Unleashed (End of an Assassin Book 3) Read online

  She had to remember to get groceries on the way out today, because she hadn't been joking about chocolate for breakfast. Good thing she worked under a grocery store.

  As the three-hour company meeting let out, Kaden examined her colleagues, hoping for hints at what her own meeting with Cori entailed. They filed out with stressed and exhausted demeanors, shuffling around her like a river around a rock. George nodded a greeting, but no one else made eye contact with her, which was a step up from the contempt they usually chucked her way.

  Once the stream let up, Kaden poked her head into the conference room to Benny, Cori, and Moe huddled around a projector. Benny fiddled with it and said, "I think it's faulty. It doesn't pay to cheap out with technology. But please don't get that fossil from the ’90s out again." Tissue boxes littered the table, which was unusual.

  Cori caught Kaden standing there. "Hello. Have a seat."

  At least Benny was staying. He was much better at meetings and could rescue Kaden if it went sour, while she diverted efforts into not running away and/or hitting something—without context, the possibilities were infinite. She sat in the only comfortable chair in the room and set her mug of orange juice, fresh from Wholly Fresh upstairs, on a coaster. Worry was uncomfortable and seemed unnecessary, so she said, "Why invite the entire company to a meeting, except me?"

  Cori’s gaze stayed on the projector as she said, "You're unpopular, even more so than Porter. I needed everyone to stay focused."

  The words stung. Most within the organization resented her. She had killed some of their colleagues and kicked the butt of more, but to like her less than a guy who enjoyed torturing people? Ouch. She leaned on the table and combed her fingers through her wavy ponytail.

  Cori sat down and said, "Besides, only the results of the meeting pertain to you."

  So Cori considered Kaden the muscle, not worth involving in major decisions. Fine by Kaden, because she still could turn down any mission.

  Cori’s work outfit was a different color of the same suit every day, but it always complemented her tan skin tone. Today it was a dark brown, and her sleek black hair was tied in a high ponytail. Dark circles sat under her eyes, and she nibbled her lip slightly. The unease of a leader trickled down. Kaden brought her hand to her ponytail to yank, mind spinning now.

  Kaden wished for the hundredth time that she could read people as easily as her former employee, Cameron, whose abilities were so strong, the FBI suspected her to be psychic. But Cameron navigated the world with an extra-sensitive antennae she couldn’t turn off. Kaden sighed, knowing Cameron’s life wasn’t any easier. Hopefully she’d built her dream farm.

  Cori said, "Gentlemen, let's get started. Benny, bring up the photo on your laptop."

  Benny nodded, avoiding Kaden's gaze. Every feature of his round face, from his eyebrows to his thin lips, pressed together. No trace of her friend who’d devoured three chocolate eggs in five minutes.

  Moe looked the same as ever, though, with a small frame that he held tight. His eyes were just too far apart, his chin and nose were sharp, and he kept a manicured mustache. Whenever Kaden shared space with him, his librarian air intensified, like she'd brought in books a month overdue but wanted to take out more.

  Kaden squeezed her knees together, and Cori paced at the front and said, "We're closing in on key players within Sub Rosa. One person in particular has his head out, by nature of his job. He wields a lot of power, and he's not afraid to use it. He is days away from strengthening the trafficking network into this country, our worst nightmare. Today’s meeting was debating whether to ask you to remove him. We back you doing so, but of course, you decide once you understand the situation. It’ll be your most challenging task yet."

  Kaden's skin crawled, but not because of the challenge. Reinforcing the trafficking network meant more suffering infused into a society already saturated in it. When she'd discovered her part in nurturing the network, she'd decided to do anything to weaken and dissolve it whenever possible. That resolve had fueled the tough decision to join Vigilant Citizens, an organization that had hurt those she loved, for a formidable shot at her goal. She lent them brute force, her one talent that happened to be unsavory.

  Kaden said, "Done. Point me to him."

  "Benny, the photo."

  Benny's eyes finally met Kaden's as he turned his laptop, and they were afraid. She raised an eyebrow at him—killing a known enemy was easy compared to their recent struggles in staying alive. Kaden leaned forward to peer at the photo, half expecting a US Navy SEAL, or something equally intimidating.

  The formal portrait showed a balding man in his late fifties, and his smile looked pained, like he'd been blackmailed to do so. He wore a full suit and a stark red tie. Kaden said, "That wasn't what I expected. Guy looks like a politician."

  Benny put his head in his hands and his fingers into his curls.

  Cori said, "Try a congressman."

  Kaden clunked the dinosaur mug on the table. "In that case, I'll need buttering up."

  "That's easy. He's coauthoring a bill that's already popular with the public and his peers, but is defunding the strongest legislation we have against trafficking, called the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. I'm sure you know it's not strong to begin with, and these changes minimize the protective part. The result will be that identified victims won't be given a fresh opportunity, but will get shipped back to the unsavory conditions that brought them here." Cori's voice broke and she sat. "They’ll be ripe for harvesting again."

  Kaden grimaced. "Why not raise awareness via Invisible Millions? If it’s public knowledge."

  Moe said, "If the public cared enough to look, they'd see that the new legislation is called Family Preservation Act. Almost every change is supported by research to help families. Therefore, anyone who's against it must hate families." He spat the last part out.

  Kaden groaned. Politics were the worst. "So the new law sucks, but why is the solution me killing him? Wouldn't it be better to take care of it the legal way? What if the guy's just naïve?"

  A heavy silence blanketed the room, providing enough of an answer to make Kaden squirm. She almost wanted to withdraw her question, but she didn't have the luxury of ignorance. Without knowledge, she could be used for any cause. Besides, details of her target's sins refreshed her ever-simmering anger, the active ingredient in making her a killer.

  After a long moment, Moe said, "He rents underage girls from Sub Rosa. The most recent victim left the hotel in an ambulance. He was long gone, and the incident got swept under the rug."

  Hot energy surged from her core to her limbs. Kaden squeezed her eyes shut, pushed her chair from the table, and spun in the chair. The silly maneuver kept her from punching a hole in the wall. As she twirled, the white walls blurred into her three colleagues. She could take him out and help many, but knowing that he wasn't the only buyer, that stories like those were common and unimaginable to those that hadn't lived it, plunged her from the expected, typical anger into a cold sorrow. That's why the team looked exhausted and bummed, and why tissue boxes littered the table. They waited for Kaden to get herself together.

  A throbbing dizziness overtook her stew of emotions. She stopped and put her head on the table, willing the world to stop spinning and the cool surface to seep into her so she could be useful again. Once she managed three even breaths, she raised her head to see two tissues wadded next to Cori.

  Kaden said, "I did say my only hits must directly fight human trafficking, not Sub Rosa as a whole. This will need meticulous planning, so much that it becomes tedious. If Benny and I aren't comfortable with our best plan, I'm out. I'm more useful here than in prison. I get caught, and I’ll be in history books."

  Benny spoke. "Or dead. He has private security. You're really considering this, Kaden? It's too risky."

  "Of course. Guy's a mega dirtbag."

  Benny groaned and said, "Between me, you, and all of VC, we've been operating underground too damn long. This guy looks clean to
your average person, so think about this from the public's perspective! He's got security, he has a good reputation, and he's a congressman. An assassination will be national headlines."

  Kaden said, "Wait. Why does he have security?"

  "He got enough death threats to warrant them. I think the threats were fake so he could justify hiring private security."

  "Great," Kaden said, rolling her eyes.

  Cori said, "Much of our work is exposing the ugly habits of those in power. If we go through with this, we'll make it impossible for his team to cover up his sins."

  Benny threw his hands in the air, "But he's a congressman! Tell Kaden who is the most powerful person you've exposed?"

  "A mayor of—"

  "Of nowhere, Kansas, population two thousand!" Benny shouted. His voice quickened. "Maybe keep those…bloodier operations on a smaller scale. If this complex is even found, we all wear orange for life." He sat back in his chair and said, "Orange would look terrible on Moe."

  Moe said, "That's a good point if we want to sustain the organization. Not the color thing."

  Kaden held back a smile.

  "Kaden." Benny's voice was pleading. "It's too dangerous for you. It's not worth it."

  Kaden said, "Might be."

  Cori's voice remained steady. "Benny, those aren't bad points, but remember that legislation's effects would undo a lifetime of work for us. Yes, we all agree it's risky, but I am firm that it should be done. That it can be done with you two on board."

  Benny stood and roared, "Don't you compliment us to get your way!" He stormed from the room emptyhanded.

  Cori bowed her head and placed a finger on each temple. Her chest slowly raised and lowered in an exaggerated breath. She cleared her throat and said, "He was the only persistent dissenting voice in that meeting. He's why it took so long. Kaden, what're your thoughts?"

  Kaden huffed. "None. I'm still processing the insanity."

  "You mean that spinning wasn't you deciding?" Moe said, then chuckled. Moe obviously had no idea how her mind worked, which she preferred anyway.

  Kaden picked at a spot on the table where the varnish thinned. The spinning was because the lawmaker ravaged the bodies and minds of the vulnerable. Knowing the lawmakers' cruelty to the powerless infuriated her to the point of stealing her rationality. The decision to try needed no more than a moment to cement—of course she'd try.

  She said, "Like I mentioned, if I don't like the plan, I'm out, and I want no grief about it." She looked at Moe, who continued twirling his mustache and looking at the orchid centerpiece.

  Cori said, "Moe is an excellent strategist, and Benny of course is fantastic at gathering the information you'll need. The sky's the limit, budget-wise. Think about it and tell me tomorrow."

  Kaden asked, "Why did the entire company need to agree?"

  Cori said, "This hit sends a message. After this, Sub Rosa's team will suspect we exist, and they'll look for us. I needed everyone to agree that this hit was worth that, and that we're buckling in for the home stretch. Like I said, we're getting close to key players."

  So Vigilant Citizens proposed to enter the battlefield, which to Kaden was nothing new. While it certainly wasn't her favorite place to be, it could be worse. It could always be worse. She downed the rest of her orange juice and said, "I'll think about it. We done?"

  Cori clutched her hands in front of her heart. "Yes. Thank you."

  Two

  With frigid wind whipping all around, Kaden stood on a roof, double checking equipment in the moments before the storm. She felt on her waist and in her backpack for each item: a grapple with a long rope, ski mask, change of clothes, baton, and short sword. Speed was the most important element today, since she overlooked downtown, and intended to remove the most publicly important, well-guarded man within a two-mile radius.

  After seeing this guy's full list of transgressions, far beyond what Cori had mentioned at the meeting, the choice to eliminate him bobbed above safer options. In minutes, Vigilant Citizens would be a blip on Sub Rosa's radar. Considering Sub Rosa's connections and bottomless wallet, everyone in VC would need to commit their strongest talents to the job, because the threat only increased from here.

  Unless she failed.

  It seemed more likely than success, now that she stood atop twenty-one floors without the comfort of safety glass. This height sure made a difference. The plan defied every primal instinct to preserve her life, and she wanted to hurl. Car horns sounded like distant animal cries, and her hands shook.

  "You ready, Goose?"

  "Yes."

  "Feeling confident?"

  "Yes,"

  “Fantastic. Me too,” she lied without hesitation. She slipped on the backpack and the ski mask, which had silicone implants to modify the shape of her face for any cameras. Her cheekbones, the bridge of her nose, and her chin were bulkier. She took a long, even breath. Then another, and another, until...

  "Go," said Moe into her earpiece. She sprinted to the edge of the roof and leapt.

  She landed hard on a shorter high-rise across an alley. The roll to break her fall helped disperse the impact, but it still sent a shock up her legs. The target was playing twelve floors below. A crushed can of pineapple juice, glued to the roof, was her marker. She kicked it away, and in its spot secured the grapple to the edge of the roof. She dragged the attached rope through her fingers, searching for the orange cloth pinned to it that marked where to hold. Once she found the marker, she clutched the rope, double-checked the grapple, backpedaled twenty feet, and sprinted to the edge of the roof. She leapt again, this time into empty space.

  As she plunged outward, her anxiety—normally nonexistent during jobs—punched her in the chest. How in the hell had her life become this? She squeezed the rope with both hands. At the eighth floor, the rope became taut, jerking her trajectory sideways and toward the floor-to-ceiling windows. Her outstretched legs again took the hit, and the window shattered—these windows were built to withstand harsh weather, and it hurt. Her hips absorbed the brunt of the impact, but no time to recover once inside.

  The scene before her seared into her memory without her consent.

  Her target was naked, sitting on the edge of the bed not ten feet from her, penis out and ready. A girl who should've been in school stood over him, red paddle in hand. Kaden tore open the Velcro that secured the handle of the sword at her belt. As she approached, he ran his eyes down Kaden's fit body, then went from looking shocked to delighted. He looked back to the openmouthed girl, and said, "Wow, you girls go all out!"

  Kaden unsheathed her sword, and the girl screamed and hopped from the bed, large breasts flapping. Comprehension finally dawned on the man, but it was too late. Kaden swiped his head off and stabbed him through the heart with one flowing motion. His head thudded on the beige carpet and his body fell sideways, sword tip poking from his back. Kaden was already running for the front door.

  She sprinted across the extensive suite, swapping the sword for a collapsible baton, and the door flung open. Goose leapt onto the first man to inject the combination long- and short-term sleeper venom.

  The second guard was fast, though. He planted his feet and aimed a pistol while still outside her reach. Kaden grabbed a vase from a nearby table and tossed it at him. He ducked and shot the ceiling. Ears ringing, Kaden smashed his knee with her baton and capitalized on his moment of agony by knocking his gun away and sticking him with a dart. The two guards slid to the ground. Hotel security was probably calling the police right now, so she had five minutes to vanish. Cameras monitored every hall, and Benny had mentioned they were impossible to disable remotely.

  She dashed into the hall and toward the staircase. She passed rooms on her right, and to the left, a stained glass, half-dome window ran the length of the entire hall. A wooden banister separated five feet of open space and the window, and around the corner were the grand spiral staircase and elevator. Benny had disabled the elevator, buying Kaden time to vanish down the stai
rs until she could jump the banister near the ground floor exit.

  She rushed to the staircase, where the rhythmic clumps of many footsteps told her people approached, and fast. She leaned over the banister and spotted a team of four cops running up. They were on the third floor, five below her. A woman shouted and pointed at her from the lobby.

  Police had arrived faster than expected. Less than three minutes had passed since her first jump. In all her work, she was never pursued by the law. Although Kaden could manage those cops, they played no part in the underage prostitution until VC found otherwise.

  There was a Plan B. Its possibility had kept Kaden up all night.

  She examined the towering window and its intimidating view. A hospital building sat twenty feet away, and she was level with its roof. She pictured herself leaping for it, and her body responded by gifting her with more adrenaline. The incomprehensible crackle of cop walkies sounded far too close.

  Kaden leapt up the stairs three at a time and counted the floors as she passed them. One, two, and by the third, her heart raged against her chest and her thighs protested. She ran into the hallway.

  "They’re on the eleventh floor!" shrieked a voice from the ground.

  She swore to herself as she stared down her newest challenge: reaching that damn roof. The first leaps were child's play, and she cursed herself for deciding against her jet boots because of their weight. Without a running start, she would become a messy corpse on the street below, but the hallway was too thin for a proper start. She twirled and bashed in the random door behind her. She jogged in the random hotel room, thankfully empty, and looked at the roof one last time—thirty feet ahead of her, about fifteen below her. The cops were a couple floors away by now.