“Sucks to be him.” Hawk had gotten so fucking bored, he’d gone shopping yesterday and then remembered how much he hated that shit. But he’d found a hoodie the kid would like. If he ever got home to give it to him.

He’d wanted to buy something for Kit, too, but that would’ve been the ultimate in stupidity.

Hawk drank down some beer to clear the ache in his throat. “Gotta say, this might be a crap job, but the jet and helicopter are sweet.”

Especially the jet. It was why deVries had wanted Hawk, since he was rated to fly small jets. In Alaska, Hawk traded helicopter flying time with a pilot who owned a small private jet so they’d each get enough hours to keep current.

“At least you get toys. Fuck, but I miss my woman.”

“Never figured you for permanent.” The sadist was more of a fuck ’em and leave ’em sort. Or had been. “How long?”

“Closing in on three years.” Smiling, deVries said, “I started to fall when she told me I probably couldn’t find my ass with a flashlight and a search warrant.”

Hawk stared. The woman had balls, big brass ones.

“I knew I was in trouble when I found her defending a kid from a gang,” deVries chuckled, “and her crap-shit apartment had rodents, and she’d named the mouse François.”

Courage, big heart, sense of humor, naturally deVries had fallen hard. Fuck, and now Hawk was missing Kit, and she sure wasn’t his. She’d probably not even noticed he was gone.

Aric would’ve. But Hawk had talked to him, prepped him. With luck, he wasn’t taking it too hard.

“But not having Lindsey here means that out-of-country assignments suck ass,” deVries said.

Hawk blinked. “Why’d you take it? You’re senior enough to pick and choose.”

“The client’s brother is a friend of Simon’s,” deVries grumbled. “Simon asked me to do it as a favor.”

Simon owned Demakis International Security, which had a sterling rep in the industry. He was not only deVries’ boss, the two were friends. It was tough to refuse a buddy’s request…as Hawk knew.

Leaning back, deVries thumped his feet onto the coffee table. “He didn’t realize how long this would take. The briefing implied the bastards would act right away.”

Last month, Sanchez escaped an attempted assassination and discovered an old enemy had contracted a hit on him. Since the timing indicated someone on his staff was taking bribes, Sanchez hired Simon’s company to expose the traitor. He’d pay a bonus if the next attempt on his life resulted in enough gore to deter future assassins.

Hawk had a cynical feeling the enemy wouldn’t last long after this.

The problem was that the hitmen hadn’t made their move yet. “Now what?”