Anna balled her fingers into a fist, then shifted her weight between her skinny legs.
The muscles in my arms tensed. I looked past the men, hunting for Cindy, but didn’t see her.
Stocky stared at me, but didn’t say a word. The dark circle around his eye showed where Anna had punched him.
Blondie stepped forward, walking with a limp. He had a bandage over the bridge of his nose. He glanced over at Anna, then looked back at me with malevolent eyes.
I took a step toward Stocky. “Where’s Cin—”
Blondie decked me in the face with a right cross. His fist smashed the side of my jaw. My legs weakened. I collapsed to the floor at his feet.
Anna took a step forward, arm raised as if to engage him. His men doubled down on her, training their pistols at her. She stopped.
“That’s for shooting me in the foot,” Blondie said, cold and callous. I rubbed my jaw, then glanced up at him from my knees. “And this is for causing us so many problems.” Blondie punched me again, sending me to the floor with another hard right cross to my jaw that I couldn’t muster the energy to block. His fist felt like concrete. Pain lanced through my head, making it ache and throb. He shook his hand, then stumbled, favoring his injured foot.
“But don’t worry. As much as I’d like to kill you two right now, you do have a purpose.” Blondie massaged his hand. “A way to set things right and fix this mess we’ve found ourselves in.”
A tooth felt loose on my bottom jaw. My tongue probed it. Blood and spit filled my mouth. I spat it to the floor, then flitted my gaze back up to Blondie.
“Is that so?” I asked, running the back of my hand across my lips. Anna grabbed my arm, helping me back to my feet.
Blondie shook his hand, staring at me. “It is. I had a nice chat with your female friend. She filled me in on what happened and who hired her husband and friend to hit our establishment. It didn’t take much to make her talk. A simple threat of killing her kid made her spill her guts.”
I massaged the side of my face, then opened my mouth wide. “Is she still alive?”
“For now, but for how long depends on you two,” Blondie answered.
“How’s that?” Anna asked.
Blondie looked at her, then smirked. “Well, seeing as we have a contract killer in our midst, I’d say that we could have some use for that sort of skill set at the moment. I know we’ve never had the pleasure of working with you, but your reputation certainly precedes you, Miss Snyder.”
Anna looked to me, then back to Blondie. He looked her up and down, lining the edge of his lips with his tongue.
“How do you know who I am?” she shot back, tense and ready to fight.
“Oh, we’ve known about you for some time and that you’ve taken jobs for Domingo. There aren’t too many female contractors out there, especially ones that can fight and handle themselves like you can. This truly is a pleasure. Mr. McCone is looking forward to having you help us out,” Blondie said with a coy smirk.
“What do you want from us?” I asked, bringing Blondie’s attention back to me.
“It’s pretty simple. She’s going to go to Domingo’s place, take back what is ours, and kill him,” Blondie answered. “It shouldn’t be an issue for Miss Snyder to gain access given their relationship and all. You’ll stay here.”
“And if we refuse to go along with this?” I asked.
“Then I kill you, Miss Snyder, the woman, her kid, and anyone else tied to you,” Blondie replied, pointing at Anna and me. “And to let you know, I’m not asking but telling you how this is going to go down. Besides, seeing how both of you operate and handle yourselves, I suspect this won’t be too hard for you to accomplish.”
“Fine,” Anna said, lowering her arms and relaxing her hands. “If you want this done right, I’ll need help.” She turned and looked at me. “I can take him with me as backup. That way, you don’t have to use any of your men, and since we don’t have much choice in the matter–”
Blondie mulled it over, staring at Anna for a second, then at me. He nodded. “No, you really don’t. It’s either this or a bullet to the head right now. Though, it would be a shame to waste such talent as yours. Who knows, this could forge a new relationship between us. Mr. McCone is always looking for new talent to add to the roster. You, my dear, would be a valuable asset.”
Anna rolled her eyes and held her tongue.
“When do we leave?” I asked.
“No time like the present.” Blondie limped to the side, away from the door. “You’ll be escorted to Domingo’s main hub of operations. From there, you get in, retrieve the package, handle Domingo and any of his men, then get out. Simple as that.
“Weapons?” Anna asked, placing her hands on the sides of her narrow hips.
“Afraid not. You’ll have to improvise. I don’t imagine either of you will have a problem doing so.” Blondie held out his arm toward the open doorway, then nodded at Stocky. “After you.”
Stocky turned and left the room. The guards inside took positions behind Anna and me. They pressed the barrels of their sidearms into the small of our backs, then grabbed our shoulders.
“Happy hunting,” Blondie said. His men ushered
