Just Bob (Assassins Inc. #1)(25)

I was surprised at how close to work Bob actually lived. It explained why he didn’t own a car. I was able to walk the eight blocks in under ten minutes. I probably could have done if faster, but I was trying to look like I wasn’t in a hurry to be going anywhere.

If someone was watching Bob’s place, I didn’t want them to know I was watching for them. From what I was getting from Stone and Stryker about the contract taken out on Bob, a lot of people were looking for him. I wanted to know who.

“We have eyes on us,” Stryker said as he kept pace with me.

“I know.” I had been feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end for the last two blocks. “One block back. Left side of the street. Black Mercedes. Tinted windows.”

“There’s someone else walking down the sidewalk behind the Mercedes.”

I almost made a rookie move and turned to look. I stopped myself just in time.

“Two?”

“Or more,” Stryker said. “We should cut across the street to that coffee shop, grab ourselves something to drink while we wait.”

I lifted an eyebrow. “Wait?”

“I think Samson is behind us.”

“On the sidewalk?” Because the guy was just too big to fit into the Mercedes.

“Yeah. I think he’s either tracking whoever is inside that fancy car or us. If it’s us, he’ll more than likely make contact if we’re someplace a little less exposed.”

Walking down the sidewalk in broad daylight, we were pretty exposed.

“He could just be waiting for us to lead him to Bob.”

Friend or not, I’d kill him before that happened.

“Coffee?” I asked as we walked into the same coffee shop where I had first met Bob. That memory brought an ache to my chest that I doubted would stop until the man was back in my arms again.

“Black.”

I moved to stand in line, watching as Stryker strode toward the back of the place. He took a table close to the hallway that led to the bathrooms. I knew from my previous visit that the hallway also led to the kitchen, which led outside. It was always a smart move to know where the exits were in case you had to leave in a hurry.

The awareness I could feel that told me someone was watching me rose to an all new level when the door opened and a tall man in a dark suit walked in. Considering the high priced Armani suit he wore, I was pretty sure he was the guy in the Mercedes.

I wanted to turn and look, but knew I couldn’t. I wasn’t supposed to realize he was there. When I got up to the counter, I ordered a black coffee for Stryker and a latte for me and a pastry. People who were worried about being followed didn’t eat pastries, right?

When my order came, I smiled and grabbed both cups and the pastry. As I turned, I shot a quick look toward the back of the line. It wasn’t a long line, just three people, so I was able to easily spot the guy. When I passed him as I headed to the table Stryker had got for us, I inhaled a deep breath.

Human.

I’m not sure if that made things better or worse.

I kept walking instead of grabbing the guy and throwing him against the wall to demand to know where Bob was. I thought my restraint was quite good. I didn’t kill him either, although that still might happen. I could think of a hundred different ways to do it.

So caught up in the different scenarios flying through my head, I failed to notice someone sitting with Stryker until I reached the table. Both men gave me a knowing look when I jerked in surprise.

“Samson.” I carefully set the cup of black coffee down in front of Stryker and took the chair beside him. Not only did it put my back to the wall, but it kept Samson and the stranger in front of me. “I guess I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“Word on the street is that you found your mate.”

“I did.” I just hadn’t realized it had already gotten around.

“True mate?”

“Yes.” I nodded. “I knotted him.”

Samson blew out a breath. “You lucky fuck.”

I smiled weakly.

“He’s the contract everyone gunning for, isn’t he?”

Again, I nodded. “He is.”

“Damn.”

My sentiments exactly.

“He’s missing, Samson,” Stryker said. “Someone took him.”

Samson’s eyes went to me. I could see sympathy in them, and something else. I just wasn’t sure what it was. A glint of sadness maybe?

“Do you think it was one of us?”

Us.

The brotherhood of assassins.

“No.” I actually didn’t. We assassinated people. We didn’t kidnap them. “I think it was whoever took the contract out on Bob.”

Samson glanced at Stryker for a moment before looking back at me. “Has anyone talked to Sinclair?”

“Sinclair sent Stone a text telling us to terminate any contracts we were currently working on and go underground until he can contact us again.”

He also said not to trust anyone, but Samson wasn’t just anyone. He was one of us.

The man’s eyebrows rose up. “And so you’re sitting out here in public?” He said it in such a way that made me think he thought we were nuts. Maybe we were.

“Bob went missing right after that,” I supplied. “Until I have him back…”