Home > Witch Of The Federation VI(8)

Witch Of The Federation VI(8)
Author: Michael Anderle

“Now,” Elizabeth replied, “these services you mentioned.”

Her focus drifted to Arne and Matthias followed her gaze. The ex-Marine’s hands were clenched into fists and his breathing was rapid—and not from the workout he’d had.

Oh, yeah, the man knew all right. He stifled a groan. It was like all his worst nightmares had come true. Amy noticed Arne’s tension and glanced at his hands. When she saw the fists, she placed a palm on her sparring partner’s arms and startled when he flinched.

Matthias gave her credit, though. She didn’t take her hand away.

When the voice didn’t reply immediately, Elizabeth raised her finger over the button to end the call but stopped when Matthias raised his hand. The chances were the operatives on the other end of the line were testing her to see if she’d fill the silence—or they were tracking the communicator’s cell.

He’d ask her about the shielding on the building later as well as the precautions taken with the number. It was too late now to see if they’d been enough. Any tracker worth their salt would have located them already. She nodded to show she understood, but her finger remained poised.

As he watched her face, he had the distinct impression she was counting down and that when she reached zero, she would cut the line, no matter how much he wanted her to wait. He gave an internal shrug and decided to trust her.

After all, it wasn’t like she hadn’t done this kind of thing before. It merely worried him because he was fairly sure she hadn’t done it with these people before, although he was damned sure he had.

And as for Arne… He flicked his gaze to the man. If there was ever a posture to say someone was ready to kill everything that came too close, the ex-Marine had perfected it. He wanted to say something to ease the tension but didn’t want to risk it.

They already had Elizabeth’s voice pattern. There was no way he wanted to give them his. He assumed that was the only reason the other man wasn’t swearing a blue streak right now, although it wasn’t an issue. They could have a cussing chorus later and vent everything together.

And they would. He was sure of it.

“Are you happy with our ‘credentials?’” The sudden return of the voice made them all jump, which Matthias knew was exactly the effect it was designed to have.

“Your ‘credentials’ had better be in good working order when you return them to me,” E told him tartly, “or I’ll want compensation.”

“So you said.” Even modified, the voice made it sound like her ultimatum bored him. “Are you willing to do business?”

“That depends on the nature of the services you’re looking for,” she replied.

“There is a couple we need terminated,” the voice told them. “They are older and a relatively soft target but still difficult to reach. Can you do it?”

“You’d have to be more specific. Do you have a name?”

“Do we have a contract?”

“Let me get this straight. You’re asking me if I am available to assassinate an older couple who are relatively lightly guarded but whose location is civilian secure, and you don’t want to give me a name.”

“That is correct. Until we have a contract, you don’t have a name.”

Elizabeth went quiet as though she was considering the job before she answered.

“I can provide you with three recommendations—”

“We hoped you would undertake this personally.”

She shook her head and made an apologetic sound. “Unfortunately, I have moved up in the field and my time is not as unconstrained as it was. Would you like the recommendations? You would have to handle the contact and organization.”

“We will have to consider your proposal,” the voice informed her. “If we require your services in this regard, we will let you know.”

“I’m sure you will,” she replied but she spoke to thin air.

The caller had hung up.

E picked the communicator up, opened it, and removed the battery and chip before she accessed a small safe in the wall beside the base of her desk and stowed them inside. Once that was done, she opened the second drawer of her desk and retrieved two types of jammers, which she activated and set at opposite ends of the office.

Observing her actions, Matthias raised both eyebrows and waited. He recognized the devices and respected the fact she knew enough about both to have their fields of effect overlap.

“Right,” she said when she was satisfied. “Did everyone catch that?”

Arne nodded and his fists uncurled slowly. “I got it. You’re not seriously considering taking them up on that, are you?”

“If it means I can keep the slimy sonsabitches where I can see them then yes, I am. We merely need to find out who the target is.”

“So if you intend to take the job, why did you tell them you’d give them recommendations?”

“Because if my ‘recommendations’ fail or are unsuccessful, it won’t be my fault. I want these bastards to come back to us for whatever they want done next. Besides, I don’t see the person making the hit staying around that long.”

“What do you mean?” Amy was alarmed but the two men nodded.

The thought of what would happen to the successful assassin had crossed their minds as well.

Fortunately, the other woman wasn’t slow to catch up. “You think they’ll kill their assassin?”

“Thatta girl,” Elizabeth praised her. “That’s exactly what I think, and I aim to find out who they are when they do. It’ll merely be easier if they’re not shooting at me when I do it.”

“Nice,” Arne complimented her. “Very nice. But do you have any idea who you’re playing with?”

She inclined her head and gave him a snarky smile. “I think those were the very bad boys you used to run with, Arne.”

Amy gasped and the ex-Marine gaped at her, his eyes wide, and she turned to Matthias. “The only other possibility is that they’re the very bad boys you used to run with.”

With a hand on her hip, she raised an eyebrow and regarded them both with a stern expression. “So which is it?”

“They’re one and the same,” Matthias told her tiredly. “Different units in the same department, but the same department.”

“Navy black ops,” she stated.

“Very black ops,” he confirmed.

“So black not even the Navy will own up to having them,” Arne expanded. “We don’t exist.”

“And you rarely get to retire,” Elizabeth added for him. “So how did you get out?”

“I was never part of those teams,” the ex-Marine said, “but my team—”

He stopped and his body stiffened. Finally, he cleared his throat and gestured uncomfortably. “You’ve read the files.”

“Indeed, I have,” E responded and looked from him to Matthias. “For both of you. At least I know how you recognized the voice.” She paused and studied each of them steadily. “You did recognize it, didn’t you?”

Arne nodded slowly and exhaled a long, steady breath. “I’d know that motherfucker’s voice anywhere, no matter what voice coding software he chose to use. Anywhere.”

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