Deadly Pursuit (A Blood Hunter Novel, #2) (18 page)

“I
take
it
you
don’t
have
anything
to
do
with
the
Rebel
Coalition?”
he
said.
The
Rebel
Coalition
was
number
three
on
his
hate
list
after
the
Church
and
the
Collective.
They
were
a
load
of
amateur
assholes
who
gave
professionals
like
him
a
bad
name.

“No.”
Her
gaze
wandered
down
over
him
in
much
the
same
way
his
had
her.
She
was
making
a
point.
“Do
you?”

He
shook
his
head.
“So
why
did
you
break
me
out?”

“I
was
under
orders.”

“Whose
orders?”

“My
colonel’s.
I’m
an
officer
in
the
intelligence
unit
of
the
Corps.”

Shock
hit
him
in
the
gut.
The
Corps
were
the
Collective’s
elite
private
army,
and
nobody
wanted
to
take
on
the
Corps.
Not
even
him.
But
this
didn’t
make
sense.
“Why
the
hell
did
the
Corps
want
me
out
of
prison?”

“I
don’t
think
they
did.
They
told
me
it
was
a
training
exercise—to
test
the
security
at
the
prison.
But
we
were
met
by
an
assassination
squad—I
think
they
wanted
you
dead
but
also
wanted
it
to
appear
as
though
you
had
been
killed
trying
to
break
out.”

“Why?”

“I
have
no
clue.
But
I’m
guessing
you
know
something—or
they
think
you
do—that
they’d
rather
didn’t
get
out.
Any
idea
what
that
could
be?”

Jon
shook
his
head.

Tannis
sighed
and
flung
herself
into
an
empty
chair.
“Let’s
start
from
the
beginning.
Who
employed
you
to
kill
Aiden
Ross?
Oh,
by
the
way,
did
I
forget
to
mention
Skylar’s
full
name?
Lieutenant
Skylar
Ross.”

Jon’s
gaze
flew
to
Skylar.
“You’re
related
to
Aiden
Ross?”

“Sort
of.
I
was
descended
from
his
brother.
But
don’t
worry,
we
weren’t
particularly
close,
and
I’m
not
making
this
personal—yet.
So
who
paid
you
to
kill
him?”

“I
don’t
know.”
She
cast
him
a
look
of
disbelief,
and
he
continued.
“That’s
not
how
I
work.
The
information
comes
through
anonymous
channels,
as
does
the
payment.
I
never
contact
the
customer
directly.
We
need
to
look
at
this
from
the
other
side.
Who
would
want
him
dead?
You
must
have
some
ideas.”

“I
don’t.
Though
he
was
never
very
popular—he
was
a
pompous
ass—he
also
had
close
dealings
with
the
Church,
which
may
have
made
people
a
little
edgy.”
She
turned
and
grinned
at
Al.
“No
disrespect,
kid,
but
the
Church
are
a
load
of
assholes.”

Al
grinned
back.
The
expression
lightened
her
face.
“I
know.”

“Forget
about
why
he
was
killed
for
a
moment,”
Rico
said.
“Could
it
just
be
that
you
succeeded
in
killing
him
at
all?
That’s
no
easy
thing,
and
it’s
the
first
time
anyone’s
managed
to
take
out
a
member
of
the
Collective
permanently.
How
did
you
know
how
to
ensure
they
couldn’t
bring
him
back?”

“The
information
was
delivered
after
I’d
accepted
the
job.
I
was
instructed
very
specifically
on
how
it
should
be
done.”

“Well,
it
worked,”
Tannis
said.
“They’re
supposed
to
be
indestructible,
or
that’s
what
they’ve
led
everyone
to
believe.
So
how
did
you
assassinate
one
of
the
‘impossible
to
kill’
Collective?”

He
opened
his
mouth
to
answer,
but
Skylar
shook
her
head.
“Keep
that
to
yourself.
If
I
get
questioned,
I
want
to
be
able
to
answer
that
the
rest
of
you
don’t
know.
Hell,
that
I
don’t
know
for
that
matter.”

“So
what
if
we
threatened
to
release
the
information?”
Rico
said.
“Or
if
we
just
go
ahead
and
release
it
anyway.
Once
it’s
open
knowledge
there
would
be
no
point
in
coming
after
us.”

“Great
idea,”
Skylar
snapped.
“How
to
make
friends
and
influence
people.
I
can
guarantee—you
put
that
information
out
on
the
open
airwaves
and
they
will
hunt
you
down
and
kill
you
all,
just
out
of
revenge.”

“So
what
about
the
threat?”

“I’d
really
rather
not
go
about
threatening
anybody
at
this
point,”
Tannis
said.
“My
chance
of
getting
the
Meridian
treatment
will
be
zero
if
we
piss
them
off
now.”

Jon
rubbed
at
the
cut
on
his
backside
absently
while
he
tried
to
figure
it
out.
“Anyway,
somebody
else
already
has
the
information.
Whoever
employed
me.”

“There
is
that,”
Skylar
said.
“Besides,
I
can’t
help
thinking
there’s
something
else.”

Tannis
ran
a
hand
through
her
hair.
“I
agree.
I
think
there
has
to
be
more
to
it.
And
it
likely
has
to
do
with
why
Aiden
Ross
was
assassinated.
If
we
can
find
out
who
ordered
the
assassination
and
why,
it
might
give
us
some
leverage.
There
has
to
be
a
way
to
track
down
who
paid
you
for
the
job.
You
must
know
who
contacted
you
initially.”

Jon
thought
for
a
minute.
The
only
way
he
survived
in
his
profession
was
by
maintaining
anonymity
and
by
keeping
his
contacts
a
closely
guarded
secret.
But
he’d
had
it
with
the
assassination
business.
He’d
already
decided
killing
Aidan
Ross
was
his
last
job,
and
he’d
been
paid
enough
that
he
could
afford
to
retire,
so
really
he
no
longer
needed
his
contacts.
And
one
of
them
had
betrayed
him.
Set
him
up.

“There
is
someone
we
can
start
with.
The
initial
contact
came
through
him.”

“Where
can
we
find
him?”

“Last
time
I
heard,
he
was
running
a
bar
on
Trakis
Two.”

“Great,”
Tannis
muttered.
“Trakis
Two—isn’t
that
right
next
door
to
Trakis
Five,
where
those
guys
who
want
to
kill
us
come
from?”