaggy hair.”
Shadow snorted a laugh. “He got you pegged, man. Fugly as sin.”
“Shut up, Shadow,” Stunner snapped.
Grim’s eyes widened. “You?” He glanced around the room. “Which one?”
Stunner stepped forward. “Me, you son of a bitch. Me and my woman. Unfortunately for you, my woman is also his daughter.” He pointed to Cain.
“Fuck. Just… fuck.” Grim looked defeated. Which was an accurate assessment. “Guy calling himself the Master hired me. Found out his name is Salisberry. Hard to tell, but I think it was the old man’s son doing the actual hiring. Nothing concrete on my part. Just things he said. Like him being in school at MIT. I mean, who offers that kind of information? Anyway. For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t have killed the girl. I wanted the money, but I’ve never killed a woman.”
Cain snorted. “You killed anybody?”
Grim hesitated before sighing and shaking his head.
“Fine,” Cain said, standing. “Take him out. Be quick about it.”
“Look, what if I promise not to do it again,” the guy wheedled. “I’m not a bad person.”
“No. You’re not. You were just willing to kill someone for money. No questions asked.” He paused, looking at the other man. “Sound about right?” When Grim didn’t say anything else, Cain continued. “Assassins have no honor. If you kill someone, it should be about more than just money.” He jerked his head, the cue for the rest of them to carry out his orders.
Stunner reached for Grim, but Cain stayed his hand. “No. You’re too close. You’re here to see it done but you’re not doing it.”
“If this is for Suzie, that ship’s sailed. Ain’t nothing of my soul left for her.”
“Get the fuck out. Now.” Cain was definitely angry. “Get on your fuckin’ bike and wait until we’re all ready.”
Shadow gripped his shoulder and tugged. “Come on, brother. Let them handle this.”
Stunner didn’t want to. He hated the man on principle. No matter what he said, he knew the man would have killed Suzie if he’d had the chance.
* * *
Their next destination was the Hamptons, New York. Apparently, the Salisberrys were holed up. According to Data, Master’s profile had been shut down completely. A bit of work and Data got into the elder Salisberry’s security systems in all three houses. He found the pair at the house in the Hamptons.
The father, Markus, had railed at his son day and night for two solid days. Ever since he’d discovered the hit had been placed. Jake sulked, still not getting what the big deal was. Little fucker was about to find out exactly what the big deal was about.
The drive was around nine hours. They drove close to half the distance, then made camp for some rest. Stunner was so tired he hadn’t been sure he could keep going until they stopped, but knew better than to whine. Especially after everything that had happened. Shadow kept him engaged during the ride, keeping him awake. Probably saved his life during that four-hour ride. But Stunner would have laid the bike down rather than ask Cain to stop.
The second camp was set up, Stunner lay back and closed his eyes…
He woke when Shadow gently shook his shoulder. “Up, brother. Time to get moving.”
It wasn’t full dark, but by the time they got on the road it would be. He glanced at his watch. Holy fuck! He’d slept close to twelve hours? Yeah. He’d been on his last leg, but, judging by the stiffness in his body, he hadn’t moved the entire time.
“Got close to another five hours to go,” Shadow said. “You good?”
“Fuck,” Stunner said, stretching out the kinks in his back. “Didn’t realize I was such a pussy.”
Shadow snorted. “I always knew, but don’t worry. You hide it well.”
“Listen up,” Cain said over the chatter in the camp as they broke it apart. “Once we get there, the house is surrounded by a wooded area. Don’t expect undergrowth so going should be easy. Remember to cover your tracks. The property has a main house and a guest house. A smaller pool house is just off the guest house. Data says they’re staying in the guest house. Apparently, Markus thinks he’ll have advance notice, that any enemy will break into the main house and he’ll hear the alarm. There’s a good chance we take them with little resistance.”
“You got a plan? Killin’ ‘em in The Hamptons ain’t gonna go unnoticed.” Shadow crossed his arms over his chest.
“Always got a plan.” Cain stood, reaching for his helmet. “If there’s no more questions?” When no one said anything, he nodded. “Let’s ride, brothers.”
* * *
Getting into the Salisberrys’ pool house took little doing. Data disabled the security on the whole property, and Jake was asleep. Markus had gone to the kitchen for a Scotch before heading to bed himself, and that was when Cain approached him.
“The best thing you can do for yourself and your son right now is to keep quiet,” Cain said mildly. He
