Every time I blink, I get a glimpse of Kim.

She’s imprinted on the back of my eyelids. I can’t get away from her. It doesn’t matter that I’m lying on my front, atop a barge moored in the middle of the Thames. I couldn’t be further from her. It doesn’t help. No matter where I go, Kim follows a pace behind.

I know this feeling is my guilt eating away at me. I put Kim into danger, and my brain won’t let me forget it. Not that I’m trying. I will do anything to protect her. I’m not the kind of guy who will run away from his responsibilities.

Except, that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life.

My ear crackles. “Are you in position?”

I recognize Natalie’s voice. It’s terse and clipped, but it’s her. I wish it wasn’t. My handler is a wildcard. I’d much prefer to deal with Stan, or one of the other analysts. Them I can handle – and manipulate to my own ends.

But Natalie? She has played this game before.

“Affirmative, copy,” I whisper.

I don’t need to be loud. My throat mic will pick up the quietest of vibrations. The constant stream of traffic flowing down the Victoria Embankment by the river’s edge makes it unlikely – near impossible – that anyone would hear me. But day after day, the Rangers drummed into me one thing – sound carries over open water.

“Sending targeting information now,” Natalie says. I reach up to my ear, moving slowly, and lowering the volume on my earpiece. The last thing I need is any distraction, especially now.

The tablet computer in front of me flashes. It’s angled away from any sight line, and the screen’s turned down so low even I can barely see it. I tap the screen, and it zooms in on a blueprint of the Savoy Hotel. A small square marking out one of the windows flashes.

I lower my eye to the scope, and track the side of the building up to the second floor. “One, two, three, four…” I count under my breath. “Five.” The scope comes to a halt over a darkened window.

“You’re sure this is it?” I ask. I try to keep my voice professional, but it’s hard. I know that the best way to keep Kim safe is to eliminate everyone that might threaten her, but…

I feel like I should be by her side, instead of staring at an empty hotel room.

“You gave us Donaldson,” Natalie confirms, “so if you are right about him, then yes. His visa credit card was used to pay for a room three hours ago.”

I adjust the scope on the British Army-surplus L–96 sniper rifle. It makes a few quiet clicks before I’m satisfied. Judging by rough sanded-down patch of metal where the serial number once stood, it’s only Army surplus inasmuch as it was lifted off the back of a truck.

“And if he’s just here to screw his mistress?” I ask.

“Then this is the most expensive home movie in history,” Natalie jokes. At least, I think she’s joking. It’s hard to tell with that tone. I wouldn’t put it past her to be deadly serious. “Maybe I’ll take it off your paycheck…”

I ignore it. “Do we have audio yet?”

I hear a stifled conversation off-comm. “Give us five,” Natalie says. “Stan is having problems picking up the signal.”

My finger clenches around the trigger guard. I know better than to move, but frustration is boiling over inside me. I can’t tell Paragon why I’m so goddamn pissed, but I need this to go smoothly. Kim’s life is on the line, and that’s all that matters.

I need to save her life. I have this feeling that if I do, then that wipes away my original sin. If I save her life, then maybe she’ll forgive me for lying to her this whole time.

I need to tell her what I did: I know I do; but not yet. First I save her life. Then, I can ruin her day.

My ear crackles again. This time, it sounds like a door closing. I dip my eye to the scope.

“You guys picking this up?” I whisper.

“Say again, Nate? We are not getting anything on our end.” My handler replies from the ops room. “Have you got movement?”

I don’t reply. It’s hard to make out what’s going on inside the hotel room. There’s movement, that’s for sure. It could be a maid, or it could be –

“Two tangos,” I whisper as a light flashes on inside the room, “both in suits. I’ve got Donaldson, and one unknown.”

“The unknown, is he Muerta?” Natalie asks. The excitement in her voice is obvious. “Stan,” she snaps to someone else in the operations room, “what the hell is going on with my sound?”

I ignore her. I hear voices – faint, but there.

“We shouldn’t be here, Pete,” the first voice mumbles. “You said this was going to be hands-off. That all we had to do was move the money. You never said I was going to have to meet murderous men from some goddamn Mexican cartel!”

The speaker moves in front of the window. He’s holding his head in his hands. I don’t recognize him, but by the sounds of things, he’s another Landwolfe banking executive. He’s close to panic.

My lip curls. Good, I think. You should be. The walls are closing in, asshole.

“Negative,” I report. “Suspect he’s Landwolfe.”

It’s Donaldson’s turn to speak. The man sounds how he looks – plump and wheezing – as if he needs to fight his gut to speak every word.

“You knew what you were getting into, Fred,” he spits. Peter Donaldson sounds like a man who is desperately trying to hold things together, but is coming up short. “Where did you think all that money was coming from? Your new car: drug money. Your new house: drug money. You knew exactly what was going on, you just chose to ignore it.”

“Well I can’t ignore it now,” Fred says bitterly, “can I?”

Silence reigns for a second. Only a second, though, because Natalie crackles back into my ear.

“Tell me what is going on, Nate. We have nothing. Stan says,” and I can detect the barely veiled disgust in my handler’s voice as she mentions the analyst’s name, “that they might be using a signal jammer. You’re close enough to pick up the audio feed, we are not.”

My heart beat picks up. I realize what this is – an opportunity. I know Natalie would throw Kim under the bus before she ever offered a helping hand. If Natalie saw profit in letting Kim die, she would. I need to be careful with what I share with Paragon, very careful.

“Nothing yet,” I murmur. “It’s just the two of them, talking.”

The river swells underneath me as a riverboat goes past. The groan of its engine briefly drowns out the incessant engine noise from the road. The barge rocks from side to side, and I cradle the sniper rifle in my arms to maintain my visual.

The scope is moving up and down, and it’s hard to focus on the room. Still, I see the two executives get to their feet. As I wrestle the rifle steady, I see Kim’s boss wipe his palms on the back of his suit pants.

“Wait,” I say. “Something’s happening…”

The hotel room flashes brighter. It’s the door opening. I can practically sense the sweat dripping off the two bank workers inside.

My earpiece vibrates. “Gentlemen,” Peter says, his voice wavering, “how good of you to arrange this meeting.”

No one replies. The sound of muffled footsteps and heavy breathing fills my ears.

“Three tangos. I repeat; five targets in the room.”

I focus on my breathing. My finger caresses the trigger. I know Natalie would kill me if I did it, but I have a sudden urge to murder everyone in that hotel room. If I do, then Kim will be safe for good: well, at least, for now. Every Muerta killer in the country is in that room. If they die, it’ll give me time to get her to safety.

“Permission to take the shot,” I whisper. “It’s clean. Repeat, I’ve got a clean shot.”

“Negative,” Natalie hisses, “do not take that shot, that is an order, Nate. We cannot just murder five men in London’s most expensive hotel. It would be a scandal. That is not how Paragon works. We stay under the radar.”

Now it’s my heavy breathing that I can hear. I want to take that shot more than anything. It’s the smart play, whatever the consequences.

“Nate,” Natalie warns, “I said – that is an order!”

Another voice adds to the clamor. There’s no doubting that it’s a Mexican accent.

“Ratul snake wors,” the man says. I can see him. He’s wearing a tan overcoat, and he’s got one arm resting inside it. His two companions flank him. They are both much bigger men.

“You – Donaldson,” tan overcoat growls, “tell me – what jou done wit my boss money?”

The two executives look at each other. The backs of both men are facing the window, but I can imagine the fear on their faces.

“What,” Kim’s boss whimpers, “What are you talking about? I’ve done … I mean, we’ve done everything you asked for. Landwolfe has been an excellent partner for … your Organization.”

“Landwolfe,” tan overcoat says, while pacing around the room, “been useful. You, on d’ other hand, are a tief. Right, Donaldson?”

Peter runs his hand through his hair. His legs are shaking. My finger grazes the trigger. I’m tempted to put him out of his misery.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Peter begs. I half expect him to fall to his knees and beg forgiveness. “What haven’t we sent?”

“Your deliveries are light,” tan overcoat replies. The killer’s voice is filled with glee. I’ve met his type before.

Peter shakes his head. “No, no, that’s not possible. The system…”

“Pendejo, I don’ give a fuck about your system. My boss tell me de money not dere,” tan overcoat shrugs, “I believe him. You callin’ him a liar, boy?”

An engine growls in the distance. I can’t take my eyes off what’s going on in the hotel room.

“Nate, report,” Natalie shouts into my ear. She sounds pissed. I bet she’s been sitting on her hands this whole time.

“Get off the line,” I growl.

“I wouldn’t lie to you,” Peter whines, “I promise. I don’t know what you are talking about. What money is missing? It must be a mistake. We can –.”

The engine noise grows, louder and louder until it’s impossible to ignore. I glance to my right and see a huge ferry steaming up the river fast. Behind it, a roiling wake leaps out of the blackness like white horses.

“Crap,” I groan. A second later, the boat starts to rock wildly up and down. I can’t see a damn thing through the rifle’s scope as it sways.

CRACK!

The sound of a suppressed gunshot rings through my earpiece from inside the hotel room. My chest compresses. I feel my heart start beating in overdrive as my adrenal glands dump all the adrenaline they can produce into my veins. I grab the rifle and stand up. I don’t care if someone sees me from the road. It’s dark, and I need to know what’s going on inside that room.

“Oh my God, oh my God,” Donaldson whines. He sounds like he’s about to hyperventilate. “You …you …”

It’s impossible to keep anything steady in the rifle’s scope. I get glimpses – tan overcoat standing with a gun pressed to Donaldson’s forehead; Fred’s body bleeding out on the floor. But they are only that – glimpses.

“Carlos,” tan overcoat barks, “curtains – now.”

“Fuck,” I swear. One of the two big men at the back of the room moves swiftly to the window. I can just about see him through the scope, but there’s no way I can take a shot.

“What the hell is going on, Nate,” Natalie half-screams into my ear.

It’s time to make a choice. What’s more important? A job I don’t care about and a boss I hate… or Kim?

It’s not even a choice.

“I’ve lost the shot,” I say. That part’s not a lie. “I’m not getting anything from inside the room. They killed one of them. Maybe the bullet hit the bugs, I don’t know.”

There’s a rustle of paper and heavy breathing from inside the hotel room. I turn down Natalie’s radio feed. She’ll be pissed, but I don’t care. The second they get the audio feed from the backup recorders, they’ll know I lied to them.

“Who is dis?” Tan overcoat asks. His voice is hard and threatening. If I was Peter Donaldson, I’d be praying to someone up in the clouds right now.

“No one,” Donaldson moans. He sounds broken with fear. “She’s just some new girl.”

New girl: my blood runs cold. There’s only one person they can be talking about.

“ ‘Splain to me,” tan overcoat says in a deceptively upbeat tone of voice, “why my people find eighty tousan’ dollars in her bank account.”

“They didn’t,” Donaldson stammers, “that’s not possible. She doesn’t have access –.”

“You callin’me a liar?” Tan overcoat threatens. “Tha’s a bad move, boy.”

My trigger finger itches. I want to just start firing into that window and hope like hell I hit someone. But it’s not an option. The bullets could rip through a wall and kill innocent people. I know Kim would never forgive me if that happened. It’s the only thing stopping me.

You should have taken the shot when you had the chance.

“No, I promise…” Donaldson whimpers.

“Too late, boy,” tan overcoat growls.

“Sawyers,” Donaldson moans, selling my girl down the river like the coward he is, “Kimberly Sawyers. That’s all I know ab–.”

CRACK.

Peter never gets the chance to finish his sentence. The last thing I hear is the thump of his body slumping against the carpeted floor. I’m already moving. His death means nothing to me. It’s a race against time. If either Paragon or the cartel finds Kim first, she’s a dead girl.

I need to beat them to her.