“Closing in on three years.” Smiling, deVries said, “I started to fall when she told me I probably couldn’t find my ass with a flashlight and a search warrant.”
Hawk stared. The woman had balls, big brass ones.
“I knew I was in trouble when I found her defending a kid from a gang,” deVries chuckled, “and her crap-shit apartment had rodents, and she’d named the mouse François.”
Courage, big heart, sense of humor, naturally deVries had fallen hard. Fuck, and now Hawk was missing Kit, and she sure wasn’t his. She’d probably not even noticed he was gone.
Aric would’ve. But Hawk had talked to him, prepped him. With luck, he wasn’t taking it too hard.
“But not having Lindsey here means that out-of-country assignments suck ass,” deVries said.
Hawk blinked. “Why’d you take it? You’re senior enough to pick and choose.”
“The client’s brother is a friend of Simon’s,” deVries grumbled. “Simon asked me to do it as a favor.”
Simon owned Demakis International Security, which had a sterling rep in the industry. He was not only deVries’ boss, the two were friends. It was tough to refuse a buddy’s request…as Hawk knew.
Leaning back, deVries thumped his feet onto the coffee table. “He didn’t realize how long this would take. The briefing implied the bastards would act right away.”
Last month, Sanchez escaped an attempted assassination and discovered an old enemy had contracted a hit on him. Since the timing indicated someone on his staff was taking bribes, Sanchez hired Simon’s company to expose the traitor. He’d pay a bonus if the next attempt on his life resulted in enough gore to deter future assassins.
Hawk had a cynical feeling the enemy wouldn’t last long after this.
The problem was that the hitmen hadn’t made their move yet. “Now what?”
“As soon as Sanchez is up and around, we’ll go easy until he’s back in his routine. Then we’ll scatter bait for the informant. Leave the perfect opening to score a kill.” With a shake of his head, deVries added, “It’ll just take longer.”
Hawk grunted, tempted to say he was out.
“Sorry about this, Hawk. But I’m damn glad you were free. There’s not many I’d trust to have my back for a bait and switch.”
Hawk sighed. He and deVries had worked as mercenaries in different outfits. Been in fights together. He couldn’t leave a friend in the lurch.
Not even to get back to Aric and Kit.
Dammit, Kit. He should have stuck around and talked to her. But he was shit at talking. And face it, she’d panicked because of what he’d done. Who he was.
Eyes narrowed, deVries gave him a questioning look. “You good?”
“Yeah.” Hawk took a sip of beer. “Bait and switch?”
“Exactly. We bait the hook with what looks like an easy kill. Then the switch.”
“They get us instead.” Surprise.
With two tired children in the backseat, Kit was filling up her car at the Rescue gas station. It’d certainly been a full day. First, she’d bought a car. Happiness bubbled up inside her, and she gave the steering wheel a pat. The Jeep had more than a few dents, but it meant independence. And it was red too.
To celebrate her new ride, she’d taken the kids to the town park. While they explored the small playground, she’d stretched out her sore muscles. Frankie and JJ had no mercy when it came to teaching their forms of self-defense.
Thigh muscles could really hurt.
As the pump dinged, she put up the nozzle and replaced the cap on her Jeep’s gas tank. “All done, kids. It’s time to head home.”
“Hey, there’s Papá.” Regan pointed toward the other pump.
Kit turned to see Caz talking to the owner. Seeing her, the doc excused himself and strolled over.
He ran his gaze over her car and nodded. “Very nice choice.” Bending to look in the open back window, he smiled. “Regan, Aric. You two look as if you had a good day.”
“We were at the playground, Papá. It’s got a climbing thing now.”
Kit grinned. The mini-climbing wall let Regan get up to the tallest slide.
“Ah, that does sound fun, mija. And Aric, did you climb too?”
Aric waved his hands. “I roded a dinosaur.”
Caz’s brows drew together. “Do we have dinosaurs in Alaska?”
Snickering, Regan informed him, “No, Papá.”
“There were a batch of animals on springs that bounced,” Kit said. “One was a T-rex.”
“A tyrannosaurus. That was very brave, Aric.” Caz turned. “Kit. If you aren’t on a schedule, Regina, our municipal receptionist, left word she wanted to speak with you.”
“About what?”
“I’m certain Regina will tell you.” The doc smiled, waved at the children, and went back to talk with Zappa.
Huh. What in the world could Regina want?
Probably a medical paperwork problem. Kit slid into the driver’s seat. She could swing by now and deal with the problem.
Once downtown, she parked and walked into the building with Regan and Aric. “You two stay with me.”
Inside, she stopped short. Two men stood at the receptionist desk. Rough-looking, with gray hair and beards, they looked like PZs.
Aric squeaked and moved behind Kit. When she picked him up, he buried his head against her neck.
Before Kit could grab her, Regan ran forward. “Hey, Tucker. Hey, Guzman.”
“Regan.” Kit hurried forward, put a hand on the child’s shoulder, and angled to move slightly in front.
Just in case.
Regan gave her a confused look.
“Kit.” The receptionist’s gaze met Kit’s, sympathy showing. “They might look like they kick puppies, but you’ll never find nicer guys. They were in the group that busted you and the others out of the PZ compound.”
Kit felt like an idiot. This was Alaska, for heaven’s sake. There were rough-looking men everywhere—and she needed to get past the way she reacted.
The shorter man eyed them. “Who’re your buddies, Regan?”
“She’s Kit.” Regan patted Aric’s leg. “He’s Aric. Those pissers were mean to him, so he’s kinda scared of guys. But he’s okay—he’s not a stupidhead or anything.”
As Regan talked, Regina was saying on her phone, “Hey, Audrey, want a couple of kids?”
“Not a stupidhead. That’s good to know.” The man with a bulbous nose gave the girl a solemn nod.
Mouth almost hidden by his full beard, the other man nodded at Kit. “Miss, I’m Tucker. This is Guzman.”
Balancing Aric on her hip, she held her hand out. “Tucker, Guzman. I can never express how grateful I am for the rescue. Thank you so much.”
“Oh, hey, now.” Tucker flushed and shifted his weight.
And she realized in surprise…he was shy.
“Nah, no thanks needed.” Guzman took her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It was a kick in the pants to get to help out.”
Regan bounced on her toes. “Can we go fishing again soon?”
“If your pops says yes.” Tucker bobbed his head. “Audrey said she wants to go too.”