Free A Man Like No Other by Aliyah Burke Page A

that? Holding his boss’s gaze, he uttered,
“Stay out of my personal life.”
    “I have no desire to get in it. Just
make sure you keep acting professional if you work with her again.”
    His eyes narrowed. “What do you mean ‘if’?”
    “The deal goes down tonight. Her
expertise was no longer needed so we sent her on her way.”
    Gone? He wanted to roar in fury.
    “Okay,” he said without inflection,
despite the anger raging within him. “Mind if I get some shuteye before it
then?”
    “There’s a bed in the back.”
    “I have a room at the hotel.”
    “Whatever.” Tobias walked away.
    He hurried back to the hotel and
checked in with Tucker.
    “Everything okay here?”
    “Sure. Well, we lost Serefina. She
headed back from wherever she came.”
    “Too bad.” He never realised how much
that would bother him to know she was gone.
    “Yes, she was sure sweet.”
    “Sweet?”
    Tucker blushed. “She was to me. Reminds
me a lot of my wife, Judi. She’ll make someone a great wife someday.”
    Me! He half expected that revelation to bother him but found it didn’t. It felt
right. What have you done to me,
Serefina?
    “I see. Glad you liked her. I’m off to
grab some sack time.”
    “Later, man.”
    He slipped up to his room and entered.
It was as dark as could be and he turned on a light. All blood in his body
headed towards his groin as he spotted an article of clothing on the floor and
saw a body under the blankets. He had his shirt halfway up his torso before he
froze.
    Something didn’t feel right. He lowered
his shirt and reached behind him for his weapon. At his side, his phone
vibrated. He ignored it, moving closer to the bed. Grabbing the blanket, he
jerked hard with one hand, gun aimed with the other. He swore hard and fast.
Lying there in a pool of blood was none other than Shania Dodd.
    Fuck.
    His phone went off again. “What?” he
snapped, making sure there was no one in the bathroom.
    “Am I bothering you, Kysenzki?” Tobias
asked.
    “Goddamn it, Shania is dead in my
room.”
    Tobias released a litany of curses.
“Don’t move, and for God’s sake, touch nothing. ”
He hung up.
    Staring at her, Taber checked for a
pulse, just in case. Nothing. “Damn you, Shania. What the fuck happened?”
    She was a good agent. For this to
happen… He didn’t want to think about it and passed the time pacing the floor
until the others arrived, doing his damndest to adhere to Feeney’s order to not
touch anything. The door swung open to admit Tobias and some others. He watched
helpless as they took pictures and placed her on a gurney only to cover her
with a sheet.
    Tobias waved a hand and the people in
the room moved to one side, giving them some privacy. “This doesn’t look good,
Taber.”
    “I know.”
    “I have to put you on administrative
leave until we get this sorted out.”
    Shania. Upbeat. Effervescent. Never
down. Lying in her own blood, stabbed numerous times. In his hotel room, his
ex-lover lay dead.
    “Taber!”
    “I know,” he muttered, snapped back to
reality. “She came to talk to me this morning.”
    “I know, damn it. I sent her. Look,
come give a statement, then… I don’t know, go home. Just one thing.” Tobias
grabbed his arm and stared at him, his expression serious.
    “What?” he asked.
    “Leave this alone.” He frowned and
Tobias shook his head. “I mean it, Kysenzki. You steer clear of this until
you’re cleared to come back to work. Then find the fucker if we haven’t. I need
your word on that.”
    “I’ll leave it alone.” He boiled with
rage. His fingers curled into his palms, nails digging into the skin. He itched
to hit something. This was personal and it irked the hell out of him he was
told to stay out of it. Stay away from it and not to seek any answers. Shania
had been his friend too; she was one of their own. How was he supposed to sit
this out on the sidelines?
    “Let’s go then.”
    Two hours later, a statement from him,
and he was at