Peyton Riley (10 page)

Chapter 13

They searched all night. Breaking his promise, Carson took Peyton to Amsterdam's real red light district—not the sex theme park all gussied up for the tourists with live mannequins and shop windows, but the grimy, underground warrens where the women were trafficked from Moldova and the thugs had more than hashish on their minds. It was not a pleasant experience for Peyton at all.

Dawn broke as they finished the last of Theo Karastis' haunts and, with mounting reluctance, Carson took them to the peeling houseboat near the city outskirts, where he had followed the young man so many days back.

They had not even reached the moored boat when blue and red lights ghosted through the icy morning. There was a barricade, an ambulance, a couple of police cars, and a crane. And in the jaws of the crane lay the bloated, disfigured corpse that had once been handsome Theo Karastis.

Carson slipped his hand into Peyton's and gripped it tight.

"She found out," said Peyton, in a voice so rote and mechanical it chilled Carson far more effectively than this non-spring could. "She found out and she killed him."

"We don't know that, Peyton."

"I do. That note. The one we found at her flat." She took a deep, shaky breath. "Roi was the only person who ever called me Smiley, and only when he was pissed off."

"That doesn't mean —"

"Carson!" she said sharply. "Anja knew. She knew the whole project. Carson, Anja is working for Roi to take us down." Suddenly the robotic calmness broke, and her face was filled with a wild-eyed panic. "I…I have to run."

"Peyton, no!" he held her arms. "Gustave—"

She struggled free, splitting her newly healed wound. "I don't care about Gustave!"

"Don't be scared of Roi." He followed her, arms out, gentling his voice as she edged towards the water.

"You don't know him."

"Peyton, we can protect you. I will protect you."

"No, you can't," she whispered. "Gustave can kill me if he wants…if Roi is after me, that'll be the least he can do."

"Peyton, please."

"I'm sorry, Carson," she said, leaning into him and his warmth. Suddenly she bowled into him so that he was lifted off his feet in surprise, and then she turned her shoulder with the pull of gravity and flipped him so that he fell into the water.

There was a splash, and Peyton ran for her life.
 

Chapter 14

The man stood by the floor-to-ceiling window, which extended the length of the conference room. He stared out the view of Central London in general and the Gherkin in particular, as though he was trying his best to ignore the signed sheaf of papers arranged in precise order on the meeting table behind him. A cloud of bluish smoke wreathed his face.

A door slid open, nearly soundless, and the man tugged his beard before he faced the intruder.

"Mr. Van Der Luyden," he said. His voice boomed and bristled, the studied, artificial cadence of a Great White Hunter. "I am so glad you were able to make the trip."

The pale man's colorless eyes studied the man against the window. "You didn't really leave me any choice. I take it we have an agreement?"

"Absolutely."

"Took you long enough to guarantee the price."

The man's mouth widened against his blonde beard and he gave a gallant shrug. "The markets," he said carelessly. "But that's all balderash now. What's important is I have your money. And the system?"

"If all conditions are certain," Van Der Luyden rubbed an imaginary speck from his lapel, "MR8-73610 is yours."

"Very well." A booming laugh answered him. "But that name though! Rather clinical for something so, well…exciting! Pinpoint, undetectable accuracy…why, I wonder why you would give it away?"

"Not giving," said Van Der Luyden, colorless eyes unblinking as he collected the contract. "No, not giving it away. I've perfected it, and have no use for it now. So I sell. And for the price that you are paying? You can call it whatever you want."

The man smiled as Van Der Luyden left. "I've got just the perfect name."

**THE END**

Scorched Earth
Takedown Book 3
 

Peyton Riley is running for her life.

She's always been a survivor, but she's never been in a pickle like this. Her boss, the man she had come to fear and respect, and the only constant in her peripatetic and dangerous life, is after her–and it doesn't seem like he intends a harmless catch-up. But he's not the only one looking for Peyton. There's her sometime partner-in-crime and occasional hook-up (it's complicated) Carson Varis. Law enforcement is also interested in her boss's shadowy business dealings, thinking she's the key to unraveling them.

And then there are those dealings themselves. What's her boss up to? Somehow, Peyton doesn't think getting back at a former employee is the worst thing on his agenda…