No Ordinary Day by Tate, Harley (best large ereader .txt) 📕

Nick squirmed in the chair.

“If you can’t let it go, then I’ve got no choice. I’m sorry, brother. But I’m done following orders.” John increased the pressure, cutting off the blood supply to Nick’s brain. Within thirty seconds, the man John used to trust with his life was limp and unconscious once more.

Chapter Nine

Emma

The door to the bedroom opened and Emma lifted her head. John emerged, head bent, eyes trained on the floor.

Emma’s heart lurched. “Did you—” She faltered. “Did you kill him?” She didn’t know why it mattered. What was one more dead body? One more dead hitman.

To anyone else—someone logical and cold and rational—ending that man’s life was the only answer. But for Emma, the thought of more senseless bloodshed, more death because of her… it turned her stomach.

John stared back at the bedroom door as if to answer for him. “I—I couldn’t—” Without another word, he tugged open the front door. Sunlight striped the wood as he disappeared outside into the afternoon sun.

Emma stared after him. He couldn’t do it? She stood on shaky legs, bracing her body weight on the kitchen table. With a deep breath, she took first one step and then another, willing back the vertigo and exhaustion threatening to overwhelm her. Emerging into the sunshine, she shielded her eyes with her good arm as she wavered on her feet.

“You should be inside.” John leaned against the porch railing, staring out into the forest.

“I’m fine.” Emma wobbled as she crossed the porch to mimic his stance. With both hands gripping the railing for support, she turned to study his profile. “It’s you I’m worried about.”

He twisted to face her, expression grim. “You’ve lost a lot of blood, Emma. You need to rest. Stay inside and take it easy. You don’t need to check on me.”

“Quit deflecting.” Emma’s temper flared at the brush-off. “You’ve suffered worse and I don’t see you complaining. I’m not a child or some delicate flower to put in a vase. I took a bullet, so what?”

John turned away, but Emma reached out and grabbed his arm. “Tell me what’s going on.”

He stared at her fingers as they dug into the black cotton of his sleeve.

“Please, John. Talk to me.”

His shoulders slumped. “Nick and I go way back. We served in the same battery, were even roommates for a while. After we were discharged, he was one of the only guys I kept in regular contact with until Dane came along.”

Emma swallowed. “You’re friends.”

“As much as one can have a friend in this line of work, yeah.” He looked up to the sky as if it might have an answer. “I don’t know if I can kill him. I just don’t know.”

Emma dropped her hand. It was one thing to ask John to protect her from nameless threats, but to ask him to kill someone he counted as a friend... She chewed on the inside of her lip, researcher brain whirring. “What if we reason with him? Convince him not to tell Dane we’re here?”

“Nick’s too loyal. He’ll never give up on the mission.”

“There’s got to be a way to change his mind.”

John shook his head. “Dane promised them all some crazy payoff. If they keep working despite the grid collapse, then they can have anything they want.”

“What?” Emma screwed up her face. “That makes no sense.”

“Tell me about it.” John glanced back at the cabin where Nick remained imprisoned. “Dane thinks he’s getting his own private island.” He snorted. “For his sake, I hope it’s full of wild bananas.”

Emma reached for John again, but dropped her hand as he turned to face her. “There’s got to be a way to convince Nick. Maybe show him what it’s like out there. Explain there’s no way CropForward can deliver.”

John stilled. “I don’t think CropForward’s behind this.”

Emma stepped back. “What are you saying?”

“There’s more than you and Gloria on the list. Eight total, according to Nick, that are still in play.”

“We weren’t the only employees making noise. Some of the guys in engineering, they—”

“Senators, Emma. There are elected officials on the list.”

She shook her head. “That’s impossible.”

“Nothing’s impossible for the federal government. Haven’t you followed the news? We might be withdrawing troops from places like Afghanistan, but that doesn’t mean we’re leaving. The government is just paying private contractors to do the dirty work. Men like me and Nick.”

“I still don’t believe—”

“Then you better start, and soon. The faster you wise up to the enormity of the threat, the better off you’ll be.” John took her by the uninjured shoulder. “If the government wants you dead, I don’t know if I can stop them.”

She shivered in his grip. “Can’t you explain all this to Nick? Get him to help you instead of Dane?”

John dropped his hand. “Maybe a few years ago, sure. But not now. Like I told you before, I do this job from a distance. No up close and personal, no getting to know my marks. That makes me a lone wolf. A solo artist.”

“You and Nick?”

“Haven’t spoken in years until today.” He pinched the back of his neck and focused on the mountains in the distance. “He was my friend, but he doesn’t owe me anything. Not now.”

Emma followed John’s line of sight to the mountain range shrouded in clouds across the valley. The haze might as well have wrapped around her head and heart. She couldn’t ask John to kill his friend, but he couldn’t stay alive. She took a deep breath. “I’ve already killed one man today. I can kill another.” As soon as she uttered the words, she knew they were a lie.

“No, Emma. You shouldn’t have to. Nick is my responsibility. I need to be the one…” John trailed off, unable to utter the same untruth as Emma.

They stood in silence for a minute or two, both staring out at the clouds obscuring the scenic view as they wrestled inner demons. At last, John spoke up. “I need a gun. If I have a