Total pages in book: 141
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 666(@200wpm)___ 533(@250wpm)___ 444(@300wpm)
He went into the bathroom and grabbed Carys’s makeup bag and his and Aidan’s toiletries.
“You didn’t make a mess,” Zach said from the outer room. “You did what you could with what you were handed. Everyone was impressed you could even find the fucker. He was well hidden, but you tracked his ass down. You couldn’t know you were going to walk in and find The Jester face down on the floor, man. You did what you had to do.”
“Nice of you to…” Tristan stopped, focused on what Zach had just said.
Face down on the floor.
By the time Zach had shown up, Tristan had turned him over. He’d had to see if the man could be saved and along with him, his knowledge. When Zach had walked in, The Jester had been lying face up, his unseeing eyes staring at the ceiling.
“Hey, I cleared out Kala’s stuff,” Zach announced. “She had everything in a duffel. I think we can manage it on our own.”
What else had Zach been sent in to do? Who was Zach really working for? Maybe he was being fucking paranoid as hell. Maybe it was a turn of phrase, something that dropped from his mouth without thinking about it.
Except Zach Reed was always precise.
Tristan cursed inwardly because when he’d gotten dressed he hadn’t put his holster on. He’d been in a hurry because they’d lain around naked for a while, and then he’d sat there talking to Aidan while Carys was in the shower. When he’d remembered his phone, he’d gotten dressed in a hurry.
Zach rounded the corner. “You need help in here?”
Tristan forced his expression to go blank. “Nope. Got everything I need.”
Zach stared at him for a moment, and then his eyes closed. “Fuck. He was face up. You turned him over. Damn it, Tris.”
Tris dropped the bags he’d been holding. Zach was armed, unlike him. Tris held his hands up and assessed his odds of getting out of this situation alive. “So you killed him? And if you did it, then who did I kill? I thought I killed his assassin.”
His mind worked overtime, trying to come up with any reason why Zach would have done what he’d obviously done. Zach was his friend. Zach was also military. He could have been following orders. But why would Tris have been left out?
“He was a distraction. I hired the man. Trust me, he deserved what he got. I needed everyone to think we’d closed that circle. You should know Tara had nothing to do with it. She was just doing her job.” Zach’s hands came up, too, as though trying to let Tris know he wasn’t a threat. “There’s a reason, Tris. Please believe me. I am not here to hurt you or anyone on this team. I genuinely care about you guys.”
There were a few scenarios he could come up with. “Your Army bosses wanted The Jester dead? Had they been working with him? Taken bribes from him?”
“It’s not like that,” Zach replied. “Let’s get out of here and I promise I’ll explain everything. Just… There are people who can’t know. Who can never know what I did. Big Tag…he won’t forgive me. Cooper…”
Tristan was about to make a move when a sound split the charged air around them. A knock. Someone was at the door.
Zach’s jaw went tense. “Tash would have called.”
“She wouldn’t have had to,” Tris said. “Aidan has a key. I didn’t order anything.”
Then they heard the sound of something worse. The door in the outer room opening.
Zach pulled his SIG and held out a hand, telling Tris to stay back. “Hide.”
He wasn’t about to do that. If this was going south, then Carys and Aidan were in danger. He wasn’t about to hide behind the fucking shower curtain. Not that there was one. It was a standing shower with glass sides. Where the hell did Zach think he was going to hide?
“Mr. Dean-Miles,” a deep voice said. It was masculine and held a heavy French accent. “We know you’re in there along with Captain Reed. We have your ladies in custody. Would you like to see them again or should we put them down? It’s entirely your choice.”
Carys. Fuck. They had Carys. “I’m coming out.”
Zach sent him a fierce look, his voice low. “Like hell you are.”
“Are we going to let them kill us in the bathroom?” He didn’t see they had a choice unless they wanted a firefight followed by the police showing up and then him likely receiving Carys back in a body bag. He didn’t even know where Aidan was. Did they have Aidan, too? Was the “ladies” a bit of homophobia stacked on top of these fuckers’ criminal behavior?
“I’m not playing,” the voice said. “I have colleagues with me, and you’ll find we’ve taken over the hotel. There’s no one who will come to your aid and no way to contact the police. You can come with us or we’ll kill the women since they’ll be of no use.”