Read Online Gage (Contract Killers Book 1) by Jenika Snow - Free Book Online Page A

breathed out a sigh when she realized it was a vehicle, and that it was his. He was gentle with her as he helped her into the backseat, mindful of her wounds, before getting in the front and starting the car.
    “You better buckle up.”
    She swallowed and nodded as she strapped the seatbelt across her body and stared at the high tech equipment that furnished the inside of the vehicle. He pushed several buttons, and the front of the windshield became a moss green color. Night-vision? She didn’t bother questioning him, knowing some things were better left unsaid.
    “Is my father doing okay?” It had seemed like years since she had seen him. “I mean, he wasn’t well when I was taken, and that seems like ages ago.”
    “You’ve been missing for longer than is acceptable. Your father didn’t look good when I spoke with him, but he’s still alive and eagerly awaiting your return.”
    She breathed out, fatigue now starting to set in. “What about Rye? Is he dead?” There was a heavy silence, and before he spoke, she knew the answer. “He got away, didn’t he?”
    “Yeah, but I’ll find him. I’ll fucking find him,” he seemed to whisper the last part to himself.
    She let her head fall back against the seat, closing her eyes and wishing that when she woke up, this would all be a bad dream.
     

Chapter Eight
     
    Neeka opened her eyes, looking around and blinking a few times as the room came into focus. She realized that she was now lying across the leather seat of the SUV. A large coat was draped across her legs, smelling of evergreen and something darker, something … comforting. She slowly sat up, keeping the coat across her legs and shivering slightly. She looked out her window, seeing a small gas station on her left, the lights in the parking lot bright and offensive. To her right was a wide stretch of open road, the moon still high in the sky, illuminating the sandy hills that covered the vast expanse of open land. She knew she was far from Shyloh, the mountains she had grown to love distant from this desolated place.
    She shifted to the center of the seat, looking out the windshield and seeing if she could spot Gage. She didn’t dare get out of the car. Neeka breathed out when she saw him emerge from the postage-stamp-sized convenience store, several bags in hand, his face and clothes no longer covered in blood and dirt. Pressing herself against the seat as the driver’s side door opened, all she could do was watch him. The woodsy smell intensified as he entered.
    “I thought you’d sleep longer.” He turned in his seat and looked at her, handing her a full brown paper bag.
    “I haven’t been sleeping well, for obvious reasons.”
    Gage was silent for several moments, his profile shadowed by the lights from the parking lot. He breathed out deeply. “Yeah, they’re fuckers, but you don’t have to worry about them anymore.”
    She opened the bag, seeing chips, candy, plastic-wrapped sandwiches, and an assortment of unhealthy food, but God, did they look good. “Thank you.” She’d lost weight since being Rye’s prisoner, not because he wasn’t feeding her, but because she hadn’t had much of an appetite. And what she did eat, what she’d been forced to consume, she’d thrown up after the guards had left her alone, her stomach in knots. Neeka looked down at the unflattering hospital gown she still wore, and saw the dirt and wounds that covered her arms and legs, and the nasty cut on her calf.
    “I didn’t know what you liked, so I got a little of everything. It’s shit food, but right now it’s all there is.”
    She looked up at him, seeing his gaze land first on her dirty bare feet and then flickering to the wound on her leg. It would heal by tomorrow, but right now it looked pretty bad. “It’s perfectly fine, thank you.”
    “Although I want to drive straight through until you’re with your father, I’m taking back roads and it’s doubling our time. You also need rest, so I’ve