Free KanesBounty by A.S. Fenichel

plan…
It’s not good… I’m where we were that time after Istanbul… And we’re going to
need some clothes… You know who I’ve got… Good… You never know…” He smiled.
“Thanks… See you there.”
    “Who was that?” she asked.
    “Joshua.” He paused for a long moment. “My brother.”
    She couldn’t process the information. He’d said he didn’t
have family. “You have a brother? I thought you grew up in an orphanage.”
    “We did. He was taken for training a few years earlier. He’s
a year older and had a higher level rating in the Psi-Alignment. I didn’t see
him for almost ten years.”
    “Does he work for the same company as you?”
    He took her hand again and they walked down the block toward
the loud bar. “No. He works for the government.”
    “And he’s going to help us?”
    “Yes.”
    “Why?”
    He shrugged. “He’s my brother.”
    She couldn’t imagine the world Kane had grown up in. No
parents, no love and a brother he never saw. She had gone to public school,
been deeply loved by her mother and grandmother. She’d had friends and lovers
and even fallen in love a few times. She had never told any of her lovers about
the stones, not until Oscar. Now Kane had them tucked in the pocket of his
swimming trunks and she felt no trepidation about him having them.
    Cabo Wabo was an American bar, but it was made to look as if
it was an old Mexican villa. Inside, the walls were made of stone, as was the
long bar. Large columns held up the wood-framed ceilings. The rustic
construction gave the place an old-world feel.
    An archway led to a second room where a band played loudly
as a crowd danced and cheered.
    They found a table in the corner of the barroom and a buxom
waitress rushed over to take their order. Kane ordered two shots of tequila.
The girl turned to her. “I’ll have the same.”
    Kane smiled.
    “How do we get out of here?”
    “Josh will send a plane for us at dawn.”
    “Where will it take us?”
    His eyes widened in surprise. “That’s up to you. Where is
your grandmother?”
    She realized she trusted this bounty hunter more than she
had trusted anyone in years. He didn’t care about the stones. His only concern
was keeping her alive and doing right by his duty. She could understand that.
“She’s—”
    He stopped her by squeezing her arm hard. “Close your mind,
Lena.”
    She did as he said and followed his gaze to the sandy-blond
man walking toward their table. It was the man from the bar in Savannah. His
dull eyes remained focused on Kane and his thin lips were turned up in a grin.
    He pulled a chair out from another table and straddled it
facing them as if they were old friends. “You’re not the easiest man to track
down, old friend.”
    “That was the point, Shamus.”
    Wade’s face turned down in a quick frown and then he
switched back to the fake grin again. “I’m going to take this woman in,
Lakeland. I don’t want you to get hurt, but it’s me or Banta and I think she’d
be better off with me, don’t you?”
    Lena’s heart was pounding. She might have run, but Kane had
the stones. Even so, she thought of running. She could get the stones back
later.
    “Who are you working for?” Kane asked.
    “I can’t say.” Wade looked pleased that he had a secret, as
if he felt important for keeping something from Kane.
    Kane studied him for a second. “Government? What does the
government want with her?”
    Wade looked as if he’d lost his best friend. His eyes
narrowed and his mouth turned to a pout. Lena thought he looked ridiculous and
nearly laughed.
    Kane shrugged and answered the question she assumed Wade was
thinking. “You never could close your mind off, old friend.”
    Wade pounded his fist on the table, making Lena jump.
    The waitress brought the tequila shots and the conversation
stopped. Kane paid the bill and Lena downed a shot before the waitress had
walked away. The fiery liquid burned down her throat and chest. She wanted