Chapter 12 - Harlow

         “You don’t apply to a job like that, you get recruited.” I paused; there was no reason not to hold back. “I went to college and studied criminal justice. I wanted to be in the FBI or CIA, something like that. I was at the top of my class, and when I took the entrance exams for the FBI, I scored off the charts. That’s when Murphey reached out to me. He wanted me to test for a secret society and possibly work for them. The pay was way better; it was a government-recognized group, so there wasn’t a downside. After weeks of testing and doing drills, I got in. The first female of the Faction.”

         “Impressive.” Malachi smiled at me, wide enough to cause dimples to form on each side of his face.

         “Well, I am the best of the best of the best of the best.” I shrugged.

         “What you’re saying is, I’m in the presence of royalty?”

         “More or less.” I laughed. “At least assassin royalty.”

         “I have another question.”

         “Shoot.”

         “If you are the best in your class, why are you here?” Some emotion crossed Malachi’s face that I couldn’t read. As soon as it came, it went.

         “Long story short, I got my partner killed and didn’t take it so well. I’m being forced to take a vacation.”

         “Boyfriend?” Malachi’s face was serious.

         “God no. I mean we were fuck buddies, but no emotional attachment.” I bit my lip. “At least on my part, he on the other hand was a fucking moron who grew attached. In the end, that’s what got him killed.”

         “Good.”

         I furrowed my brows at him.

         “I meant, good that he wasn’t your boyfriend…not that he was a fucking moron that got himself killed.”

         I tilted my head at him.

         He ran a hand through his hair. He looked nervous. “Please disregard what I just said.”

         I scoffed. “Yeah, sure.”

         “Good.” He let out a breath. “How many people have you taken out?”

         Most assassins didn’t keep count; after the first few years, they all blended together. But I knew the exact number of people I had taken out for the last decade. “Three hundred and fifty-seven.”

         Malachi spit out the wine he had just drunk. “Are you fucking serious?” He grabbed a napkin that I left on the coffee table from last night’s dinner and wiped the wine off his face and clothes.

         “Yeah.” I looked at him. “Did you think I had more?”

         “God, no. That’s a lot.”

         “Like I said, I’m the best.”

         “Clearly, remind me not to piss you off.”

         “Don’t piss me off.” I smiled at him.

         “Understood.”

         “Since you are the Alpha of your pack, have you had to kill anybody?”

         His face turned grim. “Yeah.” He pursed his lips. “I hate that part of my position.”

         “How many?”

         “Twenty-three.” He took a sip. “Nowhere near your number, but I remember each one like it was yesterday.”

         “That feeling will go away after a while.” I knew how he felt. The guilt of taking the life of someone, to see the life being stripped from their bodies. “You just have to remember why you are killing them. Have a valid reason, then it becomes easier.”

         “Is that what you do? Focus on the reason?”

         “Yeah.”

         “And what reason makes it okay for you to kill someone else?” I couldn’t tell if he was challenging me or asking me a legitimate question. His face was serious. I could tell killing anyone or even hurting someone caused him more pain than anything else.

         “I could give you hundreds. But my reasons would be different from yours.”

         “Humor me.” He stared dead into my eyes.

I held up a finger and added one for each thing I listed, “Sex trafficking rings, child p**n and kidnapping, drug rings, terrorists, and so many others.” I stopped and stared at him. “I make sure the people I kill deserve it. That’s how I can get through it and do what needs to be done. Because at the end of the day, I know I’m making the world a better place.”

         He looked as if he was about to say something, but I held up my hand.

         “I find a way to get through it because when I see a child reunited with their family, I know I did the right thing. I got the job done when the police department and the FBI failed. I did that. And whether you think that’s reason enough to kill someone, I couldn’t give a flying fuck.”

         I stared at him and waited for him to react. I was angry, this was the first time I had talked to anyone outside of the Faction about what I did in the Faction. When I first started, I always questioned if I was doing the right thing. But what I did helped the many. That’s what I kept telling myself. And I was good at it, I was making the world a better place.

         “Abigail Rothy…that was you?”

         I knew that name, and I knew it well. She was an assignment I had over a month ago. She was kidnapped from her bedroom, her parents were frantic, and her bedroom was covered in blood. Everyone expected the worst. After getting that assignment, I located her alive and took out the kidnappers. Shot both of them right between the eyes. She was a gorgeous child, and they wanted to add her to their collection for nefarious reasons. I got her home to her parents. I was the one who rescued her. Me.

         I nodded my head. “Yeah.”

         “You saved her?”

         “Yes. I saved her.”

         “What did they want with her?”

         I drew my eyebrows together. “What do you think?”

         “I don’t want to think about it.”

         “I found her in the basement, handcuffed to a bed. She wasn’t the first that they took, but she was their last.” I could see Abi in the basement crying, dirty from being denied a bath. She was so small, what type of man would want a small child? It was sick. I couldn’t stomach it.

         Before I could react, Malachi leaned over and pulled me into a hug. The shock of the movement had me freeze. I breathed him in; he smelled of spicy mahogany. His scent soothed my soul.

         “Thank you.” He tightened his grip.

         “I just did my job.” Was all I could think of to say.

         He pulled away, but still had his hands on my shoulders. “Her family doesn’t think that.”

         “You know her family?”

         “You could say that.” He laughed. “She’s my cousin.” He continued to hold onto my shoulders. Usually, the constant contact like this would bother me, but with Malachi, it was soothing. An action that I didn’t want him to stop.

         “I’m glad I could get her back to your family.” It was the truth. The kid assignments always got to us. It seemed like those assignments were happening more and more. I think that was the reason why Joe had to leave. It was getting too hard. And no matter how fast we got to the kid, sometimes it was too late. Those were the tough ones. Those were the ones that chipped away at all of us at the Faction. You could always tell which member failed. They would have a look on their face that took months to wipe away. Even dumbass Connor struggled.

         Malachi looked at me, the look in his eyes was different, almost tender. He leaned closer, only a few inches away form my lips. I wanted him to lean the rest of the way, to close the space between us and join our lips together. This thought didn’t normally cross my mind with other guys. Even if they were good looking. I just met Malachi yesterday, I wanted to do dirty things with him. My stomach tightened.

         He leaned in closer. Before he could join our lips, the house went off.

         “Unknown intruder, unknown intruder, unknown intruder.”

         “Fuck.” I jumped up and limped to the server room. Having my leg messed up wasn’t good. I was slower, and having that type of injury in my business would lead me to getting killed.

         “Do you know what that is?” Malachi asked, close behind me. The house was still chanting in the background.

         “Not yet.” I sat down and looked at the monitors. One of the monitors had a dark figure, face completely covered, staring directly at the camera. The figure lifted a hand that was holding a large manila envelope. They set the envelope down and ran in the opposite direction. “Shit.”

I knew where they were, they were about fifty yards on the north side of the house. I jumped up and did a hop skip kind of deal to where my rifle was. I pulled it out and added the scope.

“What are you going to do with that?” Malachi asked wide-eyed.

“I just want to see if I can locate them with my scope. I don’t have binoculars.” I climbed the stairs to the second floor and opened the window that faced the same direction as the figure was standing. I scanned the forest. They were smart, they were far enough away to be able to escape quickly, but close enough to set off the alarms. They knew about this safe house. After I scanned the area five times, I couldn’t locate them. “Fuck.”

“What’s wrong?”

I slung the gun onto my shoulder and looked at him. He followed me throughout the house, watching me as I worked. “A couple of things.” I let out a breath. “First, I have to go out there and get whatever they dropped off. Second, that person knows about the house. They knew just how close they could get to set off the alarms, but were far enough away to escape.” I moved past him and walked down the stairs slowly.

“I can go get the envelope for you. You really shouldn’t go hiking out into the woods, you’re already injured.” He put a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from moving forward.

“I couldn’t ask you to do that. They may still be out there and could shoot you.”

“They could shoot you, too.” He pulled on my shoulder to turn me to face him. “Plus, I can pick up a scent and see if it’s familiar. And you saw me not an hour ago, I’m pretty scary.”

I scoffed at him.

         “You can cover me from the house.” He added. “Between me going out there and you covering me, I think I’m going to be pretty safe. I mean, unless you lied and are not the best of the best of the best.” He gave me a teasing smile.

         “You run out there and go grab the envelope. I’ll watch from the house.” I agreed. It was the best option, in my state, it would be hard to make it there and back without cutting open my stitches.

         “Just don’t shoot me.” He winked.

         “I’ll think about it.”

         “That’s all I ask.” He laughed. “The envelope is on this side of the house?”

         “Yes, make it to the garage and continue to walk that way.” I pointed to a large tree that was surrounded by smaller trees. “It should be around that area.”

         “Give me your phone.”

         “Why?”

         “So we can talk, while I’m down there.” He held out his hand. “It might be a little hard for me to find it when I can’t talk to you.”

         “Fine.” I pulled out my phone and handed it to him. He punched in his number and handed it back to me.

         “Call me when I get down there.”

         I watched him leave the room, and as soon as he was gone from my sight, my stomach dropped. What was wrong with me?