Target

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Wade

Blood.

I could smell it in the salty sea air, as if it’d already been spilled. I’d killed more people than I could count. It was what I’d trained for the past twelve years—ever since I was eighteen. The wind whipped by me as I raced across the docks to the row of trees by the marina; the moon, my only beacon of light.

“They’re here.” Ian’s voice echoed in my ear. “And he’s not alone.”

Heart racing, I slunk behind the trees and waited, my hand firmly gripping the cold steel of my Glock. “Where are you?” I asked, pressing the ear piece further into my ear.

“Checking the perimeter. Looks like it’s just the four of them. I’m heading down that way now.”

Ian Chandler was my younger brother by two years, and my partner on more than one occasion. Normally, I wouldn’t ask for help, but with the governor’s daughter being held hostage, I had to work fast. There couldn’t be any mistakes.

“Can you see the boat?” he inquired.

It was hard to miss. Grady Wilburn’s small, white yacht rocked back and forth on the water. The motherfucker even had the gall to name it Killer. “Yep. Just waiting for the cocksuckers to get down here.”

For years, I’d trained to think like a killer, to come up with the most heinous outcomes any murderer could concoct. It was part of what the Circle of Justice—a secret branch of the FBI—wanted me to learn. We hunted the dregs of society and eliminated them. Our ultimate goal was to make our country safer, even if we were considered vigilantes.

The s**t that went through my mind would give even the deadliest of criminals a run for their money. That was why I was one of the best. It was what my father did, and what my brothers and I were trained to do. It was a choice we’d all made, a decision none of us have regretted.

When my father asked me to lead the mission, I learned everything there was to know about Grady Wilburn. He was a psychopath, notorious for being violent and unpredictable.

Wilburn had abducted the governor’s six-year-old daughter and the ransom for her safe return was set at ten million dollars. If the governor didn’t comply, Allie Fairchild would die. My job was going to be easy . . . kill the bastard. If I were lucky, I could make him suffer before I completed the job.

I could hear Wilburn and his men marching down the wooden steps to the dock, their hushed voices muddled to my ears. There were four men, with the one in the middle carrying Allie over his shoulders. He was the largest of them all, and had a bald head and dressed in dark clothes. Grady led the front, the evil leer apparent on his face; looking exactly like he did in his pictures, with scraggly brown hair and a lanky body.

The exchange wasn’t supposed to take place for another three hours, but I knew I had to be in place. Wilburn wanted to keep the location a secret, leaving the governor in the dark, but I knew how the cocksucker worked. He’d been in touch with a group in Mexico who were known for child trafficking. All he had to do was get his ten million dollars, kill the governor, and sail down to Mexico to collect even more money. Once he was there, he’d be safe. At least, that’s what the stupid fucker thinks.

Teeth clenched, I wanted to race out there and end them one by one. But for Allie’s sake, I had to be patient. They could start that boat up and be gone before I’d have a chance to save her.

The group had reached the boat. Grady grabbed Allie from the big guy and hauled her over his shoulder, while the others scampered off to their hiding places. The fucker thought he was being smart, but I was one step ahead of him.

Ian joined me and lifted his binoculars. “Damn, you were right the entire time.”

I kept my eyes on the target. “I’m always right.”

“All I can say is they better be paying you the big bucks for this one.”

In fact, the governor was paying me the ten million dollars Grady had requested. I didn’t need the money, but if I was risking my life, and that of my brother’s, I wasn’t about to do it for free. “Don’t worry, we’ll be able to add a nice hunk of change to our bank accounts when we get home.”

“f**k yeah. I’m ready for a vacation.”

I didn’t even know what it felt like anymore to go on a vacation. “Head that way.” I pointed at the shrubbery to the right. “One of the bastards went behind that building. Dispose of him, and do it quietly.”

“On it,” he said low, taking off toward the building.

Holstering my Glock, I slid my rifle off my shoulder. The other two were on my side, clearly visible through my night vision scope. The silencer on my rifle was the best of its kind, a guarantee no one would hear the shots. The only sound would be their dead bodies hitting the ground. And with Grady already on the boat, I knew he wouldn’t hear a thing.

I could hear Ian’s breathing through our connection, then the audible snap of a broken neck. “One down, three to go,” Ian said.

With my sights on the bald man who had carried Allie, I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger during my exhale. Before his body could hit the ground, I’d sighted the other henchman and pulled the trigger, watching him fall lifeless to the ground. Killing them wasn’t on the list of hits, but I had no choice. As much as I wanted to deny it, it felt good to off them.

“I’m going in,” I relayed to Ian.

“Be safe, brother. I’ll stand guard outside.”

Gun poised, I hurried across the docks and climbed onto the boat as quietly as I could. Grady was in the main cabin, sitting at a desk, while Allie laid helpless on the floor. Her skin was dirty, and her little pink dress torn with streaks of blood. The horrors she’d had to face weren’t something any child should have to go through. Her body jerked and I knew she was close to waking up.

I wanted Grady to suffer, to die slowly, but with Allie in the same room I couldn’t t*****e him the way I wanted to. My job was simple; get the job done, no matter the cost. I knew what I had to do, but it went against every grain in my body to give that fucker the easy way out. Storming inside, I held up my g*n, finger itching to pull the trigger.

Grady jumped and reached for the g*n beside him.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” I hissed angrily.

He froze, his chest rising and falling with rapid breaths. Then recognition flashed across his face. “Wait—I know you. What the f**k are you doing here?”

In my seven years of service, I’d never had to go after a kidnapper and save a little girl. My face had always remained anonymous, until now. I could separate myself from the other kills, but this one was different. The rage inside me was overwhelming. There was a darkness hidden beneath the surface that relished in the act of taking lives. I knew once I pulled the trigger, I’d be fulfilled. Happiness for me was killing those who deserved it.

Grady stepped back as I edged closer to him, his soulless eyes studying me from head to toe. He was going to make a move, but it didn’t matter.

“No. The question you should be asking is what I’m going to do to you?” I answered darkly. Allie’s body jerked again and a slight moan escaped her lips. I was running out of time. “You don’t deserve a fast death.”

“I’m not so easy to kill.”

A slow, evil smile spread across my face. “Yes, you are.”

His body tensed. The second he lunged, I pulled the trigger, the bullet hitting him square between the eyes. Blood and brain matter splattered across the wall, but I was immune to the sight of it. His body went down hard, his legs folding at odd angles beneath him.

Thundering footsteps sounded on the wooden dock and Ian burst inside, his eyes finding the c*****e. “Target exterminated.”

“Yep,” I said, stepping over Grady’s dead body. Allie moaned again and I carefully picked her up. I brushed the blonde hair off her face and held her close to my chest. She was safe.

“I want my mommy,” she cried.

“You’ll see her soon, sweetheart. I promise.”