Ivan swore abruptly. “That cheating bastard.”
Brannigan was alarmed for a full second before three different voices chimed with vary degrees of exasperation: “Eidolon!”
“What?” Ivan responded, the soul of innocence. “I had to pass by poker room anyway, no harm in taking look. And this idiot, he’s got ace up his sleeve. He’s cheating, and he’s bad at it.”
“He’ll be a dead idiot soon, remember?” Kyou reminded him with strained patience. “Can we go back to planting bombs now?”
Remi tugged at Brannigan’s sleeve, and he turned his attention back to her. “Yes?”
She pointed to the screen on the far right. “I don’t think that’s a friend.”
Brannigan peered hard at where she pointed. It took a second for him to see what she meant, as the shadowy figure blended in so well with the dark sidewalk that his eyes almost skipped right over it. Then he blinked, and the shape took a more sinister form. “Shit. Yeah, I think you’re right. Guys, someone is watching my apartment.”
Leaning over him, Kyou took his own look. There was a very unhappy set to his jaw as he glared at the screen. “Ghostshot has made his appearance. He’s clearly trying to figure out where Bran is. Guys, let’s wrap this up.”
“Down to last three,” Ivan promised him gleefully.
“We’ve got two,” Ari reported. He spoke barely above a whisper, and Brannigan had a hard time discerning the words through Kyou’s speakers.
They sat still and quiet, waiting on the men to finish planting the bombs. Brannigan kept his ears trained on the speakers while his eyes remained on the cameras watching his own apartment. The shadowy figure had already disappeared and didn’t seem inclined to make another appearance anytime soon.
“We won’t assume it’s automatically safe tomorrow,” Kyou murmured to him. “I’ll try to contact Ghostshot directly to make sure he understands the contract is defunct. I’ll also post to the site that the O’Conner family is dead. Then we’ll wait for confirmation before we’ll relax our guard.”
Brannigan turned and kissed him on the forehead. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We’re not done.” Still, Kyou smiled, a quick and fleeting expression.
There was a metallic sound of a door opening and shutting before Ari announced in a normal tone, “Done. We’re waiting on Eidolon. Everything on our end is linked up to the same frequency, too. We’re ready to blow this joint. Eidolon, ETA?”
No answer.
Brannigan turned his head to look at Kyou’s monitors. That silence wasn’t promising. Ivan had been relatively chatty the entire time he was sneaking around. He glanced at Kyou’s face, and he looked a little worried too, brows drawn together.
Carter apparently shared the worry, as he reiterated, “Eidolon, can you come out?”
A beat, two, then Ivan’s cheerful voice. “Sure. I’m bisexual.”
Brannigan snorted a laugh. Kyou just rolled his eyes.
Ari, deadpan, tried again. “Can you come out to the car?”
“Car, I’m bisexual.”
Kyou threw his hands into the air. “I give up on this idiot. And I still don’t see him on camera. Do either of you have eyes on him?”
“Not yet,” Carter said.
“No, wait, there he is. He’s walking to us. We’ll be ready to leave and blow the place in thirty seconds. All okay on your end?”
“Yes, ready to go. In fact, I’ll start the transfer now.” Kyou closed out a screen and opened another, fingers flying over the keyboard. Brannigan didn’t know what his typing speed was, but he was willing to bet it was court-reporting speed.
A percussive blast of noise rolled through the speakers, loud enough it rattled the desk a little. Brannigan jumped, despite expecting the explosion. All but one camera feed on Kyou’s monitors winked out of existence in one fell swoop. Brannigan stared at the screens, feeling his heart beat a hard rhythm against his rib cage. Holy mother, that was loud, even through the guys’ ear wicks. He couldn’t imagine being there live and in person.
“Explosion confirmed,” Carter announced calmly. Well, he likely meant it to sound calm. He actually came across as ferally satisfied. “We did good work. Only minor surface damage to the surrounding buildings, it looks like. Not much is standing of the O’Conners’ building.”
“Good.” Kyou had a matching smile on his face. “Come on back. I’m going to reach out to Ghostshot.”
This was the one part of the plan Brannigan wasn’t sure would work out smoothly. He’d trusted the guys when they confidently stated they could level the O’Conner compound. But trying to sweet talk a hardened assassin into giving up may or may not work. From what Brannigan had picked up over the years, part of the reason why criminals got job offers was their reputation. If they failed to reach a target, they were less likely to be offered a second chance with another target. Telling an assassin that his employer was dead, walk away, sounded logical. But gut instinct said Ghostshot might not be so easily dissuaded.
Kyou had taken the burner phone number on Ghostshot’s profile from the dark website, calling him up on his own burner. It rang three times before a gruff, whiskey voice answered.
“Who is this?”
“K,” Kyou answered calmly.
There was an audible pause. “What can I do for you, K?”
“I want you to drop the contract on Brannigan Genovese. You have every reason to do so as your employers are dead as of…about ten seconds ago. They’re also bankrupt, as I drained their accounts.”
A ghost of a laugh filtered through the phone’s speaker. “When I took this job, I did a little research. Dug up the interesting gem that K himself was guarding Genovese. No one could tell me why. But you’re now telling me that you killed the O’Conners and bankrupted their Boston office just to protect him? K, you are something.”
K frowned a little. He shared a speaking look with Brannigan. Brannigan matched his frown, as nothing in Ghostshot’s words or tone indicated the man was willing to let this go. This was not going well.
“I’m not sure if I believe you, K. I know very well you’re protecting Genovese, and I think you’re trying to throw me off. You saying that you killed the O’Conners doesn’t scare me. You’re a hacker. I don’t know what Genovese is paying you, but I doubt it’s worth your life. I doubt anyone you can hire will be able to touch me.”
Right. Negotiations needed to shift hands. Brannigan took the phone from K’s hand and brought it closer to his mouth. “Ghostshot, this is Brannigan Genovese.”
Another audible pause, this one with a sharp inhale. “You’re fucking kidding me. You’re sitting right next to the man?”
“I am. Little known fact: K and I are lovers.” Brannigan gave that a beat, let it sink in. Ghostshot groaned like a man who was damned and knew it. “Another little known fact: K is not by himself. He has Carter Harrison, Malvagio, and Eidolon in his family. I think he does, in fact, have the ability to send people after you who are your equal in skillset.”
“Fucking shit,” Ghostshot growled, then sighed heavily.