Assassin (9 page)

You see she was looking for my parent’s old place, but they
died about six months prior to her appearance. I guess she was hoping that she
could dump the kid there, but no such luck. So she started asking around town,
and someone got the bright idea of telling her I still lived here. So she
showed up here, pretended that she wanted to get sober, and maybe she did!” Grant
heaves out a sigh that sounds as if he’s trying to get the memories out of
himself.

“But she didn’t. Forty eight hours later she was gone, and
Cassidy was still in my living room. I called the orphanage I came from when I
was a kid, and told them what happened. They informed me that I had to call
child services and Cassidy would be transported to a foster home for the time
being. Yet when they showed up, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was dooming
her to a life in the foster care system. What if she didn’t find a home that
was as good as mine?

So to end this long story before I’m too winded, I adopted
her. It took me months to be approved and get her back, but I did. She was two
at that point, and she already had abandonment issues. Those first few years
were Hell, but I could see what people in town couldn’t. The moments when she
was calm and sweet with my one horse. So I got more in hopes that it would help
her heal.”

They’re both silent as Troy tries to digest all of this. His
head is still aching, but it’s no longer pounding, and he’s no longer sweating.
He’ll have to tell Cassidy to cancel that doctor’s appointment. It was probably
just nerves from assuming someone was calling about him.

“Dad?” Cassidy steps into the living room from the kitchen
doorway and both men jump guiltily. She has an eyebrow quirked, and Troy
glances over to see Grant quickly sniffing back a few tears.

“I’m fine, just some allergies, kid. How’s Reese?” She puts
a hand on her hip and cocks it as she glances at Troy to see if he’ll offer an
explanation, but he doesn’t.

“He’s alright, I guess. Do you feel up to coming out to the
barn tonight, or are you going to stay here?” She still sounds suspicious, but
it’s obvious that neither one of them are going to talk about what they were
just discussing. Maybe she can drag it out of Troy when he’s alone, but first
she has to get him alone.

“I’ll be out in ten. Let me just grab a quick shower and
change.” Grant gives the man a warning look, and then he says goodnight to his
daughter. He catches Troy by the elbow at the top of the stairs, and he doesn’t
need to say a word to convey his meaning. This man had better not tell Cassidy
about tonight, or he’ll pay for it.

“Goodnight, Grant.” Troy whispers before he slips down the
hall and into his room. His hands are shaking as he turns on the water and
stands in the heated spray. It took all of his mental control not to pummel
Grant in the face for touching him like that, and it frightened him. Troy
doesn’t want to be a monster anymore.

Cassidy is gone from the house when Troy gets downstairs, so
he grabs a quick snack of three crackers. He feels much better after his purge,
but he doesn’t want to push it by eating something heavy. After his crackers,
he makes sure to drink two full glasses of water to rehydrate himself and tries
not to think about what will be happening in two days’ time. He’ll be boarding
a plane to testify against some of the people who hired him, and he’ll be
dishonoring his vow of silence on the matters. All so that he can obtain
revenge for his sister and niece’s murders, and so that he can be a free man.

But is this really being a free man?

Pushing that thought aside, Troy heads out to the barn and
finds Cassidy sitting with her laptop open in the corner of the stall with
Reese’s Pieces sleeping beside her. The foal’s head turns when the stall door
opens, but as soon as he sees that it’s Troy, he goes back to sleep. Making
himself comfortable, Troy switches on the small reading light he found in the
living room and starts reading the book Cassidy’s father had,
Of Mice and
Men.
He’s not much into reading, but he doesn’t want to tempt himself tonight
by watching another movie with Cassidy.

“I’m going to pick you up tomorrow morning at seven. Don’t
be late. And wear something respectable!” Moonlight Rogers doesn’t need to
chide Troy, but he’s beginning to think that Moonie likes chastising him with
just a tone. He rolls his eyes to the ceiling as he waits for this dreaded
phone call to end.

“Will I be coming back here afterwards?” There’s no one else
in the kitchen, but Troy knows that Grant and Cassidy are listening from the
living room. The television is turned down so low that a cat would have trouble
hearing it.

“I can’t tell you that. What I can tell you is that if you
have any unfinished business there, you’d better wrap it up in case.”
Frustrated by the agent’s lack of cooperation, Troy leans against the wall and
balls a hand into a fist. He’s been working on his anger lately, but the
reminder of his old life is bringing back old habits.

“Right, well I’ll see you early tomorrow morning, Moonie.
Don’t forget to wear your sunglasses, it’s supposed to be sunny in LA.” There
isn’t even a breath on the other end before Mr. Rogers hangs up the phone, and
Troy sets the phone back into its cradle. He tries not to grind his teeth
together because it’s unhealthy, but they’re starting on their own accord.

“That bad, huh?” Cassidy asks as she brings in her empty
bowl that had ice cream in it only moments before. Troy nods as he lets his
fingers relax and tries to adopt his usual expression of indifference. It’s
difficult, but he manages it.

“So you won’t be helping with Reese’s Pieces tonight?” He
wants to tell her that he might not be helping with Reese’s Pieces ever again,
but he keeps his mouth shut and just shakes his head.

“No, I’ll come out with you.” Cassidy grabs her laptop off
the kitchen table as Troy gathers the ingredients for the formula and shakes it
up in a bottle for the foal. The poor guy will be two weeks old tomorrow, but
he’s growing just like any other foal. The veterinarian was in today to let
them know that everything with Reese’s Pieces is normal.

“Goodnight, Grant!” Troy waves his free hand once before he
follows after Cassidy. She’s done something different with her hair tonight,
and Troy furrows his brows when he sees that she’s wearing a touch of makeup on
her face. In fact, she’s wearing a skirt and a tank top, which is impractical
for the weather. Just before they get out the front door, Troy grabs two
blankets from the hall closet. She’s going to need them.

As soon as he steps outside, he wishes he had grabbed a
sweatshirt himself. The air is cool, and they’ll have to put a few blankets
over Reese’s Pieces to keep him warm. The other horses are already starting to
sleep after their nightly meal, and Cassidy wastes no time in feeding the foal
after she sets her laptop on the feed trough.

“Don’t put the blankets down. I want to stay up on the loft
tonight.” Suspicious now, Troy leaves her to take care of getting a blanket for
Reese’s Pieces, and returns with two. He settles them over the foal’s back, and
tries to get a glimpse of Cassidy’s face. She turns from him at the last second
and grabs her laptop.

Still curious as to why she’s avoiding speaking to him; Troy
follows her with the blankets in hand. Cassidy waits for him to spread one over
the fine filaments of hay on the wooden floor, and then she sits down with her
back to the wall. Sitting down next to her, he spreads a blanket out over her
bare legs and rubs his hands together to get some warmth into them.

“So you’re leaving tomorrow.” It’s not a question, so Troy
doesn’t answer her. She opens up the laptop and stares at the blank screen for
a long time. “Will you come back?” It’s barely a whisper. Understanding dawns
on him when he puts two and two together. Cassidy wore enticing clothes and
tried to dress herself up without looking too obvious in front of her father
because she knows that he might not be coming back after the trial.

His cover probably won’t be blown here, but there’s a
possibility that the agents won’t want to take the risk.

“I don’t know.” He tells her truthfully as he looks down at
his hands forming fists on his thighs. The scent of lavender washes over him as
she shifts closer and he feels the familiar warmth leaving his other limbs and
flooding somewhere else. “Cassidy,” He warns, but she’s already putting a soft
hand on his.

“Troy, I’m experiencing-” He cuts her off with a finger to
her lips and a warning look in his eyes. He knows exactly what she’s going to
say, and he doesn’t want to hear her say it aloud. It’ll make leaving just that
much harder.

Her hand is moving up his arm until it’s resting on the back
of his neck, which is a feat for someone much shorter than him. The pink streak
in her hair is curled and falls forward into her face as she tilts her head
down so that Troy’s hand is cupping her cheek. He feels the moment she blushes
and fumbles for something to say to her.

“We shouldn’t. It’ll only make it that much harder for you
to accept if I don’t come back.” Sleeping with other women has always been so
easy, but actually getting to know someone and considering them a friend is
different. Cassidy Grant slipped in under his ribcage to his heart like no
other woman has been able to do just by showing him herself.

“But what if you don’t come back? I’ll regret never taking
the chance when I had it. I
want
you, Troy.” The name slices through him
and reminds him momentarily of why he shouldn’t be doing this, but he gently
closes the laptop lid with his free hand.

Cassidy’s gulping with nervousness when he pulls it off her
lap and replaces the warm spot with his large hand. She’s not foreign to sex,
but she’s also not exactly an expert on the matter. Troy Red is most likely not
a novice with his good looks and the dark, enchanting way he carries himself.
She’s sure that plenty of women have thrown themselves at him, and for a
heartbeat she wonders if she’s being  a fool to do the same.
Who cares?

“Your father is going to kill me if he ever finds out.” Troy
mumble as his hand starts to slip up under her skirt. The heat his fingers meet
shocks him, and he can’t help the grin on his face as he moves in closer and
bends down to take her lips with his. He’s met no resistance of cloth, and
marvels at her bravery in going commando with such a short skirt.

“He won’t find out.” She whispers as he pushes her down onto
the blanket.

The ability to speak is gone when he slips a finger under
the hem of her tank top and brushes it over her erect nipple. Cassidy’s
corresponding gasp hits him in the gut like a punch would, and he inhales sharply
when she does. Wasting no time, he pulls down the straps of her shirt until he
has her bra exposed, and unsnaps it deftly. It’s obvious he’s done this a
thousand times.

What she doesn’t know is that he’s never spent so much time
making sure that a woman is getting her fill before he gets his. She’s gasping,
and her cheeks are flushed as he teases just her breasts, palming them and
pinching at the nipples until the moment that she becomes rigid under him. His
nose brushes against the spot where her neck begins, and he kisses her there
softly.

“You’re beautiful,” He tells her with a thick voice, kissing
a trail up her neck to her earlobe. His teeth come down gently there, and she’s
reminded of the time that she tugged on his. Trying to reciprocate the pleasure,
she reaches a hand up to tug on his earlobe gently again, and smiles when she
gets a muffled hiss in return.

“I could say the same about you,” she whispers as her hands
reach down to unbutton his jeans. This is risky, but it’s the only chance they
might get. So she pulls his jeans off his hips and feels the weight of him in
her hands.

“Good enough?” He asks with amusement as she strokes him
until he’s as hard as a rock. Cassidy doesn’t answer him, well, not with words.
She lets him push up her skirt until he can cup her bottom and bring her in
close. It’s not how he imagined it would be because it’s much better than that.

Cassidy’s gasp of surprise fuels him as he inches into her
slowly and waits for her to adjust. Then he takes her up and over the edge over
and over again. He has to keep a hand over her mouth to keep in her screams as
she orgasms. When he’s not holding them in with his hand, he’s tangling his
tongue with hers to swallow them. Troy’s body becomes rigid suddenly as he
loses his control and spills into her, and then he keeps going.

The alarm on Cassidy’s laptop is glaringly loud when it
begins at five thirty in the morning. Troy rolls over on the blanket and
immediately clicks the button to get it to stop, and glance at Cassidy’s sleepy
face. Her hair is mussed, and her lips are swollen from his kisses. She’s the
most beautiful person he’s ever seen in the morning, and he wants nothing more
than to stay here with her forever.

“You should clean up. You look as if you’ve been ravaged all
night.” Cassidy’s tinkling laughter at his words makes him hard all over again,
and he has to inch away from her to keep from letting her know just how much
just the sound of her voice makes him excited.

“You know, I’ve heard morning sex is the best.” Her hand
snakes out to take him in it, and Troy growls when she starts to stroke
rhythmically. Before she can utter another word, he pulls her on top and slams
her down hard. Cassidy’s shocked squeak is breathy and enticing.

He doesn’t make it back to the house until six in the
morning and manages to sneak past the kitchen without attracting Grant’s
attention. They had to stop several times the previous night to feed Reese’s
Pieces but in between those times they were busy getting busy. His shower is
bitter cold and fast, but it does nothing to help the turmoil inside.

After brushing his teeth three times, Troy figures there is
no more that he can do to waste time before he has to go down and face the old
man. Breakfast is waiting on the table when he gets down there, along with a
much more proper looking Cassidy. Their eyes meet for a millisecond before Troy
starts into his breakfast like his life depends on it. He doesn’t want Grant
asking any questions about last night.

“So that guy’s going to pick you up at seven?” Grant is
looking at the clock on the stove when he asks, and Troy glances in its
direction. He has ten minutes to be completely ready before Moonlight Rogers is
on Grant’s doorstep knocking. Something tells Troy he won’t be late.

“Yeah, seven.” He grabs his plate and rinses it in the sink.
Cassidy appears next to him and her arm brushes against his bare one. The hairs
stand on end at contact, and he tries to hide the way his body reacts to her
proximity. It was the best one night stand he’s ever had, and will ever have.
Troy is certain of that.

He puts his plate and fork in the dishwasher before he goes
to the hall bathroom to wash up one more time. Looking at himself in the
mirror, he realizes that he’s changed. He looks the same, but there is
something lacking in his eyes that used to be there. The cold, rigid Robert
Trenton is missing. He’s been replaced with Troy Red, a man who wants nothing
more than to stay on this farm and take care of a foal while he’s sleeping with
a beautiful woman on the loft. If only he had just a few more days, a few more
hours
.

Gritting his teeth against the physical pain of knowing that
he might not come back to see her again, Troy swallows his agony and flushes
the toilet to give himself an excuse for spending so much time in the bathroom.
Then he wanders out to the kitchen, sits down in the chair, and stares at the
table in front of him with a fist resting on the cheap wood. The doorbell
rings.

Grant answers it, calls to Troy that his ride has arrived,
and Cassidy’s eyes begin to fill as she leans against the kitchen counter. Her
chest is tight, and she’s having a hard time breathing, but she doesn’t allow
the moisture to fall. Glancing at the doorway that leads to the hall where the
front door is, Troy stands up from the table. The chair scrapes against the
floor in the deadening silence and he turns to leave.

Realizing that Grant will probably never see him again
either, Troy closes the distance between himself and Cassidy. He grabs her by
the shoulders and pulls her up so that she’s sitting on the kitchen countertop.
Her look of utter shock replaces the devastation on her face, and Troy leans
down to kiss her roughly before he leaves. He won’t promise her that he’ll come
back because that could easily be broken.

“I’ll do my best to come back.” That he can promise her. She
chokes on a sob as he turns his back on her with hunched shoulders and brushes
past her father’s shocked face. He obviously didn’t have a clue, but now he
knows.

“Troy Red, I see you’ve been getting a good tan.” Moonlight
Rogers smiles as he leads Troy out to the blue mini-cooper and opens up the
passenger door. Slipping inside, Troy sees Cassidy standing in the doorway with
a few tears trailing down her flushed cheeks, and he sees her bewildered father
behind her.

“Yeah, got a good tan.” Troy whispers as he raises a hand in
farewell.

He thought the hurt would dissipate as they got further and
further away from the Grant residence, but it’s as if his heart is trying to
leave his body behind to be where it wants. Moonlight hasn’t said much as they
drive through the mountains the same way they came. There’s something playing
on the radio about little submarines, but the words don’t mean much to Troy.
It’s the melody that has him coughing to hide the tears.

I should have told her I love her.

“Well, this will be your hotel room until the trial is over.
These two are your escorts, or whatever you want to call them. No, you’re not
permitted to sleep with them.” Both men who have been stationed to guard Troy
look at him with worry and disgust. He can’t bring himself to retaliate. “You
are not permitted to leave this room, Troy. I mean it. There will be no
phonecalls from this room, no letters, no texts, no nothing from you, not a
damned peep! After the trial, well, I’ll tell you when that time comes. If you
make it until then.” Moonlight Rogers smiles sickeningly and turns on his heel
to leave.

“Wait!” Troy grabs the small man by the shoulder and spins
him around before he can leave.

“What?” The poor guy looks as if he just wants to high tail
it to his next job, but it’s as if he’s sucked back in again and again with
this guy.

“Can
you
deliver a message?” Shocked, Mr. Rogers
crosses his arms over his chest as he puffs it up and looks Troy up and down
once.

“What message?” Troy opens his mouth to tell Moonlight to
let Cassidy know that he loves her, and then it gets stuck in his throat. Would
she appreciate it coming from someone like Moonlight instead of from his own
lips? Would she think it cowardly or low that he didn’t say it to her face
himself that morning?

“Never mind,” Dejected, Troy lets go of Moonlight Rogers and
watches the man take him in one more time before he leaves.

The two thugs in suits standing outside of his suite door
are a bit evident, but Troy doesn’t care about that. He sits down on the hotel
bed and stares at the blank flat screen on the wall. The one he’s been staring
at for the past two weeks is an old fashioned floor model with no HD. It would
only hurt more if he flipped on this one to see the clear picture.

The trial is not for another two hours, and it will be
packed outside of the courtroom. Troy would feel safe if he was in a jail cell
right now, but he doesn’t want to say that out loud. If one of the agents heard
him, they might take him seriously. Instead, he lies back on the covers and
stares at the ceiling. Perhaps he could grab a few hours of sleep.

But the ceiling is staring at him like some type of eye, and
he cannot close his for fear that something more sinister will play behind his
dark lids. Swallowing the urge to scream, Troy sits up and glances at the
window. It probably wouldn’t be safe to open up the curtains even though he’s
twelve stories in the air. He begins to pace, and by the time one of the agents
opens up the door to let him know that his ride has arrived, Troy’s legs are
sore.

“Look, I need you to deliver a message if I don’t make it through
this.” He sits down on the bed and puts his face in his hands as he tries to
psych himself up for what he’s going to say next. “I need you to find Cassidy
Grant and tell her that I love her. But only if I’m not alive after this. Not
that I don’t trust your guys’ skills, but I know some of the people who are
after me. They’re just as good as you.” When he looks up, the agent has a frown
on his face, and it’s obvious to Troy that he probably won’t deliver the
message no matter what. Irritation scratches at his mind.

“Do you know why there were two
male
agents assigned
to you?” The other agent is leaning against the bedroom door frame with a sneer
on his face. He doesn’t wait for Troy to answer him. “Maggie transferred to
another
state
because she couldn’t live with herself after what she did
to Nick.” It takes Troy a second to realize they’re talking about the agent he
slept with. His own sneer comes over his face. It seems like ages ago that
happened.

“Good, she was a bitch and deserved to be embarrassed. She
cheated on a good guy.” The agent in front of him rolls his eyes as he turns
away from Troy and marches from the room. Realizing that the conversation is
over, Troy uncurls his fingers and flattens them on his thigh so that they’re
not in a fist anymore. His heart is pounding in his chest with fear as he
stands.

The walk down the hall to the elevator is too short and long
at the same time. It’s as if he’s trying to memorize everything around him as
he follows the agents. The carpet is puke brown while the walls are an off-white.
Each door is peach in color with brass numbers on them to let the resident know
they’re at the proper room. The elevators are silver, and on the inside they
look exactly like the hallway.

Even the music that is playing makes him want to vomit.

The streets outside are bustling with people, but they all
stay clear of the two men in suits with their hulking captive. Troy ducks his
head as he gets into the black SUV alongside the curb. He runs a hand through
his hair and looks down at the crisp jeans he put on that morning. He’s still
wearing his clothes from the farm and realizes that he was supposed to change
too late.

Fuck them and their fancy clothes; I’d rather look like
this. At least I know this is who I was met to be.

Troy stares out the window at the people on the streets
going about their daily business. His gut twists as they drive into the legal district
of Los Angeles, and then his insides turn to ice when he sees the building they
will be entering. It’s tall and too white to his eyes with three statues that
look as if they’re hanging from the stone above the door. Troy’s eyes narrow as
he sees the glass doors, and his mouth goes dry when he sees the cameras all
gathered around the front entrance.

The SUV bypasses the front entrance and pulls around the
back. There are fewer reporters out back, but there are a few. As soon as the
door opens, they start snapping pictures. No one knows his name, or why he’s
here, but they’re hoping to get their career boosting story and begin to shout
out questions. The agents make sure that Troy is escorted into the building
quickly, and bypass security as they make their way to the courtroom.

Outside of the room, he sits on a bench as he waits for his
turn in the room. The trial has already begun, and he tries to tell himself
that it will only take a few minutes in there. He’ll say his piece and leave.
When he gets out of that room, he’ll demand that they take him back to the
Grant farm. If they refuse, he’ll take his identification with him and return
himself.

One thing nags at the back of his mind. What if, by going
back there, he leads someone back to the farm that might harm Cassidy and her
father? Before he can analyze that thought any further, Troy is called into the
courtroom. He is escorted to the front by an officer in uniform, and a woman
close to the front gives him a wicked glare as he sits down in the seat on the
stand. He’s sworn in quickly, and the Judge tells the prosecutor to proceed.

“Please state your name for the record.” Troy clears his
throat and almost says the name he’s had for the past fourteen days, and then
checks himself.

“Robert Trenton.” He responds in a clear voice. A few people
shuffle and cough in the rows behind the prosecution and the defense.

“Mr. Trenton, for the record, please state what it is that
you did for a living.” Suddenly it’s as if an alien has taken over his body. His
lips twitch up at the corners in his cocky grin that he developed while he was
a teenager to defend against judgment, and looks the jury in the eyes.

“I was a hit man, killer for hire, whatever you want to call
it. I was paid to kill someone.” A few of the women look startled by his straightforward
candor, and the men narrow their eyes. If they could hang him, they would. But
he’s protected for the time being.

“Mr. Trenton is it true that on June 13 of this year 2013
you were called by Mr. Yukon?” The prosecutor motions towards the man sitting
on the defense’s side and Troy narrows his eyes.

“Yes.” He responds in a deadly calm voice. The man sitting
there is a balding, squat man with beady eyes that are the color of charcoal.
He has sweat on the bald spot, and he looks everything like a rat should.

“Is it also true that Mr. Yukon asked you to murder his
colleague, Gary Ingles, for the sum of thirty five thousand dollars?” The
tension in the room is palatable, and Troy cannot look away from the beady eyed
little man. This twerp is the man who hired someone to kill his family.

“Yes.” There’s a collective murmuring through the crowd, and
the Judge bangs his gavel to get everyone to quiet down. Troy glances around at
the sea of faces and grimaces when he sees someone sketching on a notepad. That
sketch will show up in tomorrow’s newspaper. He’d bet money on it.

“And did you kill Mr. Ingles for Mr. Yukon, Mr. Trenton?”
The air feels heavy, and it’s suddenly hard to breathe, but he tries not to
show it by taking in controlled, slow breaths.