Excerpt: unknown

He jammed his thumb against the buzzer. The door flew open, much too fast to have been released by the automatic security feature, and before he had his gun out of its holster the big man who opened the door reached out, snatched him by the front of his trench coat, and hauled him inside. There were two other men, all dressed in black, all holding laser rifles.

Kevin swore as they slammed him against the interior side of the door, patting him down and roughly ripping the gun away from him. “Who the fuck do you pricks think you are?” he snarled, face jammed against the cold metal of the door.

“Hold still,” snapped the man who had opened the door.

Kevin glanced around rapidly, trying to assess the situation. The secretary was sitting on a chair in the corner in tears, holding a tissue to her reddened face. Her hair was disheveled, her thick makeup running in great black and blue streaks down her cheeks. Kevin felt a mild disgust churn in the pit of his stomach at the way she sat limply, like a doughy lump of weakness. Jaye would never behave like that. God, Jaye. Were these the men who had stopped her? She hadn’t mentioned the guns though. They looked like them meant business well enough.

The man who was searching him was evidently satisfied, because he rose to his full height and stepped back from Kevin. The first man gestured with his rifle for Kevin to sit down. Kevin remained standing. The man—a thug by the look of him, or a merc—smiled thinly. “Kevin Larkin, I assume.” It was not a question. Kevin nodded briefly. “Good,” the man continued. “Sorry if this makes you nervous.” His teeth were white, his smile bright and vicious. “It’s a delicate situation in here, if you hadn’t noticed.”

Kevin glanced pointedly at the guns and back at the speaker. “Oh, I’d noticed.” He kept his arms loosely at his sides, muscles tense, ready to run if he got the chance or the cause, but watching the situation carefully, trying to discern the exact vibe he was picking up on. “What’s the problem, gentlemen?”

“Oh, no problem,” the first man said. “Call me Devin. That’s Horse and Luke.” The other two men didn’t blink. He was still smiling. “We’re here to do business.”

There was a pointed silence. Kevin finally sat. “I’m listening.