Blind Faith - Sharon Sala Page 0,39

come there to kill her.

And then it dawned on him that he might not be the first person Parks had sent on this task. If that was the case, he was already in the hole. His hits had all been on people who were unaware...unsuspecting.

Jade Wyrick had not only seen him coming, but knew who’d sent him. He needed to contact Parks before committing himself further.

He continued getting ready for work, then went down to breakfast. He’d already called down to the kitchen to order Belgian waffles and bacon this morning and, as always, fresh squeezed orange juice, which he drank before his coffee. It was his routine, and Darrell didn’t like to be detoured from his routine. He considered it bad luck.

The food he’d ordered was in chafing dishes on the sideboard, and his juice and coffee were at his place at the table. As soon as he finished his juice, he buttered three waffles, then poured syrup over the stack and cut his first bite. Hot, crispy waffle...warm, salty butter melting in the little brown squares, filled with pure maple syrup. The breakfast of champions.

He ate in silence, reading the newspaper on his phone, and then left his house just before 9:00 a.m., as was his habit. But as soon as he got in the car, he pulled up the number he’d been given and contacted Parks.

* * *

Cyrus was in his car on the way to a meeting when a call came in on his secure line. He was already expecting a successful report and answered with an upbeat tone.

“This is Parks.”

“Who the hell is that woman?”

“Is this the man I—?”

“Answer my question.”

“Why?” Cyrus said.

“She looked at me the other day and, out of the blue, said to tell Cyrus Parks if he didn’t leave her the hell alone, she would destroy the both of us. So what is she? Because there is no one on the face of the earth who knows what I look like, or what I do, or that I even know your name.”

Cyrus shuddered. “She said my name?”

“Yes, and she’s seen my face and knows I’m connected to you, which is not good for me. So I have a choice. Kill you or kill her. Or maybe kill both of you and cut my losses.”

It was cold where Cyrus was, but he was sweating. How could he protect himself from a man he didn’t know?

“No, no—no need for all that,” he said. “I’ll send the balance of the money into that account and release you from the contract.”

“That’ll work, because she’s toast, regardless,” Boyington said.

“She has powers and skills beyond human comprehension,” Cyrus said.

Boyington was furious. “So you set me on a task you knew would fail?”

“I didn’t know then, but if she connected us simply by looking at you, then that means her skills are growing exponentially.”

“Skills? What kinds of skills?” Boyington asked.

“There is no secret you will be able to keep from her...at least not for long. You won’t be able to get close enough to her to take her out. You can’t track her. We’ve tried.”

“I asked you before, but you didn’t answer me,” Boyington said. “What is she?”

“I created a monster I can no longer control,” Cyrus said. “Let her be.”

* * *

Wyrick was preoccupied by the news Merlin had given her this morning, and was walking down the hall in the office building when she heard the phone ringing in their suite.

She ran the last few steps, unlocked the door, then turned on the lights and dumped her stuff on the desk before answering.

“Dodge Security and Investigations.”

All she got was a dial tone. They’d hung up, and at this point, she didn’t care. Either they’d call back, or they wouldn’t. She hung her coat in the closet and turned on her computer before going to make coffee.

She was in a mood about Merlin. Sad for what he was facing, and taken aback at being named his heir. But she knew how much he loved that old mansion, and the level of security he already had in place there was high. It was a gift she would never have seen coming.

She started coffee. Booted up the computers. And put out the fresh doughnuts she’d brought at the coffee bar, then took personal mail and a stack of messages from yesterday and left them on Charlie’s desk before pausing to gaze out the bank of windows behind it.

The Dallas skyline was particularly dramatic today, thanks to a building storm