Wife for a Week(45)
‘You can’t,’ she said pleadingly. ‘You need me.’
‘To do what?’ He was back to roaring.
‘To go back to the shop and cancel the hit.’
He stared at her in disbelief. And then, ‘No! Absolutely not! These people are professional killers, Hallie. They’re not going to be impressed by you saying you made a mistake and didn’t realize you were ordering my execution after all. They’ll kill you to keep you quiet.’
‘I’m not going to tell them I made a mistake,’ said Hallie. ‘I’m going to tell them I needed the job done before New Year and that they failed to deliver. I’m going to tell them that the terms of our contract have been breached and that I no longer need their services.’
‘You’re going to fire them?’
‘Yes.’
‘I don’t believe this, ‘ he muttered. ‘It’s like living in a black comedy. I’m calling your brother. The dangerous one. Maybe he’ll know how to handle you. What’s his number?’
‘I can’t tell you,’ said Hallie. ‘Well, I could, but then I’d have to kill you.’
‘Get in line,’ he snapped. ‘What’s the number?’
‘You can’t have it.’
‘Then I’ll ring every dojo in Singapore until I find your other brother. Or every charter plane operation in Greece. Yes, that might be best. That brother can probably get here faster!’
‘No! Listen to me, Nick. I can fix this. First thing in the morning.’
‘It’s New Year’s Day, remember? The shop won’t even be open.’
‘Maybe not the shop,’ she agreed. ‘But they’ll be contactable somehow. Kai will know how it’s done. We’ll ask him.’
‘This would be the Kai who took you to the plaza and let you buy the vase in the first place.’
‘To be fair, he didn’t know I’d bought it,’ said Hallie. ‘He’s Jasmine’s bodyguard, not mine. But I’m sure he’d agree to help.’
Nick was pacing again. Muttering beneath his breath and raking his hand through his hair. Very Luke. She opened her mouth to explain her idea some more.
‘No.’ He held up his hand for silence. ‘Don’t talk. Don’t say another word. Let me think.’
So she closed her mouth and concentrated on pouring the tea and stirring in sugar, lots of sugar, to help with the shock. She was shakier than she wanted to admit, horrified by the notion that she’d inadvertently ordered Nick’s execution. She’d wanted to make her own mistakes, sure enough, but she’d wanted to make her own little mistakes. Not huge, deadly ones she wasn’t at all sure she was going to be able to fix. ‘I’ll call Tris if that’s what you want,’ she offered quietly. ‘I can call him now.’
Nick shot her a hard-eyed glare and Hallie looked away, looked at her tea. She was going to cry, dammit, she could feel the tears building behind her eyes. She put her hand to her cheek and hastily wiped away the first escapee. Another followed.
‘No crying!’ said Nick hurriedly. ‘I don’t do crying.’
‘I’m so sorry, Nick. I’ve ruined everything for you.’
‘Not yet, you haven’t. Let’s think about this. Maybe it is as simple as cancelling the contract. We could call them. Get them to meet us at the shop. Let them know we’re coming in and that plans have changed.’
‘We? What we? There is no we because you can’t come!’ She wouldn’t let him come. ‘If I walk you into that shop they’ll shoot you on the spot and stuff you into that vase before I can say good morning. I need to go there alone.’
‘No.’ One word, simple and irrevocable.
‘You can’t come. You have to pretend you don’t know anything about it. If they think I’m cancelling their services because they botched the job and you discovered I ordered your execution, they may well kill you anyway. Out of sheer professional pride.’
‘How much alcohol did you say was in that tea?’ he asked.
Hallie passed him a cup and he swallowed the contents in one go.
‘I hate this,’ he muttered.
‘Yes, but it’ll work,’ she said with far more confidence than she felt. ‘Trust me.’
‘I do trust you,’ he said. ‘It’s the bad guys I don’t trust. What if your luck runs out? What if you get hurt? I’d never forgive myself.’
‘You have to think positive,’ she said. ‘Think Lara Croft in Tomb Raider.’
‘Lara Croft has big guns and multiple lives. You have no guns and one life.’