CHAPTER TWO

Three Hours Earlier

 

 

JEAN FINISHED THE last project for the afternoon and sat back in her oversized (for her) office chair. At five-three and with a tiny stature, no office chair had ever fit her. She had used pillows at times to support her back and a footrest for her feet, but those pillows, at the moment, were on the hardwood oak floor in her office, near her couch.

She had one of the best offices in all of Benton with a view of the surrounding rolling pine-covered hills and the river that cut along the side of the small city.

She turned and just let the peaceful view relax her. It would only be a little longer before her mission here was complete. It might be another six months before she could really move on, but that didn’t matter. She had the patience that came with living for thousands of years.

The patience of a hunter.

And she was one of the best hunters and killers there was.

She glanced around. She might actually miss this office. She didn’t need the job or the money, but her husband Sam didn’t know that. And besides, she found this modern job challenging and the people here in the office were friendly. They all fell totally for her role, and her story about working to let her husband stay home and write novels.

Her husband Sam was a nice guy. Gentle and friendly and always willing to help. Not that good a writer, but decent enough to maybe have a chance of selling someday. Too bad he wasn’t going to live long enough for that to happen.

He was just her cover to get to her real target and when she finished off her real target, she wouldn’t be able to leave any loose ends, no matter how much she liked him.

Too bad she didn’t love him. If she had, she might have worked to find a different way. Sadly, she hadn’t fallen in love with anyone for a very long time.

And that thought just depressed her.

She stood to get her pillows and put them behind her back again as she started on a new project.

The work at least kept her mind busy until she could get to her real job and kill her target.

That would be soon.

Very soon.