Code Red (A Rogue Warrior Thriller Book 1) by Ian Loome

Author:Ian Loome [Loome, Ian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Inkubator Books
Published: 2023-07-04T16:00:00+00:00

34

Dawn sat in the rickety wooden chair by the flophouse room door, her arms folded; the .38 Colt borrowed from Nick Velasco rested on her lap, the romance novel she’d had in her purse spread out on top of it.

She wasn’t trying to hide the gun so much as not see it. The first thing she’d done, once Bob was gone, was to demand the boy hand it over, as he was too young for that kind of responsibility.

Her doubt about what they were doing had been allayed, briefly, by being introduced to potential allies. It had returned in full force when Bob had admitted the only way to deal with Dahlen might be to kill him.

She’d felt like walking away right then. Dawn had grown up with violence in her life, from her father, from the gangsters who’d killed her son.

It occurred to her in the moment that, when push came to shove, most folks were just vulnerable. They didn’t have the hatred or anger needed to hurt others, and they didn’t have sufficient fear to do anything stupid. They just avoided trouble, which was probably how it should be.

But trouble had come looking for her. For all of them. It wasn’t like Bob deserved to be killed any more than she did, no matter what he’d done in the past. That was God’s business, life and death, not men’s. But it also wasn’t like he had a right to mete out justice.

Yet… she understood his position. Like a surgeon who has to let one patient die to save another, he saw it as “kill or be killed.” Given how much money this Mr. Dahlen had, she wasn’t sure he was wrong.

It unsettled her greatly.

The lock to the room door began to slowly turn. She knew it was probably him but felt herself quaver slightly from nerves, her hand finding the pistol grip.

The door opened, and Bob poked his head through. “It’s me.”

“Shhh!” She nodded towards the lumpy double bed, where Marcus was sprawled out, still fully dressed, on the stained bed cover. “Boy’s had a heck of a couple of days. Fell asleep as soon as he lay down.”

“It’s after midnight. I thought you’d both be out cold.”

“Humph,” she said, rising from the chair and shaking her legs to get the circulation going again. She gestured towards the TV, where a local station was playing a late-night music show, something from the eighties. “They’ve got reruns of Soul Train on at this time of night. Besides, someone had to keep an eye on him. If you didn’t notice, this is not exactly the Ritz. Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Better. I spotted someone I know, someone who can tell us what’s going on.”

“And?”

“He’s not the kind of guy you just walk up to. He’s… not what you’d call a fan of mine.”

“Uh-huh. Does that mean he’s also trying to kill you, Bob? Is there anyone in DC who isn’t?”

“Well… there’s Nick. And Marcus. And you.”

“Uh-huh. Don’t be too sure on that last one.

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