“Both of you, now,” I said softly. “You clearly work together.”
They glanced at me, then back to the cash. “How much is it?” Jacob asked.
“It's only fifteen grand.” Shoving it back in the envelope, Kite nodded my way. “You don't know much about us, do you?”
My neck was starting to cramp from not moving. “I told you, I only saw you kill Frank. I thought you might know an accomplice of his.”
Jacob lowered the gun, freeing me of some of my tension. “You want us to find a friend of that man?”
“Yes.” I risked itching my nose. My hair had tickled it for the past minute. “If you killed Frank, you might know someone he worked with years ago. That's the man I want dead.”
“The guy you want us to not exactly kill,” Kite mumbled.
Narrowing my eyes, I purposefully took a sip of my watery drink. Neither of them reacted, the gun stayed down. “Right. I want to be the one to put a bullet in his head.”
Now I had their attention.
Taking my purse from Kite, Jacob explored it. He didn't say what he was searching for. Seeming satisfied, he tossed it my way—the money still inside. “I'm sorry to say we no longer take on contracts. If we don't accept your cash, what will you do?”
Catching my bag, I spilled some of my drink. I stared at them from under my hair. “You want to know if I plan to blackmail you into helping me.”
Kite didn't smile, but Jacob did. “I'm asking because I'm curious. If we say no, what is your next step?”
My chin touched my collar bone. “I won't lie. I didn't have much of a plan B.”
“Why not take that money, go buy a gun, and off the fucker yourself?” Kite asked.
“I would. I was going to do that to Frank,” I admitted. “But I don't know where the guy I want is. Or even his name.”
Air 'whooshed' out of Kite's nostrils. Dropping his arms, he grabbed his belt and looked down his nose at me. “You don't know his name? That's fantastic. Even if you had the money we charge for a hit, you'd need a photo and a name, minimum.”
My drink was empty, ice cubes clinking and melting. “I know what he looks like. If I saw him, I could recognize him.”
Jacob was in front of me. Shit, I hadn't seen him move. He was a shadow, the strange calmness in his eyes disconcerting. “I'm sorry, but we don't know anything about Frank Montego's companions. When we take on a hit, we don't ask for those details.”
I was deflated. I almost preferred the obvious danger to his pity. “But you could find out more than I could. You've got to have connections, know people! You just... you have to.”
“Marina,” Kite said, leaning on the wall. “I think Jacob made it clear. We're out of the game. Your money can't buy us.”
Jacob was watching me like a hawk. I felt very small, and didn't like it. “I don't want to hire you to kill someone,” I said. “I told you, I want to do it myself. Can't you take what I have, and just say it's a fair fee for finding a target?”
“Target.” Kite's forehead was a row of deep lines. “Target? You're not a damn assassin, don't act like you know the lingo. And we are not fucking bloodhounds. We can't—”
“Alright.” Jacob lifted an arm, effectively shutting Kite up. The red-haired man balked, and I suspected this wasn't normal. “Marina,” he said, bending closer to me. The gun was still in his hand, I didn't enjoy having it so close. “I need to talk the details over with Kite. But, if we accept your payment, and we agree to help find this man, there will be conditions. Understand?”
My mouth was very dry. Why did I run out of vodka and tonic? “What conditions?”
Turning enough to peer back at Kite, the man in his crisp grey suite smiled. “I'll need to talk it over with my associate. We'll come to an agreement. Just give us some time alone to reach a mutual understanding.”
Kite's glare said he didn't want to come to any breed of understanding. “Alright,” I said softly.
For the second time that night, I was left alone with my thoughts.
- Chapter 5 -
Jacob
––––––––
The hallway was humming. Grabbing Kite by the shoulder, I shoved him into our cramped, poor excuse for an office. It had nothing but filing cabinets, a white board, and a tiny computer in one corner.
“What the hell are you thinking?” he snapped at me, yanking out of my reach. “You can't just agree to this shit without my say!”
Smoothing my sleeve, I then folded it up my forearm. The other followed. “You're right, but I needed to make her think we were going to work with her.”
“You told her we were!”
“I told her that so she wouldn't decide to run off to the cops the instant she was out of our sight. Kite, we need time to think.” Furrowing my brows, I sat in the computer chair. “Calm yourself down and listen to reason.”