Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Never worked with a partner.
He was a solo. Had been since leaving the CIA to strike out on his own as an assassin/mercenary/hacker. He really was a jack-of-all-trades and he liked it that way, liked handling it all on his own.
When another person was thrown into the mix, things went horribly wrong. It was better when he had to rely on only himself.
But this…it was highly unlikely the hack could be completed from the outside. He’d have to get inside the building, and he would definitely need a partner when it came to getting through all that security in a timely fashion.
“That’s why it pays so well.”
Justin’s eyes jumped to where she had turned over her smartphone while he had been reading. On the screen, he saw she had typed “twenty-two” into the calculator.
Twenty-two million dollars?
His heart lurched in his chest as he looked up at Marilyn. She nodded, her smile becoming slightly more devilish. The bitch knew he was interested now, even if it was a two-man job. Most of the paid work he got from her rarely tipped the scale above two million.
And the truth was, he didn’t need high-paying jobs. His instructions with Marilyn were to find him jobs that would allow him to net at least six million per year, while the rest of his time was devoted to what she liked to call his “Robin Hood causes”—missions that didn’t pay but made sure the little guy came out ahead.
She flipped the screen over, laying the phone on the table. “The difficulty of the job and the…recent developments,” she paused, waving her hand toward the pictures of the very dead Dr. Weiss, “have forced the contractor to pay well. And while you might not like it, this one is right up your alley. You know it is.”
Shifting in his seat, Justin tamped down the need to fidget. This job was a tantalizing mix of Robin Hood and Red Hood for him. Do a good deed and get paid fucking handsomely. The stars couldn’t align better, except for the fact that there was no way in hell he could do the job alone. Oh, he could easily handle the computer-hacking end of things, but there was going to be a part that demanded feet on the ground, someone to potentially protect his back if and when he had to go inside as well.
“You know who the contractor is? This is legitimate?”
“Nothing definite, but I have a solid lead.” Marilyn shook her head, sending a lock of brown hair cascading over her right shoulder. “The contractor has been very discreet, but then I’m very good.”
“Rival company?”
“No. I wouldn’t have brought it to you if I couldn’t at least confirm this wasn’t a case of corporate espionage.” A hint of disgust colored her voice. She knew better than that. Justin would not get involved in two companies behaving badly. “If you accept, I’ll send you the details I’ve gathered, and you can confirm for your conscience.”
“I can’t,” he groaned, throwing up his arms. “It’s a two—”
“I have someone,” she interrupted. Her expression became smug as she met Justin’s gaze. “He’s good. Experienced. Usually a solo, but like you, this is a perfect fit for him. A perfect combination of lethal and sneaky. You accept and pay him a percentage when it’s over.”
“You’ve worked with him?”
“Not like you’re thinking, but I know his work.”
“Trustworthy?”
“No,” she said with an almost girlish giggle. “But are any of us?”
“Mar—”
“He’s a professional.”
Justin frowned. Professional meant little more than the man would honor their agreement, which was about all he could ask for. He glanced at the job description in neat Cyrillic script again. Even without the killer payday, this was a good job for him. It would save lives. Passing it up was painful. It wouldn’t be a long job. He could do a large chunk of the prep work and research without the other guy. Just call him in at the end when it was time to go in. Maybe two, three days of actually working together…
“I…”
“Just say yes,” she sighed.
“Yes,” he growled.
Marilyn snatched up the bits of paper, shoving them into the file containing the pictures of Dr. Weiss. She tucked it, along with her phone, into her large purse before turning her attention to Justin. “I’ll contact the client and arrange twenty percent up-front payment for signing to be used for expenses. I’ll take my usual finder’s fee from that and send the remainder to your account as usual. The files have already been sent over to you.”
“Bitch,” Justin grumbled but still smiled at her. She’d known he’d take the job. God, he’d been working with her for far too long. “The guy. You’ll arrange an introduction?”
“Tomorrow night. Eight o’clock at The Club.”
Her words smacked him in the face. “He’s a local?”