I give him a smirk. “Come on, now, Tox. I thought that going after him was your idea in the first place. Seems like you’re having second thoughts.”
“I had hoped that just telling you he had silver hair would mean that you would know his name.”
His honesty and his sincerity have me wavering. There’s just something about Tox. There’s something mesmerizing about the alien mercenary.
There have been how many stories about mercenaries with hearts of gold that it’s almost a cliché, but that’s what Tox is,
Although how he had been in the bedroom hadn’t fit the whole heart of gold thing. More like a man willing to do whatever he needs to for money and for love but with morals.
For love. Where did that come from? It’s far too early for that.
“I know of him,” I offer. “I know what he looks like. I’ve seen him, and I know why he wants me dead. His buddy? He committed suicide by using my hand.”
Tox furrows his brow.
“You used my hand to cross out words, right?” I remind him. “Well, I had a blade to his throat, and he… Silver Hair was his friend, Business associate. Something. They were together when I moved against the target. If I hadn’t… Silver Hair might still be after me anyhow.”
"So, what's our next step?"
“We head on back,” I muse.
“Eat first,” Tox suggests.
I laugh. “Fine. We’ll eat and then drive back. I guess you can follow me.”
“Where are we going to go?” he asks.
“I have to see a friend.”
I keep my disguise on as I stroll past the tents to the one I saw the general in before.
Tox is right on my heels, and I hate that I enjoy his presence so much. I’m not relying on him, but it still feels right to have him around, like he helps to make me more me. It’s strange, and I don’t understand it. He’s not a huge extrovert like Ines, so it’s not that he adopted me. If anything, I think I might’ve adopted him, and it’s beyond weird.
But it still feels right.
It’s not something for me to worry about right now, and I try to slow the swift beating of my heart. Everything has been happening at warp speed, and now, things are slowing down again, but I have the feeling I can’t assume that will always be the case.
Silver Hair might have other bounty hunters waiting to take me out if given a chance, and I can think of at least three bounty hunters off the top of my head who would be all too willing to be paid to off me. Hell, they might not even do it for pay. If word spreads about the hit, they'll just use that as an excuse to knock me off in order to get rid of their competition.
General Janius Jackson eyes me as I enter the tent. Her gaze shifts over my shoulder and up much higher. Despite our massive difference in height, Tox and I managed just fine, and why I’m thinking about that right now, I don’t know. I hope I’m not blushing, that my thoughts aren’t plain. Normally, I have the best of poker faces, and I don’t have many tells.
“Sophia,” the general says slowly.
I grin.
“You do a good job passing off as someone else,” she adds after a moment. “If I hadn’t known you were going to be stopping by, I might not have realized you were, well, you.”
“That’s the point.”
“You didn’t say what the meeting was about.”
I appreciate that the general doesn’t waste time with a lot of small talk.
Before I can answer, though, she’s holding her hand out to Tox. “I’m General Janius Jackson.”
“Tox.”
The general’s eyebrows raise. “Son of Captain Stox and Colonel Lara? I’ve heard a bit about you.”
“You have?” Tox asks.
“Yes. I never would’ve thought that the son of two military-minded people would come to Earth and set up shop as a mercenary.”
“About that—”
“A mercenary who never took on a job that intended harm on another until it came to Sophia here.” The general eyes me. “You do know that he—”
“Yes, I know that he agreed to kill me. You can tell, clearly, that he didn’t.”
“Yes,” the general says idly. “That’s somewhat apparent.”
“Clearly, you know about the hit out on me,” I say. “Do you know if there’s any other? More than one? A bounty? Dead or alive?”
“I heard whispers about the hit, but I don’t know the particulars yet. I’ve been trying to, but we just had the meeting with Madelaine Downing and Saad Ahmad, so things have been a bit tied up with that.”
“How did the meeting go?” I ask.
“It was as smooth as it could have possibly have been. Thank you for your help in setting that up.”
“Yeah, well, that’s what got the guy on me.”
The general furrows her brow. “I don’t follow.”
“When I went after Ali Khan, he was with a silver-haired man,” I explain.
“He’s the one who hired me,” Tox says.
"Do you know if any associates of Ali Khan look like that?" I ask.
General Janius Jackson bares her teeth. “Yes, I do have a feeling I know who that is.”
“Well?” I demand eagerly.
“He’s not a man you want to trifle with, and the people he wants dead end up dead. They swim with the fishes, they end up in pieces, they…” She grits her teeth. He’s someone we’ve sent a few agents after. We’ve had bounties on him from time to time, but he never manages to stay in one spot long enough for us to grab him, and frankly, we’ve lost too many lives trying to bring him down for us to continue to send more.” She eyes Tox. “How were you to notify him that the deed was done?”
“He told me he would know.”
“Of course he did.” The general clucks her tongue. “His name is John Smith.”
I snort. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s his real name.”
“An alias, no doubt,
