“It’s a really deep connection, isn’t it?” Wade asked.

  “It’s incredibly deep,” Rick murmured, “and yet, at the same time, it feels normal and natural, like it’s been there forever.”

  “It probably has been,” Wade stated. “At least, in her mind, she had to go pretty deep to do whatever she was doing, so I’m sure that connection spans a lifelong arc.”

  Rick added, “Maybe she can work on disconnecting, and it would be different. She’d still have the energy tied to me to a certain extent, but it wouldn’t be anywhere near as intense.”

  “I don’t know, dude,” Wade replied. “I’d probably not go that route.”

  “Why not?” Rick asked Wade.

  “Because I think it would always feel like you were missing a part of yourself.”

  Rick stopped and stared at his friend at that mention. “I hadn’t considered that.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t have either, if I hadn’t discovered how great things could be with Sophia.”

  “Yeah, you’ll have to fill me in on that at some point.”

  “Back to Cara,” Wade said. “I know that you’re more affected by her than you’re quite willing to put out there right now—and I get that. I really do. I just hope you end up working it out. She’s pretty special.”

  “Of course she’s pretty special, but she needs to be special for other reasons than just her abilities,” Rick argued.

  Wade laughed. “And see? You would never have said something like that before. Not in a million years. All of us on the team were bemoaning not having someone, who could understand our gifts, even share them. And you know how rare a commodity we are. So finding partners so aligned to us? It must be an astronomical feat that the four of us, so far, have found someone. So I’m not buying that statement from you, buddy. You’re running scared. And Cara’s perfect for you.”

  Rick groaned. “It feels like there’s this disconnect. There was before, and there’s now.”

  “And that’s exactly how it is,” Wade agreed. “Why fight it? You obviously care.”

  Cal spoke up then. “I agree with everything Wade just said. You are looking a rare and beautiful gift in the mouth, my friend.”

  “I care, but is it real caring?” he asked. “I mean, after what I’ve been through and what she has done, is what I’m feeling for real, or is it just superficial—or something else entirely, like gratitude?” He shook his head. “I can’t even describe it.”

  “Yeah, well, don’t, … particularly when you’re doing such a crappy job of it.” At that, Wade’s grin flashed again.

  That simple act reminded Rick that everything going on between him and Cara was practically a public spectacle at headquarters. Not by his choice, but it was something he would really struggle with when this fact-finding mission into who attacked the team was over.

  The sudden noise up ahead had the trio going silent. With hand signals, Rick and Wade neared the house, while Cal went wider into the trees. He was on perimeter watch and could jump in as needed. Rick and Wade shifted around to the side of the house, checking the windows as they went. Inside, one man walked around, talking on a phone, but they couldn’t hear the conversation. That in itself was frustrating. With his face turned away from them, it was hard to also identify him.

  As Rick watched through the curtain, hidden and still, he heard the man shout.

  “No, it’s not good enough, dammit. She’s helping them, so we need to take her out. No, I’m talking about permanently.”

  At that, Rick’s blood ran cold. He looked over to see Wade’s gaze harden as he too studied the scene he could see through that window. They didn’t have any proof of who they were talking about killing, but, in his heart of hearts, Rick knew.

  “You set it up, and you take her down,” the man snarled into the phone. “I don’t care how many others go at the same time, but you make sure she’s done.” After listening to the other person on his call, the yelling man added, “Jesus, there can’t be any more of the team still up and running as it is. All eight were supposed to be done and gone. How the hell is this even something that’s still up for discussion?” With that, he tossed his phone down onto the table, then walked over to the sideboard and poured himself a stiff drink.

  Rick understood the feeling. The last thing he wanted was to have this guy wandering around, causing chaos with Cara. The team had to make sure that this was done tonight, but they also had to track whoever the hell it was who was taking the orders on the other end of the call.

  Just then, another man walked into the kitchen. “Did you get a hold of Charlie?”

  “I did. He doesn’t agree with taking her down.”

  “What the hell?” he asked seriously. “I would have thought that was a given.”

  “Yeah, me too,” he snarled. He tossed back his drink and looked at his partner. “What the hell’s going on here anyway? We were promised that they would all be taken out permanently. Did they even get one? What a fucking mess.”

  “I know,” his partner agreed. “We should never have sublet that job. That’s the problem.”

  “Hell. It was sublet to us as it was,” he snapped, “and they’re on our case now too.”

  “Of course they are,” he muttered. “The fact that anyone on the team is alive blows me away. The incompetence is another level altogether.”

  “That team must have help from somewhere. My vote is that woman. Trouble is, they’ve gone to ground, and I don’t know where they are.” He poured himself a second drink.

  “Hey. Go easy on that stuff.”

  “Why?” he snapped. “This has all gone to shit, and you know it.”

  “How bad do you think it is?”

  “I suspect we have a couple days, maybe a week,” he murmured, “and then I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there isn’t a contract on our heads for failing to complete the job.”

  “Shit,” he murmured. “That’s not what I want to hear.”

  “It’s the last damn thing I want to be saying,” he added, “but you and I both know what happens if we fail.”

  “Well, failure wasn’t supposed to be in the cards on this job.” He stared at the other man. “How the hell did that even happen?”

  “It’s that bloody Terk and his team,” he roared into the night. “Somehow they survived.”

  “I thought this was supposed to be cutting-edge technology. Sounds to me like it was a trial run, and they didn’t know whether it would work or not, yet convinced you that it would.”

  “Oh. So I’m to blame now?” He shot his partner an ugly look.

  “Hey, I’m not saying that at all. Calm down. All I’m saying is that we need to solve this, and we need to solve it now.”

  “If you’ve got any answers, fly at it,” he spat. “Charlie is already telling me that taking out the woman will be too many deaths too quickly.”

  “Well, he has a point,” the other man agreed cautiously.

  At that, the first man spun on him. “Don’t you start with me now. I’ve got enough on my plate without listening to that crap.”

  “I get it. You think that she had some ability to help them. I don’t know where you got that idea, but, even if she did, if they’re not around, she can’t do a thing.”

  “Do you really want somebody out there who can heal people like she can?”

  “Are you sure you haven’t been dipping in that bottle a little too much?” he asked. “She’s a nurse. That’s all.”

  “Yeah, says you. I want her dead.”

  “I get it. I hear you. You want her dead, and you’ve already placed the order. So that’s fine, but we can’t keep doing this,” he said. “If you find someone else who’s trying to keep somebody alive, or doing whatever your head thinks they’re doing, we can’t just keep popping peripheral people. We’re trying to take out one group. Those are the ones we need to focus on. Forget everybody else.”

  “I know the job. I get it, and I’m really not losing it. You know that, right?” He looked over at his buddy, as if seeking reassurance.

  The second man nodded. “I know, man. We’re all a little stressed and a bit overwhelmed right now. What was supposed to be a quick in-and-out job has turned into a complete FUBAR mission, and a lot of pain is to come if we don’t solve this.”

  “A lot of pain is right,” he agreed, “and not just for me. That’ll be on you too.”

  At that, his friend stiffened. “How many people even know I’m involved in this?” he asked.

  “Everybody. Do you think I didn’t document this?” he asked. “Do you think I’ll be the fool who gets left holding the bag at the end of the day? Hell no.”

  What happened next was almost preordained, but it was still shocking, as the second man pulled out a handgun and shot the first one at point-blank range, right through the heart. Rick and Wade stared at each other. What the hell? Had the reins of this whole nightmare changed hands, or were they now dealing with one less person and had something to rejoice?

  Rick quickly sent a message to Terk about what had happened. Terk immediately cautioned them on quiet discretion, a reminder they didn’t need. This was their job; … this is what they did.

  It’s just that they usually had more intel to go on, which was crucial, because, so far, this had ended up being a steady stream of bodies and very little forward progress. But they did know a little more than last time, and, with that intel firmly transferred to Terk, they swept around to the far side of the house to make sure no new arrivals were on scene.

  Taking full advantage of the fact that the remaining guy was busy collecting all the incriminating materials in the house, preparing to make his escape, they slipped inside.

  When the killer returned to the living room, he came to a dead stop because they stood in his face, each holding a gun on him. “Good God,” he murmured. “He really was an idiot, wasn’t he?”

  “He really was,” they murmured right back.

  He shook his head. “I’m not quite so stupid.”

  “Considering you’re disarmed at the moment and trying to get out of here,” Rick noted, “we’re not exactly sure who and what you are.”

  “Ah, so I finally ended up being somebody you don’t know. Ha. I’m just the broker.”

  “Just the broker? Meaning what?”

  “Meaning, I’m the one who parlayed one job into another. If I’d realized what a pain in the ass you guys would be, I’d never have gone in that direction.”

  “Then you didn’t do your research,” Wade noted, his voice hard. “Of all the things that we’re known for, being a pain in the ass is pretty much a no-brainer.”

  “Yeah, of course. Nobody told me that ahead of time. So now what?” With his hands still up, he searched their faces. “We could make a deal,” he murmured. “I’m quite open to that.”

  “I’m sure you are,” Wade murmured. “The question is, what will we get out of it?”

  “Names, dates, places.” He shrugged. “I really don’t care. I just want to get out of this. Obviously it’s time for a career change.”

  “Are you that good at disappearing?” Rick asked him curiously. “You’re connected to this mess, and, so far, anybody with a connection has been wiped out. Is the industry always that tough on its local hires?”

  “It’s not the industry,” he stated. “It’s this damn job.”

  “Yeah, well, that happens when you broker deals to kill people.”

  He shrugged. “That’s what I always do. However, in this case, you guys ended up being a bigger pain in the ass than we had run across before.”

  “You want to explain just what’s going on here?”

  “Somebody wanted your team dead. We accepted the job, but pawned it off on another group to carry it out,” he said. “I’m not even sure how many of your team are alive. We collected half the money up front, and we were supposed to take payment for the rest afterward, upon proof of death—until they found out that Terk was alive. Terk was supposed to be taken out, but then somebody found out that another one of you was alive,” he added. “Since then, it’s just been this never-ending nightmare with more of you guys popping up all the time.”

  “And what about the attacks on the IT people working for us?”

  “We were trying to flush somebody out in each case,” he explained. “I don’t even know all the details. I didn’t want to know. As far as I was concerned, those guys we hired were supposedly pros and should have been able to do the job. Obviously I was wrong.” He looked at Wade and Rick with a genial smile. “On the other hand, it’s brought us to where we are now, gentlemen, and it sounds like it’s your lucky day.”

  “In what way is it my lucky day?” Wade asked. “You better think hard before you speak right now because you two just sent somebody to kill a woman we care a lot about.”

  “Ah. But, if you had listened, you would have heard me say no.”

  “But the order has already been sent off,” Rick stated quietly. “So how much is that no actually worth?”

  “I can call it off,” he said instantly. “I can tell him there’s no money. That’ll stop all of it.”

  “Now you’ve proven yourself to be a liar. Nice try. No, it won’t. We’ve already seen that on this bloody mission,” Rick replied. “There’s always somebody trying to break into the business or to climb the ladder.”

  “Oh, that punk. Sean.” He brightened. “You must be the ones who took out him and his family. Thanks for that, by the way. Just entirely too many people were on this job, and I was getting very nervous. I’ve been making plans to get out of here myself for more than a few days now.”

  “Yeah, sounds like you have better survival instincts than these other guys do.”

  “I do,” he agreed. “They put all their eggs in one basket and gambled on a new system that was supposed to stop you guys from ever doing whatever it is that you do. And believe me. I don’t want to know,” he stated. “Some things in life need to stay closed up in order to keep your sanity, and that is one of them.”

  “I agree with you there,” Rick stated. “The problem is, you’re already involved, and, if you’re already involved, that’s bad news for all of us.”

  “Nope, nope, nope.” He shook his head. “It isn’t … because I’m not involved. Like I said, I brokered the deal, that was it. Yet they kept screwing up, so I had to keep brokering more deals. Now you’re here. It’s all good. We can go.”

  “Go where?” Rick asked curiously. This guy clearly had an agenda. Rick didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t trust him, and he knew that in no way would Wade either.

  “We need to leave here,” the broker said, “because somebody’ll be coming pretty damn fast.”

  “Yeah, and who’s that?”

  “Well, he already called in, looking for the job on that woman. Nobody does these deals without the money upfront anymore, so whoever it is my buddy called is coming to get the money.”

  “In that case,” Rick noted, “I’m not going anywhere.”

  The broker laughed. “Don’t be a fool. You could take him out even if you were blindfolded. You’ve been making idiots out of all of them this whole time.”

  “Hardly.” Rick’s tone was even harder than he expected. “You guys are the ones causing all kinds of chaos here. We need to get to the bottom of it and find out who’s behind it all.”

  “So, if you’re the broker, let’s hear it,” Wade snapped. “Who hired you?”

  “I don’t know who it was,” he replied. “You don’t really think we do names in this industry, do you?”

  “Who put out this original nightmare contract?” Rick asked.

  “Was it a new client?” Wade asked.

  At that, the broker stopped. “Now that’s a really interesting question,” he murmured, as he studied Rick. “How about I let you have some information on the house, and the rest is for sale?”

  At that, Rick immediately shoved his gun against the broker’s head. “How about I let you have a few breaths of air, while I decide which is the best way to kill you?”

  “Hey now, you really don’t have to get difficult.” The broker held up his hands in a placating manner. “I’m quite willing to share. I don’t mind at all. It’s not like I’ll have anything more to do with this lot. At the same time, I really don’t want to go down if I don’t need to.”

  At times, this man was oddly honest, but it also made both Rick and Wade feel uneasy. Rick looked over at Wade, who was staring at the guy as if he’d come from Mars. Right, that’s exactly how I feel, Rick told Wade telepathically.

  “We come up against opportunists all the time,” Wade murmured, “but not generally one this eager.” Wade gave a quick glance to Rick.

  “He’s probably just trying to get out of Dodge, before anybody else finds out he’s involved, and he’s looking at us to do it for him,” Rick suggested.

  “Why the hell would we do that?” Wade asked. “He’s the one who set up the hits on us.”

  The broker immediately shook his head. “I wish I could call them off. Really, guys. But, once the contract has gone out, it can’t be rescinded.”

  “I don’t know if we should even believe a word this guy says,” Wade noted. “You know he’s bound to be lying through his teeth.”

  “Why would I lie about something like that?” the broker snapped. “It would be in my best interests if I could call it off for you guys. I need you to get me out of here, free and clear.”

  “And why would we do that again?”

  “Because I can give you all kinds of information,” he repeated.

  “But nothing you’ve given us so far leads us to believe you’ve got anything the least bit helpful. If you can’t call off the contract, and you won’t tell us who hired you, what good are you?” Rick replied in disgust.

  “Well, I do know about lots of other contracts that I put in place,” the broker added. “Now that they know that you’re alive and well, they’re out there hunting for the rest of your team.”

  At that, Wade stiffened. “And who are they hunting?”

  He frowned. “I’m not sure. I think his name was Brody or something. They are close to running down his location, I think.”