Two Evils Read Online Free Page B

you’re acting like a damn dog with a bone, I’ll concede to listening to why you need me so damn bad. But not tonight,” she added quickly. “Meet me tomorrow at the Coconut Hut on the boardwalk at ten-thirty. You can buy breakfast. Then we’ll talk.”
    John nodded. “Very well. I’ll take what I can get.”
    When they’d left Sergei’s house, he had noticed they were walking toward the boardwalk, where all the beach bars and cafés and surf shops were all strung out to attract tourists. The Crabana was on the beach not far from it, but in the opposite direction than that in which they had headed. For the briefest moment he wondered why she’d led the way back here, and then he understood when they reached the stre et in front of the shops: the crowds were thinning due to the late hour, but people were still milling around. She raised a hand to her mouth and whistled sharply. A taxi cab pulled up to the curb seconds later and she opened the back door.
    “This one’s mine. You get your own,” Billie said with a smirk. Then she poked a finger in his chest. “And don’t even think about following me. I’ll know if you do.”
    With that, she dropped into the seat and slammed the door shut. John shook his head as he watched the car pull away, thinking she was something else.
     
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    The moment the bar exploded, he knew they’d missed at least one of the targets. Cursing even as he and his team ducked to avoid flying debris, the man knew his employer would not be pleased. The boss’s displeasure could mean one of two things: a severe punishment for his failure, up to and including the loss of a limb; or one of the very men he commanded could be ordered to kill him and take his place.
    Neither was a scenario that sat well with him.
    One of the men walked up to him as the projectiles settled and the flames climbed high into the Caribbean air. “This ain’t good, Andre. No way we did that. The boss ain’t gonna be happy when he hears—”
    Andre reached out and struck the other man across the face with the open stock of his AN-94. He gleaned some satisfaction out of the FUBARed night when he heard the snap of the cartilage in the man’s nose. His smile widened as blood poured from his nostrils and splattered into the sand.
    “Then perhaps the boss should not hear of this, don’t you think?” he asked snidely.
    Another of the men stepped closer, but wisely well out of reach of Andre’s rifle. “We have to tell him something, Andre. He’ll want a progress report.”
    “I am aware of that, you fucking moron!” Andre screamed. “Do you want to be the one who tells him that we may or may not have eliminated the targets? Hmm?”
    He looked from one face to another, making sure to ca tch the eyes of each of his four men. Each one of them looked away as soon as his gaze met theirs. It was to be expected—they were each as afraid of their boss as he was.
    “We need to get the hell out of here,” Andre said then. “The local police will be all over this scene in minutes.”
    In unison they all turned for the rented SUV behind them. The man with the broken nose grumbled about the pain he was in as he climbed into the driver’s seat, but Andre shot him a look that put an end to his whining. As weapons were stowed and doors were closed, Yuri brought the diesel-fueled engine roaring to life. At the same time, a trilling ring sounded from Andre’s pocket and he stilled. They all did, knowing without a doubt who was calling.
    With a nervousness he almost never felt, Andre gestured for Yuri to drive as he pulled the phone from his shirt pocket on the third ring, hit the Talk button, and put it to his ear. “ Da ?”
    “ What took you so long? You know I do not like to be kept waiting,” said the caller, Grigori Sardetsky, in his native Russian.
    Andre answered back in the same language. “My apologies, sir. We were just getting in the car.”
    “And have you completed your objective?”
    The