Recalled (Death Escorts #1)(39)
Author: Cambria Hebert

Chapter Thirty-One

“Warning – An intimation, threat, or sign of impending danger or evil.”

Dex

I took the stairs two at a time and didn’t pause at his bedroom door. I didn’t really want to talk to him and was hoping if I moved fast enough I wouldn’t have to deal with him at all. I found a duffle bag in my closet and began shoving in a few pairs of jeans and other necessary items I would need. Whatever I forgot I’d just buy once we got there.

Now that my plan was in action, I was motivated to see it through. The sooner I got this over with, the sooner I could move on.

The thought made me drop the rolled-up socks in my hand. Moving on implied that I would be upset, that this was something I was going to have to move past. It wasn’t. This was a job, plain and simple.

Then why do you have to remind yourself of that? a voice in the back of my head argued.

I picked the socks up and shoved them in my bag as I saw a cloud of red out of the corner of m eye. Suddenly, I didn’t mind so much talking to Charming. It was preferable to thinking.

“Is that the Target I see sitting out there in your car in the driveway?” he asked, leaning against the doorjamb.

“I’m taking the Target out of town for the weekend.”

“You do realize you’re supposed to kill her, not date her, right?”

This guy really had a way of getting under my skin.

“I’m going to finish the job this weekend.”

“I could just go outside right now and take care of that quick,” he said, pushing away from the door and coming farther into the room. “Smile my handsome smile, get her to roll down the window, and the minute she does I could just reach inside and snap her neck.” As he spoke he held out his hands like they were really reaching for her. “It would be over in two seconds.”

Without any kind of warning I swung the duffle up and around, catching him in the side of the face. He stumbled and fell into the closet door, which buckled so he fell into the closet, knocking several hangers off the rack.

“Keep your hands off my Target,” I ground out, dropping the bag.

He righted himself quickly and looked at me with flashing, angry eyes. Then he smiled a cruel smile and turned for the door.

He was going after her.

I launched myself at him and leaped onto his back. He fell forward onto his knees and I took the chance to punch him in the kidney. His breath made a whooshing sound and then he hit the floor. As he hit, he rolled so he was on his back, facing me. I was straddling him from when I jumped onto his back and so I drew my fist back to punch him again.

He caught my fist in his hand and squeezed… He squeezed so hard I thought my bones might break. How much strength did this guy possess?

I wasn’t willing to find out. So I kneed him.

I climbed off him and stood as he rolled into the fetal position, cupping himself.

“Don’t you know there’s a guy code about never nailing another guy in his family jewels?” Charming said with a strained voice.

“There is no guy code where I come from.” I spat. Then I leaned down in his face. “And if you threaten me or my Target again, you’ll find out what other dirty tricks I learned from the streets.”

He sprung up, hitting my shoulders, and I fell back but caught my balance. He stood in the center of the room with a red face and a heaving chest. I calmly grabbed the duffle bag and slung it over my shoulder.

“Don’t be here when I get back.”

“You better kill that girl this weekend,” Charming said, his voice unnaturally calm and low. I stopped in the doorway to hear what he would say next. “Because if she comes back, you’re going to wish she hadn’t. I’ll go after her and use every single one of my ninety years’ experience to make sure she suffers. And then I’ll come for you.”

He’s been killing people for ninety years?

That would explain his sense of entitlement, but not his lack of patience. I glanced over my shoulder, pretending his words didn’t bother me at all.

“I thought old people were supposed to be wise. You aren’t very wise at all because making an enemy out of me is the stupidest thing you could ever do.”

Then I walked away, down the hall and toward the stairs. From behind me he called out. “This weekend. Finish the job or I will.”

This time I didn’t look back. I was afraid if I did he’d see genuine fear on my face.

Chapter Thirty-Two

“Ominous – threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments.”

Piper

My favorite song was playing on the radio when Dex pulled into the driveway of his townhouse. As Snow Patrol’s “Chasing Cars” played, I mouthed the words. After a few minutes of us just sitting in the driveway, the car idling, I realized he wasn’t moving. I turned my head and looked at him. He was watching me. I felt my cheeks heat under his gaze.

“What?” I asked.

“You like this song?” He smiled.

“No. I just mouth the words to songs I really hate,” I said sarcastically but with a smile on my face.

“I do that all the time too.” He grinned. “Why is it the worst lyrics always get stuck in your head?”

I laughed. “I don’t listen to songs I don’t like.”

“Huh. Now there’s an idea.”

I shook my head.

“If I leave you out here in the car with the engine running, you aren’t going to steal it and run away are you?” He teased.

“I don’t know. I might. This is a pretty amazing car.”

“It won’t be as amazing once I get out of it.” He wagged his eyebrows.

“I think that bump on your head has done more damage than we realized,” I said seriously.

He pulled on his glasses and looked at me over the black rims. “I assure you, I’m thinking perfectly clear.”

I laughed and a new song drifted through the speakers.

“I’ll be right back. I’m just going to grab a few things. That’s all that’ll fit in the trunk with the fifty pounds of stuff you brought.”

“I did not bring fifty pounds of things.” I sniffed. “Only forty-five.”

“Close enough,” he replied and got out of the car, slamming the door behind him. I watched him run up to the front door and let himself into the townhouse.

I really couldn’t believe the way my life had been going lately. It was so full of unexpected twists and turns. And now, here I was, about to go on a weekend getaway with a guy. It was kind of surreal.