She passed a baby store, so she stopped and looked in the window of the closed store. Xavier, her brother, was going to have a baby in a couple of months. He’d found happiness, and that knowledge brought her a deep-seated sense of peace. She didn’t blame him for what happened when they were kids.
Graciella should blame her mother. Instead, she focused her anger on all the male scum that had ripped her life to shreds. A family wasn’t in the cards for her. Even a baby of her own would only ever be a fantasy, the result of a child ravaged by grown men in the most brutal way—over and over until she finally escaped as a teenager.
She pushed away the constant dark thoughts and traced a finger along the glass as she imagined the cute little outfits on her niece or nephew. Graciella had never visited Xavier since they first reconnected months ago and had no plans to. She needed to forget the past. The Graciella Moreno he knew was dead. Now she was a new woman, an assassin for hire.
By the time she got to La Cocina, her feet ached from the four-inch heels. This area was more remote, off the main street. The little family-operated take-out restaurant had become one of her favorites. Graciella loved tacos.
She picked up her order, gave a generous tip, and headed around back to her car. There were no lights in the rear, just an old dumpster and a couple of wrecked cars for parts. The food smelled delicious, and all she wanted to do was get home, shower, and eat. She set the bag and her purse in the backseat of her black Mustang Shelby, then closed the door.
A rustling caught her attention, then a knife was pressed to her throat, a beefy arm secured around her torso. “If you want to live, don’t fucking scream.”
She nodded and kept quiet.
He led her away from her car, shuffling her across the parking lot toward the dumpster. The man twirled her around, pressing her back against the cold metal. He held the knife against her with one hand as he fiddled with his belt with the other.
Not for one second did she feel fear.
“You don’t want to steal my car?” she asked.
He didn’t answer. The rapist sliced the material of her shirt, exposing her bra and a healthy dose of cleavage. She still hadn’t moved.
“Good girl.”
Something snapped inside her, revulsion rolling up her spine. She’d played along long enough. In her books, there was a huge difference between a rapist and a thief.
Graciella brought her stiletto down hard on his foot and snatched away his knife so fast he probably still thought he carried it. She used the heel of her hand to his chest, knocking him back, then flipped him to the ground. With the knife under his chin, she asked. “How many women have you raped?”
“I don’t know.” When she didn’t move the knife, he said, “None.”
She laughed. Graciella got down on one knee and reached into his pants that he’d conveniently left open. “You can’t rape women without a dick, can you?”
His eyes widened. One quick slice and it was over. She tossed the knife and the scrap before returning to her car. The piece of shit was lucky she left him alive.
Chapter Two
“She disappeared.”
Boss gritted his teeth. “What the fuck?”
He wasn’t happy.
“Look, the contract was fulfilled but I couldn’t find her. Everything was done in less than thirty minutes, Boss. No one came out,” Maurice said.
“She came out of the building. Get me the security footage and have your ass here now.” He hung up his cell phone as he checked through the latest details of the little science experiment with the drugs. “This shit is deadly?” He looked toward his science genius.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before in my life. Don’t get me wrong, drugs are tainted with all kinds of fillers to help bulk them out, but whatever is in here, it’s killing people,” Adam said. He moved across his van and started to type on his computer.
Boss rubbed at his eyes. At Killer of Kings, he didn’t just have hitmen for hire. He had all kinds of men and women in his arsenal. Computer and weapons experts, doctors, gadget designers, scientists. Whatever a job called for, he had someone available to help run any given operation needed.
Adam was one of the best men he had and was willing and able to run all sorts of tests and experiments on various chemicals that came his way.
Drugs were supposed to be an easy one.
“Look, I’ve been tracking this thing for months, if not years. The first case of an overdose gone bad appeared about three years ago down in Colombia. It was in a bar. The kind of bar owned by a hotel. I kept the details as I figured it was more a cartel-gone-wrong kind of thing. Anyway, three months after that, at least ten people who went to the bar got admitted to the hospital all with the same symptoms. Fever, hallucinations, extreme pain.”
Boss shook his head. “Why are you telling me this? It sounds like a bad case of the flu or something.”
“Exactly. After this, everything goes silent until six months ago, here, in this city, ten more potential cases appear. All random. Drug dealers and users suddenly turn up at the hospital with similar symptoms. Within forty-eight hours, they’re all dead. I’ve been thinking there’s some kind of cover up to hide something, but I’ve got a feeling this is the real deal.” Adam had this big smile on his face. “It’s tainted drugs and I can tell you, whatever is the main cause in this stuff, I can’t locate it. Of course, I’ve run all the basic tox screens, but whatever is in there is hiding.”
“So this stuff is useless?” Boss asked, holding up his piece of paper. He rubbed at his temple. He was starting to get a headache. When dealing with Adam, it was always a challenge. The man got excited about chemical formulas.
All he wanted was for Maurice to arrive and give him some reprieve.
“No, it’s not useless. That is the third time I’ve tested this stuff. This is the first, and this is the second. Look at it,” he said.
Boss looked at the paperwork. “It changes?”
Adam nodded. “Yeah, it changes and believe me, I don’t know how the fuck that is. I mean, it could have something to do with exposure to oxygen, heat, sweat, I don’t know. This is a big deal, but this is some serious shit, Boss. You’re going to need to call your contacts in the police force, because if I’m right, and this stuff is the killing coke—it means it’s traveled here, and well, a lot of people are going to die.”
There was a loud bang at the side of the truck.
Boss opened it to find Maurice. “I’m all set up in your office.”
“Adam, I want you to put this truck into the underground parking garage and bring everything inside. I’ll pay you by the hour, but I want you all over this, got it?”
“I’m expensive.”
“I know. It’s why I know you’re the best.” He left the truck and knew Adam would follow his instructions. Boss had a hunch and when he did, he always followed it. These drugs, the men tonight, the fear, the way they were, something was relevant here. He stopped at the doorway to his building and turned. Adam was already getting ready to move. “Is it airborne?” he asked.
“That I don’t know, but hopefully I’ll have some answers for you soon,” Adam said.