Strong Enough (Tall, Dark, and Dangerous #1)(54)

Matt tugs, but I resist. “Where is he, Matt?” I’m digging in my heels.

“We came by boat so no one would see us. Now shut up before you get somebody killed.” With a sharp jerk, he pulls me forward again, and this time I let him.

We walk all the way to the end of the dock and Matt urges me into Jasper’s little flat-bottom boat. He hops in after me and unties us. Tucking his gun into his waistband, my ex begins to row us away from the dock. When he gets to the middle of the cove, he stops.

My eyes have adjusted to the moonlight, which is full and bright tonight, allowing me to see the lake and Matt quite clearly. It’s the smile Matt is wearing that sends a shiver of apprehension skittering down my spine.

“Why did you stop?”

“I’m waiting.”

“For what? I thought you were taking me to Dad? Is he coming to get me here?”

Matt turns a dubious look on me. “God, you really are stupid, aren’t you?”

I stare at him for a few seconds, mouth agape, before anger kicks in. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Your father isn’t here. And he isn’t coming. But don’t worry. I’ll be sure to pay him a visit later.”

My blood runs cold, colder still when Matt produces his gun and aims it at me. “Matt, what are you doing?”

“I’m paying for my future, that’s what I’m doing.”

“And just how are you doing that by holding me at gunpoint in the middle of a lake? No one will pay you for me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Oh, this is nothing as pedestrian as a kidnapping. God, Muse! Give me a little credit. Actually, this really has little to do with you at all. You’re more like a . . . a . . . bonus. Collateral damage, even. But no, this isn’t about you. It’s about Jasper King. He’s the one I’m after.”

My temper boils and I lash out with venom. “If Jasper is who you’re here for, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought, Matt.”

“We’ll see, but I think you’ve underestimated me. This is how I see it going down. When your daring rescuer realizes that you’re gone, he’ll come to find you. At that point, one of two things will happen. He will either stop there on the dock like the * that he is and I’ll shoot him where he stands or he’ll actually nut up and try to swim to you, in which case I’ll shoot him when he surfaces. Either way, his time is up. Tonight.”

My heart is beating so fast I feel nauseous. My chest burns with panic and my eyeballs feel as though they’re throbbing with a pulse all their own.

“But why? Why would you want to kill Jasper?”

“Money, Muse. It’s what makes the world go ’round.”

“Bu-but why would anyone want Jasper dead?”

I can only imagine that there are possibly hundreds of people who might want Jasper dead, but I’d rather keep Matt talking so I can think, think of a way to help Jasper. I cannot, simply cannot sit here and do nothing while he walks into a trap. If I have to watch him die . . .

My guts—my stomach, my intestines, all the muscles in my middle—squeeze painfully at the thought. I can’t let that happen. I can’t even begin to think of what the world would feel like now without Jasper in it. I don’t think I could bear to see the sun rise if I had to live with the knowledge (much less the image) of his death. I’d have no reason to get up, no reason to live.

I don’t even hesitate to confess in the privacy of my mind that I love Jasper. I think I fell for him when I first collided with those tiger eyes of his, shining so brightly down at me. Something in my soul knew I’d met the other part of me, the part I wouldn’t want to live without.

“I’d say there are a lot of people who would want him dead. And for a lot of reasons. Lucky for me, I don’t give a damn about any of that shit. I don’t really care who wants him and his cohorts dead. I just want the money that his death will bring me.”

“His cohorts?”

“Yes, his cohorts. Some special ops team your father commanded. Seems they’ve made some enemies on their own side. Guess that’s the risk you take when you do black ops for the government.”

“Black ops? Are you saying my father . . .”

“Killed people? Taught other men to kill people? Yes, Muse, that’s what I’m saying.” His sigh is exasperated, like he’s talking to a child. “Ahhhh, sweet Muse. So clueless.”

Although it’s shocking to have it confirmed, I can’t say that I’m entirely surprised to hear this. My father has said some odd things over the years, and since meeting Jasper . . . well, I’m just not really surprised. If they knew each other in a work capacity and Jasper is a killer . . .

But I still believe they’re the good guys. It’s people like Matt and the traitor he’s working for who are a danger to the world, to the greater good.

“Does this have anything to do with the information Jasper wanted from my father?”

“How the hell should I know what that sadistic son of a bitch wants with the Colonel? Maybe he knows his team is being targeted. Maybe he thinks the Colonel is involved. Who knows? When I was approached about taking this once in a lifetime assignment, I didn’t ask many questions. These people aren’t big on divulging more than what’s absolutely necessary. I just took the assignment, hacked into the network the government uses to establish these kinds of covert missions for its operatives and then set up the hit. Jasper was going to help me with my job. He’d kill the Colonel and then I’d kill him.”