Colby Core. Debra Webb

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СКАЧАТЬ presumed, the taller of the two sat behind the steering wheel.

      “Take off your clothes,” the driver ordered, his gaze on Riley via the rearview mirror.

      Now there was one Riley hadn’t expected. “Say what?”

      “Take ‘em off,” he repeated and tossed a pair of gray coveralls over the seat.

      Riley wasn’t happy about it but he understood exactly what they were up to and it wasn’t good. He had little choice but to comply. Getting inside this operation was the goal, whatever the risk.

      Taking his time, he peeled off his coat, then the rest—including his boots. When he’d pulled on the coveralls he reached for his boots to tug them back on. There was snow on the ground after all.

      “You won’t need those,” Hawk-nose, who still loomed in the open door, said. He snagged the boots as well as Riley’s clothes.

      “In case you hadn’t noticed,” Riley reminded the two, “it’s cold as hell.”

      “Socks, too.” Hawk-nose stuck his hand in front of Riley. “Hurry up. It’s cold out here,” he tacked on in a mocking tone.

      Riley peeled off his socks and tossed them to the guy. “Anything else?” Not that he had anything else to fork over.

      The rear door slammed shut in his face. Riley glanced at the guy in front of him, then swung his attention to the one outside. It was tough to see beyond the darkly tinted windows, but the clothes Riley had shed, boots included, were dumped between two parked cars. The boots were his favorite pair. Not to mention they carried the tracking device. Nothing he could do about that.

      The hawk-nosed guy headed back to the SUV. He opened the rear passenger door. “Slide over.” He gestured toward the other side of the seat with his weapon.

      Riley scooted over and the other man climbed in next to him. “Let’s get out of here,” he said to his buddy.

      The driver started the engine. “I guess you’re gonna get your wish, Mr. Smith. There’s someone who wants to talk to you after all.”

      “As long as he’s higher up the food chain,” Riley said.

      Hawk-nose rammed the muzzle of his handgun into Riley’s temple. “Your mouth is going to get you killed. You should keep it closed for now if you want to keep breathing, pal.”

      Riley turned his face toward the man next to him, ignoring the business end of the gun. “I’m not your pal. I’m the guy who’s going to provide you and your partner here with a little more job security.”

      Fury detonated in the man’s eyes as the interior light faded to black. “I don’t know why we can’t kill him right now,” he snarled.

      “You make a mess in my SUV,” the driver warned as the vehicle rolled out onto the deserted street, “and I’ll kill you.”

      Hawk-nose wasn’t put off by his colleague’s threat. “I think he’s bluffing,” he mused. “Probably working with the cops.”

      Riley didn’t flinch, didn’t take his fierce glare off the man with the gun. The streetlights provided enough illumination for him to see that his scare tactics weren’t working.

      “He don’t know nothing,” Hawk-nose suggested.

      “If he’s not working with the cops, he’s just trying to get a promotion.”

      “The boss’ll be the judge of that,” the driver reminded his colleague.

      That piece of news was what he had wanted to hear. Riley relaxed into the seat, directed his attention straight ahead.

      He was in … at least far enough to get a face-to-face with the boss.

      The first step. If he could convince the boss of his own usefulness, maybe—just maybe—he could get all the way into the organization.

      It was the only way to dismantle an operation this large and this sophisticated.

      From the inside.

      He would, as quickly as possible, learn the key players and then he would move on to step two. That was the most time sensitive and crucial step: take out one or more pivotal pieces of the foundation. Then the entire network collapsed.

      Step two would be easy as long as he stayed alive.

      Chapter Two

       11:05 p.m.

      The cold wind whistled through the cracks in the window frame. Tessa touched the wood frame, registering the roughness of the peeling paint that had once been white and the chunks of missing caulk that allowed the frigid air to seep into the room.

      Her gaze drifted past the wavy glass of the century-old window, past the intimidating black iron bars, to the snow that remained on the ground. She couldn’t remember the last time it had snowed for Christmas. Her lips ached with the need to smile. But smiling was forbidden.

      The Master did not allow his family to smile or to laugh.

      Holidays were difficult sometimes. Memories crept in … reminding her of how it used to be.

      Before …

      “Tessa.”

      A tremble slid through her, shaking her bones. She turned to face him. “Yes?”

      “Ensure the children and the patients remain in their rooms.”

      For a long moment she simply stared in response. Taller than most men, six-three or -four. He worked out religiously to keep his muscles big and hard. Used steroids liberally to be sure they stayed that way well after his youth had become a distant memory. Always dressed in elegant attire. Everything about him, except his skin, was black. Hair, eyes, clothing. He used his coloring, his size and even his clothes to inspire fear.

      It always worked.

      No one dared cross him.

       “Tessa?”

      The warning in his tone trapped the oxygen beneath her sternum for a moment more. “Yes.” She blinked, forced away all other thought save his order. “I’ll make sure.”

      He surveyed her room, no doubt noting that the covers of her bed had not as of yet been turned down. “I believe it’s past your bedtime, is it not?”

      Tessa nodded. She smoothed a hand over the pink flannel of her gown. The metal key in the pocket pressed reassuringly against her hip. “I was about to lie down, but I thought I heard something outside.”

      “That would be security’s concern.”

      “Of course.”

      She held her breath until he’d gone. As long as she obeyed, she could take care of the children and the patients. More caution was necessary. She couldn’t make a mistake. For years she had watched СКАЧАТЬ