Protecting Her(57)

“You’re right. That’s crazy. What is wrong with him?”

“He’s like a child. He lashes out when he doesn’t get his way. I’ll talk to my mother and see if she can manage him.” Someone knocks on my door. “I have to go. I just wanted to let you know not to worry.”

I hang up as Candace opens the door. “Mr. Kensington, the man from Henderson Plastics is here and he’s been waiting for five minutes.”

“Yes. Tell him I’ll be right there.”

She nods and goes back out in the hall. I get up to leave and my phone goes off. My Dunamis phone. Shit. I do not have time for this. I answer, hoping it’s just a meeting notice. I type in my member number, but instead of getting a recording, I get a live voice.

“You have been given an emergency assignment to be completed today. Details will be sent to your office within the hour.”

“I wasn’t given notice this was coming. Are you sure you have the right person?”

“Yes. This is a reassignment.”

A reassignment is when another member was unable to complete a job for a personal reason, like an illness or a sudden family emergency. Or maybe this was Royce’s doing. He has way too much power if they’re letting him continue to pick who gets his assignments. It’s supposed to be random.

“Who was the original assignment for?” I ask.

“Your father. Due to his recent illness, he feels he’s unable to do the work that’s required.”

I forgot about the family rule. Reassignments go to family members first, and if a family member can’t do it, then it goes to one of the other Dunamis members.

“I just spoke with my father. He’s fine. He can call a freelancer and have this done. It’s just a simple phone call.”

“No. This is a hands-on assignment. There’s no time to bring in a freelancer.”

My father did this on purpose, knowing I would get his assignment. He probably called the organization as soon as I left his office and told them to give the assignment to me.

“I assume this is a termination?” I ask.

“Yes. Details are forthcoming. Take action as soon as you receive the folder. This ends the call.” The phone clicks off and I shove it back in my pocket.

My father is perfectly capable of shooting someone. His health is fine, thanks to me saving him. He never even thanked me for that. If it weren’t for Logan’s treatments, my father would be dead. I saved his life. And how does he repay me? By scaring my wife and giving me his kill assignment.

I go down to the conference room where the client is waiting. I secured this client while my father was on medical leave. It was a huge win. It’s a large multi-year contract worth millions of dollars.

“Pearce.” Mr. Henderson stands up to shake my hand, and as he does, I see my father sitting there. What the hell is he doing in my meeting? “Holton said you’ve been called away on emergency business. He said he’ll be taking your place today.”

“Is that so?” I glare at my father.

“Go ahead, Pearce,” he says. “Take care of your emergency. I’ll take care of Mr. Henderson.”

I want to strangle him. Pummel him. Anything to release this uncontrolled rage I’m feeling toward him. This is my punishment for speaking out to him earlier. He threatened my wife. Had her followed. And yet I’m the one being punished.

I return to my desk, too furious to work, but now I have to sit here and wait for the folder to arrive. Fifteen minutes later it does.

“This just came for you,” Candace says. She hands me a white envelope.

After she leaves, I rip open the envelope and take out the folder. The assignment is to kill a 25-year-old man. Caucasian. Five foot eleven. A hundred and sixty pounds. Bald. Dragon tattoo along his right arm. Released from prison a week ago.

As usual, it doesn’t say what he did. He’s not a freelancer. He’s an innocent. He must’ve seen or overheard something that’s confidential. But he’s a criminal, which makes him somewhat easier to kill. It’s concerning that I’m justifying it that way. As if his life isn’t worth as much as someone else’s so it’s okay to kill him. I need to stop thinking that way.

The rest of the folder has information about where I can find this man. Since this is a last minute assignment, the instructions detail exactly how and where this should happen. I review the notes, memorizing the address and what this man looks like, and then I shred the contents of the folder, which is what we always do. We read it, memorize it, then destroy it.