Free Killer by Francine Pascal Page A

Sentence
    Pearl’s pulse increased ever so slightly. Loki was not going to like this. At all.
    She didn’t fear him, of course. No. But he had powerful friends. He had an army of henchmen. Pearl was just one person . . . a freelancer, a lone operative. Sweat broke out on her forehead. She
didn’t
fear him. She could always escape. But escape would end her career. Which wasn’t an option.
    Even as these thoughts raced through her skull, she knew that Loki was waiting for her to call to tell him the job was finished. By now he must have suspected that something was up. She couldn’t call and lie to him; he’d see right through that.
    No—she had to follow Ella. But she couldn’t. Not just yet.
    Why the hell didn’t I bring a gun?
Pearl wondered angrily, watching Ella’s retreating form vanish among the traffic and pedestrians. It would be so easy to pump a few rounds into Ella’s back and vanish before anyone even knew what was happening....
    The problem was that Loki’s niece was still inside with Sam and that glass of poisoned wine. Loki had made it crystal clear that if anything happened to Gaia, the consequences would be dire. Sure, the chances of Gaia’s drinking that wine probably weren’t huge. But it was a risk Pearl couldn’t afford to take. So in essence, she was faced with an impossible juggling act: Keep one person alive, and kill the other.
    Pearl rushed back across the street and peered through the restaurant window. Gaia was still there and still upright. But in a flash, panic seized Pearl.
    Gaia was lifting the glass to her lips.
    No!
    Okay. Maybe Pearl was afraid of Loki. Admitting this wasn’t a sign of weakness; it was an acknowledgment of reality. The memory of Loki’s menacing eyesripped deep into her very core. She had to do something fast. Right. She grabbed her handbag and tossed it in the nearest trash can. Then she ran back into the restaurant as fast as her legs would carry her.
    Â 
    GAIA TILTED BACK HER HEAD AND opened her throat, ready to drink the entire glass in one long gulp.
Please,
she whispered silently to herself.
Let the pain go away
....
    Coping with Loss
    But as the ruby liquid flowed toward her lips, a hysterical voice shattered the dull murmur of the restaurant: “I’ve been mugged! Someone please help—he took my purse!”
    Frowning, Gaia set down the full glass, dribbling some wine on her chin. She wiped her face with her sleeve and glanced up to see an impeccably groomed woman standing at the door. She looked frantic. Shit. Gaia really didn’t want to deal with this. But against her will, adrenaline was already gushing through her system and raising her temperature—priming her senses for action. She waited a beat or two to see if someoneelse would pick up the slack for once, but everybody continued stuffing their faces with pasta as if nothing was happening. Typical. No one ever wanted to get involved.
    Then again, no one besides Gaia was fearless.
    â€œHey, I know her . . . ,” Sam mumbled, craning his neck at the woman.
    Gaia sniffed. Her jaw tightened. Sure, he did. He’d probably slept with her. He had a thing for older women, right? Or maybe he was just lying. That was certainly a possibility, too. Pretty soon she’d find out that he wasn’t even a premed student at NYU but one of those guys who salvaged books out of trash cans and sold them at the flea market on Saturdays. Whatever. Now wasasgood a time asany to say good-bye to Sam Moon forever. She slid out of the booth.
    â€œHey—where are you going?” he protested.
    â€œWhere do you think?” she muttered, without even bothering to look behind her. “I’m going to help that woman out.”
    Gaia was already at the door before Sam could utter another word. Maybe this was the start of her new life. Yes. Right here and now. Or a return to her old life. Her pre-Sam life, when she roamed the city,