Annihilate Me (Vol. 3) (The Annihilate Me Series) by Christina Ross Read Free Book Online Page B

how
accurate a rifle is because my uncles and aunts are hunters.   If anyone wanted either of us dead the
other night, they would have had us in their sights and they would have killed
us.   So, why didn’t they?”
    “Other than what I already presented to
you, we don’t know why.”
    “I think it’s because they want to screw
with us even more before they do kill us.”
    “We can’t be certain of that, ma’am.”
    I shrugged.   “Of course you can’t.   What we can be certain of is that my life with Alex is going to be spent
on edge if these people aren’t found and brought to justice.”
    “If you’re with Mr. Wenn, your life always
will be in danger.   Mr. Wenn is a
target for a whole host of reasons.   That will never change.   If
you’re with him, you must also assume those risks and that lifestyle.   That said, both of you always will have
a highly trained security team around you.”
    I absorbed that for a moment.   Is that how I wanted to live my
life?   With guards protecting
me?   Having almost no privacy?   The answer came at once.   If that’s what it took to be with Alex,
then that’s how I’d live my life.   “Will I be safe tonight?”
    Blackwell, who I knew had been itching to
stop my questioning because of the dark turns it had taken, intercepted with a
nod.   “Tank here is going to make
sure of it.”
    “Your name is ‘Tank’?” I asked.
    “It’s actually Mitch, ma’am.”
    “I like to think of you as ‘Tank’,”
Blackwell said.  
    Her voice became unnaturally bright.   She was trying to turn the conversation
around to achieve a lighter tone.   And while I admired her effort to ease my mind, I actually preferred how
straight this man was being with me.  
    “I mean, look at you,” Blackwell
said.   “It’s like the Army got hold
of you as a child, ran some random experiments, jolted you with some sort of
nuclear energy, and altered your DNA.”
    He didn’t respond to the joke.   Instead, he looked at me and I was
struck by the intensity in his eyes.   “You’ll be fine with me, Ms. Kent.”
    Will I?   And what about Alex?   Will he be OK?
    Blackwell was no fool.   She knew the situation was tense and
she respected it.   She backed off
and turned to me.   “Bernie will be
ready for you at Wenn at six-thirty.   He’s come through again, which means I’m going shopping tomorrow to buy
him something that will send him over the moon for all of his help since we
first began.   He deserves it.   I’ve told him which dress I think will
work best for tonight, so he’ll assist you there as well.   Stop looking at me like that,
Jennifer.   Bernie isn’t going to
physically dress you—you’ll dress yourself.   As promised, I’m staying here so you’ll know that Alex is in
good care.   That way, you can focus
on what will be a challenging evening.   But you’ll meet that challenge.   I have no doubt about it.   You’ll see some familiar faces at Peachy’s, but there will be many whom
you don’t know.   Though they will know you .   You and Alex were just on the front
page of the Times .   So,
expect many questions and a wealth of faux concern.”
    She jerked a thumb at Tank.   “Tank here will be joining
you—monkey suit and everything.   Wait until you see him in that.   Formidable .”   She
checked her watch.   “You’ve got
five hours before you need to start getting ready.   What do you want to do now?”
    “I want to see Lisa,” I said.

 
 
 
 
 
    CHAPTER
EIGHT

 
    When we arrived at my apartment building
on Fifth, it was sunny and still warm.   In the midst of September, this was unusual for me.   If I had been back in Maine, I likely
would have been wearing a light sweater and pants to transition into fall
instead of the Capri pants and the pale blue T-shirt Lisa had dropped off for
me the night Alex was brought to the hospital.   Even though Manhattan and Maine were only an hour apart by
plane,