“Why is she still alive?”
“I told you, she’s more heavily guarded than she was last week. Although, there has been one more change in that too. The original Irishman no longer accompanies her to the hospital, but has been replaced with his younger brother and one other.”
“That doesn’t explain why you haven’t killed her yet.”
“Because I am a perfectionist. The time, the place, who she’s with, all have to be perfectly aligned.”
An impatient sigh sounded down the telephone line. “You’re just delaying the inevitable. Dead is dead.”
“And such beauty as hers deserves to be preserved even in death.”
“You sound as if you’ve fallen in love with her.”
“She is…different from my other kills.”
“In what way?”
This idiot was an asshole. A stupid, stupid asshole. Moreover, an asshole with absolutely no respect for beauty. Which this target undoubtedly had. But this idiot couldn’t see that. Couldn’t see anything beyond the need for revenge.
“In every way that matters.”
“You have two days.” The impatience was back with a vengeance.
“I have as long as I wish.” The reply was harsh. “If you attempt, as you have threatened to do, to send someone else in my place, then I’ll eliminate them. Without mercy. Jan—the target will be shown the respect and consideration she deserves, and I’ll make the kill when I’m good and ready, and not before.”
The burner phone was dropped to the floor and crushed beneath a booted foot, ending the call.