Free Tax Assassin by Claudia Hall Christian Page A

sisters
were raped and murdered before his eyes. Perses vowed to avenge
their deaths. Over the course of the next ten years, he’d done just
that.
    Hired by a special branch of the CIA during
the Cold War, Perses was credited with “solving problems” around
the globe. When he wasn’t working, Perses lived in Denver with his
Anjelika, a former Russian-Mob princess. Their adult children, and
grandchildren, lived nearby. Seth knew him to have two weaknesses –
his family and chocolate.
    Seth held out a travel mug to Perses. The
man’s eyebrows furrowed for a moment before he took the cup. He
unscrewed the cap and gave a little cheer for the Mexican hot
chocolate in the cup.
    “ Maresol loves me,” Perses
took a sip.
    “ She does,” Seth
said.
    “ Don’t tell my Angel,”
Perses said. “She might get jealous.”
    Seth chuckled. They stood in the cool, early
morning and watched the dogs play.
    “ I found something of
yours.” Seth said. He took a small evidence bag from the interior
pocket of his jacket. “I believe you left this in your son-in-law’s
skull.”
    Seth held the small zipper storage bag up in
front of Perses eyes.
    “ Has your mark,” Seth
pointed to the Greek letters etched on the bullet.
    “ What does it have to do
with me?” Perses shrugged.
    Seth raised an eyebrow and said nothing.
    “ He divorced my Jillian,”
Perses said. “No connection to me.”
    Seth held up the bag.
    “ What do you want,
O’Malley?” Perses’s demeanor tightened. The air seemed to crackle
with tension. For the briefest moment, the civility disappeared and
the improbable stories about the man seemed all too
true.
    “ Information,” Seth
said.
    “ About this
bullet?”
    “ What’s to know about
this?” Seth asked. “You shot your ex-son-in-law while he was in the
act of committing a class one felony. You were due a freebie, so
the Agency fixed it via a Special Forces team. Ex-son-in-laws wife
is in prison for life on a separate crime committed at the same
time. His parents tried to kidnap a senator’s son. They’re out of
the way.”
    Seth shrugged.
    “ And the case?”
    “ Dismantled,” Seth said.
“All but this.”
    Seth held up the bullet.
    “ You’ve been saving it for
a favor?” Perses asked.
    “ No, I don’t believe I need
to bribe you for favors,” Seth said. “I’ve been waiting for a right
moment to return your property. With being sick, the wedding,
Saint
Jude . . .”
    “ You’ve had an interesting
year,” Perses said.
    “ Yes,” Seth said. “I do
need information. Clara loves her buddy Zephyr. It seemed like a
good time to . . .”
    “ Kill a few birds,” Perses
smiled.
    With that, his charming demeanor returned
like the sun on a stormy day. Seth returned his smile. Perses took
the zipper storage bag and tucked it into his jacket. Clara gave a
loud bark, and they watched the dogs play for a few minutes.
    “ Are you heading out
again?” Seth asked.
    “ Me?” Perses asked. “No.
They prefer to use drones to solve problems now. Less likely to
give up information in some foreign prison. I
am . . . retired. It’s different; nice. You should
try it.”
    Seth nodded.
    “ How’s the music?” Perses
asked.
    “ Good,” Seth said. “I’m
working on a new piece.”
    “ You must have a case,”
Perses said.
    “ Killer-for-hire,” Seth
said. “You remember McGinty?”
    Perses nodded.
    “ He has sarcoidosis,” Seth
said.
    “ Agent Orange. Like
Mitch.”
    “ Not according to the V.A.,
but yeah,” Seth said. “This is his case.”
    Seth took a drink of his coffee and waited
for Perses. He knew if he moved too fast, the man would clam up. He
had to take his time.
    “ McGinty found five cities
with four or so killings a year in the nineties,” Seth said. “I
found four or so killings in every medium-to-small city in the
country.”
    “ Except
Colorado.”
    “ One outside of Trinidad in
1913,” Seth said. “Tax agent.”
    Perses’s left eyebrow lifted, but his