It was time to become DOM again
For the next couple of hours, between when Burke called me and when he arrived, I actually did something arguably foolish and irrational.
I left myself out in the open.
I didn’t walk around with my face exposed. I didn’t paint a target on myself. I didn’t walk around with a bright orange vest, daring Sean to come after me. But I did pull myself away from the hospital and didn’t hesitate to walk outside of the truck.
A part of me hoped for and kind of genuinely believed Sean was a hot head enough that if I exposed myself, he’d get so angry that he’d come and pummel me. He might have shot me, but that was a risk worth taking. And besides, right now, I was in the middle of Breckenridge, not the woods. It wouldn’t stop a bullet, but it would decrease the chances of Sean pulling that trigger, literally and metaphorically speaking.
But nothing ever came of it. Sean and I were like ghosts trying to find each other, or, worse, he was a ghost who could see me and I couldn’t see him. In most cases, that thought would be laughable, but my paranoia was high, and with him being once in the Department of Justice, he was no common fool. I begrudgingly had to respect his skill.
Around midnight, Burke finally called me to say that he was just outside the town. The time for covert operations had returned; I couldn’t have Sean also knowing Burke’s face. Burke could be a ghost in the wall. I could not.
I had him pull up to a nearby tavern—the one that had caused so much trouble for Kelly and I—and got into his vehicle, which had tinted windows. Sean could see me getting in this car, but as long as he didn’t see Burke’s face, it was fine.
“What’s the update?” Burke said as soon as I got in.
This was why I fucking loved Burke. A DOM’s DOM. No time for pleasantries, just right to the point.
“Nothing new that I haven’t told you,” I said. “This guy’s got skills, Burke.”
“Not good enough to evade two of us.”
“Probably, but this isn’t some teenage stalker who needs a few slaps upside the head.”
Burke nodded. His confidence and swagger, at times, made him susceptible to being surprised when a mission went awry. But in true character, Burke never got flustered when that happened; he simply adjusted his expectations and carried on.
“I was listening to the radio on the way down,” Burke said. “Sounds like they’ve got an alert out for the asshole. So you know people are listening.”
“I wonder, though, if that’ll actually affect him,” I said. “Let’s be honest, how many fucking people, when they hear an Amber Alert or something else, actually pay attention? Fucking captors could be in the vehicle right in front of them and civilians wouldn’t notice that the sky is blue, let alone that a criminal is in their midst.”
“Might fuck over Sean,” he said. “And it only takes one person recognizing him.”
It was not a bad thing by any stretch. I just didn’t want to rely on it being the thing that magically cured.
“I trust we’re still going to kill the fucker when we see him?”
“Absolutely, no question about it,” I said. “Gotta do it for…”
I bit my lip.
“Oh, Christ, you’ve turned into Scott, haven’t you?” Burke said.
He shook his head.
“Long as you can do the damn job and you pay me, I don’t give a fuck.”
That was another part about Burke that always struck me as more DOM than any of us. He strictly stuck to the rules and made sure he got paid, but he didn’t concern himself with if we were following the rules or not. His comment about me turning into Scott was an observation, not a criticism.
I suppose it made him the most independent of us all. It also probably made him a better man for not judging Scott as I had.
Maybe I need to retire when this shit’s all done. They should just rename DOM to BURKE and figure it out.
“You’ll get your money,” I said, “and I don’t know about anything like that. A woman hired me, but I know—”
“I don’t need a fairy tale story, Liam,” he said. “Let’s fucking kill Sean.”
He was right. I nodded.
“Agreed,” I said, “so let’s start looking around for clues. For now, I want to stay in the city. But when the sun comes up, let’s get some quick rest and then go back to Kelly’s place.”
“You’re the boss.”
Strange to hear, but it was true for at least this mission. Scott hadn’t given me DOM yet—I wasn’t even sure I’d be a part of DOM when this was all said and done—but here, I was in charge.
And I was going to make damn fucking sure I was a successful boss, one who murdered Sean Price and at least gave myself the option to see what might be there with Kelly.
Chapter 21: Kelly
Liam had left again.
I understood that unlike all the other times, he had a legitimate reason for leaving. In fact, it was for my greater good. But I also picked up that Liam was having doubts, and the way he said, “I have to go,” did not inspire a lot of hope on my end.
It also made me feel a whole lot safer.
“Emily,” I said at some point later in the evening, “do you feel safe here?”
She looked up. We had a police officer standing by our room, watching over us, but it wasn’t like he was actively patrolling the area. He didn’t look like a security guard only standing by so much as he did like a bored mall cop, waiting for the sounds
