The Fourth Option by Matt Hilton

Author:Matt Hilton [Hilton, Matt]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-12-02T16:00:00+00:00

25

Jason Mercer wasn’t the first loose end Vince had pursued on behalf of Arrowsake. Several years ago he had traced a knife wielding maniac from North Carolina’s Barrier Islands, into the Deep South, and then almost to the border with Canada where his quarry had holed up in a hunter’s cabin in Minnesota’s Land of Ten Thousand Lakes. The madman, who’d gone by a number of pseudonyms, but most notably the Harvestman, had proven a dangerous enemy. Vince had come close to killing him, but the wily killer had had a contingency up his sleeve, and escaped. The three assassins that had accompanied Vince didn’t survive the brutal encounter, and Vince hadn’t come out of it unscathed either. He’d been stabbed through his right knee, and would have bled to death if not for the Harvestman’s whimsy: Vince had woken from combat with his serious leg wound tourniqueted by way of his own garrote, and with his skeleton mercifully whole. The Harvestman was named for his penchant for taking bone trophies from his victims. In a note left for Vince at the scene, the maniac had explained his reason for allowing him to live, but with the caveat that should they meet again, he would reap his due. Yeah, well if it ever happened and they faced off again, the loon wouldn’t find Vince lacking: he also wanted his due, and wouldn’t be satisfied until the Harvestman’s head was at his feet.

Unlike his simmering hatred for the Harvestman, there was nothing personal involved in the task of finding and killing Jason Mercer; it was just a contract to him. Not unless he counted the inclusion of Joe Hunter in the search. If he’d to put a finger on why he disliked Hunter, he’d struggle to admit it without sounding envious. Theirs had been a complicated relationship, one born of conflict but ending in an uneasy alliance. He knew Hunter still held a boner for him over the fact he’d throttled him unconscious with his garrote but that was due to a misunderstanding. He’d known that sooner or later — unlike he expected with the Harvestman — there’d be some kind of showdown with Hunter, one that’d draw blood but not necessarily in the taking of lives, but that was before this shit show threw them back into conflict. To Vince this was just another job, but Hunter had a different opinion, the noble fool being misguided by some kind of loyalty to Sue Bouchard. He couldn’t understand why Hunter would stick up for a woman he owed nothing to, and who had for years assisted an enemy of Rink.

Actually, he could.

Hunter was a throw back to earlier centuries. He conducted himself like a night errant out of time and place: the first hint of a damsel in distress or a dragon to slay and he was on the job like stink on shit. He was surprised that Hunter’s archaic behaviour didn’t find him coming unstuck more often in this modern politically correct world.

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