Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88673 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 443(@200wpm)___ 355(@250wpm)___ 296(@300wpm)
“What did you guys do?”
“Even if I wanted to tell you that shit—and I don’t—I’m not allowed. It’s classified.”
“What were the guy’s names? On the team?”
My eyes narrow down. Because I’ve been pretty accommodating and yet, she’s insisting on more details.
Sensing my building frustration, Clover shrugs. “I’m trusting you with my life, Riggs. The least you can do is trust me with yours.”
Which feels fair. “It was a small team of ten, including Collin. There was me, Jimmy, Naveed, Manuel, Roddy, Rick, Amon, Ryan, and Nash. They were doing some serious jobs, Clover. I’m not talking bodyguard kind of jobs, either. Collin was hunting people down, just like I was.”
Clover’s face darkens with this little revelation about Collin Creed. “Hunting what kind of people?”
“Anyone the government told him to.”
She’s still looking at me, but her eyes go weird and distant for a moment. Like she’s trying to reconcile this revelation.
“And before you go dismissing that, you should know it wasn’t us hunting people. It was him. The only reason the rest of us were even there was to set him up for the kill and then, if necessary, cover for him afterward. We were his support team. We were there to save his ass. To make sure he got out no matter what. Five men died for him, Clover. Jimmy, Naveed, Manuel, Roddy, and Rick all died for him. He was the only one who mattered. Charlie Beaufort saw to that.”
“Who the hell is Charlie Beaufort?”
“Well, that’s who my defection coordinator, Clayton Boseman, really was. He used a fake name to make my offer—just in case I said no, I guess. But I was recruited by one Charlie Beaufort. He’s a very dangerous man with the power of the government behind him. Charlie was having a greedy, power-hungry love affair with Collin Creed’s killing skills. As far as Charlie was concerned, Collin could do no wrong. Whatever he wanted, he got. Because he was Charlie’s loyal little attack dog. That’s all Collin was, just a sick fuckin’ dog foaming at the mouth for his next kill.”
Clover huffs. “Come on, now. That’s not Collin. I understand that he is dangerous. But a rabid dog he is not.”
“You don’t know him like I do.”
“Maybe not, but nothing you told me adds up to the hatred you have for him. Who cares if he turned you in? I mean, if he was military and you were military?” She shrugs with her hands. “Who cares? All’s fair in love and war, right?”
“Wow.” I blink at her. “That’s a really fucked-up thing to say.”
“It’s an expression, that’s all.”
“Well, to me? It’s gross. I hate Collin because I got him out of two messy retreats after his kill shot while I was on the team. I almost ended up like the rest of them. I put my life on the line for him. I was loyal and committed, one-hundred percent, and he sold me out. That’s how I got caught. It was Collin who got me sent to those tunnels for six years. Hattie was just the tool he used to do it.”
CHAPTER 19 - CLOVER
Everything about Riggs has changed over the last few seconds. His eyes seem darker, the muscles in his jaw are clenching, and his shoulders are tense. “‘All’s fair in love and war’ is nothing but an excuse.”
“I didn’t mean it that way.”
He lets out a long breath. “I know. But it’s so gross. It means… well, that anything and everything goes when you’re at war. And the whole world is at war. There’s no peace, not anywhere. And that expression, at least to me, is just a way to reconcile the evil everyone’s doing to one another.”
I don’t know what to say to that. I don’t know this man. Not really. I’ve seen him in a few select circumstances. I understand he’s dangerous. But this is something else. It’s a very serious moment. Like he’s explaining something deeply important to him.
All I can do is nod. “OK. I won’t say that again.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything. You don’t know any better.”
“But now I do. So I won’t say that again.”
He nods his head now, accepting my mea culpa.
“But Riggs, how do you know it was Collin who sold you out?”
“Hattie told me. She couldn’t wait to tell me.”
“But she must’ve figured out that you poisoned her so you could escape. Maybe she lied?”
“I thought of that. But my father admitted it as well. He was very proud of the fact that they got Collin Creed to give me up for a fat bonus.”
I’m shaking my head as he’s saying this. “I don’t believe it.”
“What’s not to believe?”
“Maybe I don’t know Collin these days, but he’s loyal. I mean, the whole reason he became a killer instead of some college football star is because a man tried to kidnap his sister. You don’t fuck with a man’s sister. And he saved Lowyn from that monster, Ike Monroe.”