Savage Redemption - By Alexis Morgan Page 0,4

but with luck the fluids Finn was busy pumping into her would stabilize her long enough to reach Seamus’s infirmary.

Once they had her loaded in the back of the transport, he called another of his men over. “Check the area for any evidence you can find. Treat it like a crime scene. They were up there, there and there,” he said, pointing toward the specific spots the shooters had been.

“I left one dead up there on the far side of that ridge. They may or may not have retrieved the body. I want to know who these guys were and who was paying them. But if there’s any sign they’re in the vicinity, don’t engage. Just get your asses back to the estate.”

Then he jerked his head toward Kat’s bullet-riddled transport. “When you’re done, see if that thing is drivable. If it isn’t, tow it back to headquarters. After that, retrieve their personal stuff and bring it all to the infirmary. That’s where I’ll be.”

“Yes, sir. Will do.”

Satisfied his men could handle it from there, Conlan jogged over to Finn’s transport and climbed in. With luck, Seamus would be able to pull off another of his miracles and drag Kat back from the edge. Conlan hoped so. He’d been waiting three years for his chance for a little payback. Besides, he wanted answers to a few questions.

Starting with where Kat Karr had been hiding while he lost two years of his life taking her place in hell.

Chapter 2

“Sorry, sir, but when our men realized they’d drawn the attention of the security forces from the O’Day estate, they took out the target and withdrew. When we flew over, she was lying facedown in the dirt in a pool of blood.”

Cyrus Eddington clenched his fist and fought to rein in his temper. “At least tell me that you know for sure that she’s dead.”

The silence on the other end of the phone was telling. Rather than listen to a litany of excuses, Cyrus considered the options. He paced the length of his living room and back again as he contemplated options. Finally, rather than wear out the rug his wife had imported for an outrageous amount of money, he sat down.

“Damn it, Richie, considering what those mercs are costing me, they are supposed to be the best. Instead, if I’m understanding you correctly, they may have killed the target, but then again, maybe not. You also lost two of our own men, so I’ll be paying death bonuses. Not to mention that all of this happened right on the doorstep of one of the most powerful vampires in the Coalition.” He exhaled sharply. “Does that pretty much sum up the situation?”

“Yes, sir.”

Cyrus studied a small scuff on the toe of his shoe and wondered how it had gotten there. Too bad it hadn’t been from kicking a few mercenary asses for screwing up what should’ve been a simple job. He went on with his litany.

“And now the O’Days have the target’s two nieces tucked away someplace on their estate?”

“Yes, sir. We could’ve killed them, too, but we thought the fallout from such an action would be a PR nightmare for the organization.”

True enough. Some men would’ve shied away from endangering small children, but that hadn’t seemed to bother the mercs at all. It must have been his lackey’s squeamishness that had left the girls unharmed. As far as Cyrus himself was concerned, they were chancellor mongrels and therefore disposable. All they represented to him was a means of leveraging their aunt into doing his bidding. Too late now. Well, unless he could somehow force Rafferty into turning them over to him. “So what it all comes down to is that this has the potential of being a major disaster.”

Another long silence, but then his assistant finally answered. “That’s correct, sir. But in my defense, you didn’t send us the intel that Kat Karr had been located until the last minute. Another twenty minutes, and she would’ve already gone to ground inside the O’Day compound.”

That much was true, but Cyrus didn’t have to like it. He’d been hunting that bitch for three years. To have her slip through his fingers again was beyond frustrating. Unfortunately, whining over the screwups wouldn’t change a thing. All he could do was pick up the pieces and move on.

“Okay, here’s the bottom line—I want that woman in custody in the next seventy-two hours or I want her dead. No excuses, no failures. Do whatever it takes. Have