Risky Business

[Jay Carpenter]

Axel Miller

Talk about cutting the tension with a knife.

Natalie didn’t like him. Well, he didn’t fault her too much. But she’d never seen him at his best. A glorified mall cop wasn’t exactly putting his skills to best use. And you know, selling people out tended to be taken poorly. Axel could give two shits about Natalie’s admiration. If he cared about that, he’d never joined the military in the first place. His parents practically disowned him for the choice.

He was uncharacteristically quiet, though. Granted, the many crossings and double-crossings and triple-crossings was cracking his mind like an egg. Problem with lying to everyone was keeping up with the most current story of the moment. Maybe he should just let someone shoot Jessika in the head tonight and get out of all this? It would rid him of one annoying problem but leave him a bigger one. Escaping thumbs of governments and cartels took more than one well-placed bullet implied.

They rolled into Margarita Mile, the downtown touristy district of Dallas so named for the numerous Mexican restaurants, bars, and food trucks each renowned for their own version of a margarita. He stepped from the car, gaze studying those present with one calculating sweep, and followed her inside. “Custody girls don’t get a lot of good Mexican, eh?” he said playfully. He understood very little about the person they were meeting, nor did he ask.

Seated at the bar, a long glance licked the redhead up and down. A smirk twisted his lips. Maybe this wasn’t going to be such a bad plan after all.