Free 5 - Together To Join by Jackie Ivie

potential. It also worked well as a make-shift cross; a set of long shoelaces and one of her special-made pairs of pantyhose would go a long way for strangling purposes…and then he returned to the main room and pressed one of the buttons. The moment he did that, he’d gotten linked with a fellow named Alphonse. Alphonse. She had a male in her home named Alphonse. Garrick hoped he was security. With a name like that, it was going to be a pleasure to disarm him.
    Garrick had already planned his escape. He cemented it as he laced his boots. The only possible route was down. There had to be a staircase, and if he got someone to report to the room, he’d force them to show him the way out. Garrick might not even kill the person if they cooperated. Depended mostly on affiliations. Vampires were dying. Humans? That would depend on whether they stood in Garrick’s way or not.
    None of his plan was needed. The moment he asked Alphonse for a trip to the airstrip, he scented freedom. Once they exited the elevator, he felt it. The ride to the airstrip took exactly twelve minutes at a non-constant speed that averaged 30 mph. It was within five miles. Even with the windows blackened in the vehicle, he could tell. Once there he got more surprise. She didn’t just have a private jet. She had a hangar full of options. Garrick chose a Gulfstream 510, ordered the driver to drop him at the door, and informed the attendants he’d be piloting it himself. Solo. And they’d acceded without one bit of argument.
    Garrick didn’t believe women still came who were as gullible as this Angelique. He shouldn’t feel so damn guilty. She had to know all’s fair in love and war. And this sure as hell couldn’t be love.

 
     
    CHAPTER NINE
    Something didn’t feel quite right.
    It wasn’t the set-up. Len had certainly done his job, and she looked the part. Their target tonight was Pedro Ramon el Rodriguez. The name meant little to her. She was just grateful it wasn’t a political hit. Those carried too much weight. Countries could be lost and history altered with the removal of politicians, and nobody seemed to win. Maybe it was true. Treason was just a matter of timing.
    This man was a drug cartel boss from somewhere in South America. He was just another man in a long string of them the Vampire Assassin League contracted to take out. Len had already joked how it was a constant source of money, since every time they took out one of these guys, another one took his place. They never seemed to learn. It seemed the position came with a whetted sense of vengeance that led to another contract, more money, and another blood feast. It was like the ‘Golden Goose’ that never stopped paying.
    This Pedro fellow was a very nice-looking man…for a drug lord. Angelique had been shown his pictures, taken at all kinds of angles with very long range lenses. Even distorted, the man was extremely handsome. Young. Late twenties or early thirties. Chiseled features. Dark-hair. Sexy eyes. Muscled. He wore very little around his pool, sometimes nothing. She flipped through half a dozen photos taken swimming. Stupid man. If a lens could get these photos, a long-range sniper could’ve, too. She’d passed over them with barely a glance. She didn’t want to study him. She didn’t even want to look at him.
    His luck had run out. Pedro was in Vegas looking for a good time. He’d rented an exclusive, very expensive club for his own pleasure and that of his friends. He’d brought his own entertainment: A singer that hadn’t been half-bad, and a band that played floor-thumping music. He hadn’t even contacted anyone for some high paid escorts. He’d brought his own gaggle of giggling gorgeous girls – as Len called them. Smart. The man hadn’t left anything to chance.
    He hadn’t counted on Len, though.
    Angelique smoothed a bit of her riotous curls back into place. A three hour session at the salon had netted her a cloud of white-blond curls that seemed to