Read The Killing Chase (Beach & Riley Book 2) for Free Online Page A

we’re going with a team. I trained the Thais myself, so don’t worry, they’re good-to-go. And you already know the brothers are squared-away.”
    Jake bristled at first, but gave in. “Okay, strategy is your specialty, and you’ve never let me down before. But know this – anyone gets in my way, or tries to take the target out themselves, might as well be playing for the other team. And you know what that means.”
    “Don’t worry – the point is crystal clear. Dozer and Priest are just as close as you and Shane were. You think they don’t understand the situation? And the Thais are along for the ride, as a courtesy. We might not even need them, but we’ve got to keep the locals happy.”
    “What about the Agency? Do the embassy boys know what’s going down? I don’t want any suit-wearing, political-correctness police riding in on white stallions to screw things up. This is a kill mission – pure and simple.”
    “I’ve got it under control. Just leave the details to me - and be ready to do your thing when the time comes. Now - I think that calls for a beer or seven, don’t you?”
    Jake acquiesced. “Okay, tonight we drink. But tomorrow - strictly business.”
     
    *****
     
                  Jake rose at nine-thirty the next morning, thankful he’d interspersed generous quantities of water throughout the night’s drinking. Mike Lee’s news, and the prospect of an opportunity to avenge his brother’s death, had ensured the big man kept his alcohol intake to a manageable level. Residual effects were limited to a mild case of dehydration, which would soon pass. He showered and dressed, then went to knock on Tik’s door across the hall. Before his knuckles could make contact, the heavy door swung open to reveal Tik, fully dressed and waiting. Her preparedness surprised him.
                  She cocked her head to one side. “You think I not know something wrong? I see you and Mr. Mike talk last night. I know you face. I see you drink water too much. I know something wrong.”
                  Jake knew that if there was anyone who really understood his disposition, it was the staunch little woman before him. “Sorry, Tik – I should have told you last night, but you were busy with your new friend - and I had a lot on my mind.”
                  Jake explained Mike Lee’s news. Tik knew Jake’s only remaining family member had been killed during a risky covert operation in the Ukraine. She also knew the brothers’ high-profile parents had been killed years earlier, in a mid-air explosion aboard their private jet. Upon her evacuation to America, Tik had chosen to become Jake’s personal assistant, cook and housekeeper. It was an arrangement which suited them both. She needed something to keep her occupied in her adopted home, and Jake trusted her implicitly. He’d not only given her a new life, but a better life than she could have hoped for in her home country. She, in turn, made the details of his life easier for him. She received a generous salary and rent-free apartment as payment, but they both knew she would happily do it for free. Not long after their mutually beneficial arrangement had begun, Jake told her about his parents’ deaths, and ensuing events.
    Shane was fifteen, and Jake thirteen, when the accident had taken their parents. As orphaned minors, the boys had been sent to live with their godparents, a maternal aunt and uncle in Canada, until they came of age. The loss had profoundly affected both boys; Shane in particular. The gifted athlete and former honor student was at an impressionable age, and became sullen and withdrawn. His schoolwork had suffered, and he’d been suspended for fighting with a high school senior, seriously injuring the older boy. Shane’s formidable size and increasingly bad behavior had eventually convinced his guardians to send him to board at a strict military academy in the States. His initial resistance had