Kill Me Twice (A Zeke Edison Novel Book 1) by Joseph Flynn Read Free Book Online Page A

with a journalism degree. I’m an All-American lacrosse player, and I speak Arabic fluently. How’s that?”
    “Pretty damn good.”
    “Wouldn’t look bad on your record, landing me, would it?”
    “Not bad at all.”
    “But if I sign up it has to be with the explicit understanding, in writing, that I get into Ranger training. If I can’t cut it, I’ll serve out my hitch at whatever else they assign me.”
    A sly grin lit the recruiter’s face.
    Reggie said, “Yeah, I know. I’m asking for trouble. I want it that way. You ready to meet my terms?”
    “Let me make a phone call, check out what you’ve just told me.”
    “Sure.”
    The recruiter enclosed himself in a small office in a far corner of the room. He returned ten minutes later and extended a hand to Reggie. She stood and took it. “We’re good?”
    “Ms. Green, you have a deal. You’ll enlist as a second lieutenant, go through basic training and if you do well at that you’ll get the opportunity to train as a Ranger. If you wash out, other more suitable duties will be found for you. Perhaps something using your journalism or language skills. Are you good with that?”
    She nodded and shook his hand. “You play fair, I’ll play fair.”
    “You say that as if you think the army might not honor its word.”
    Reggie shrugged. “People, institutions, nobody is perfect.”
    The recruiter reclaimed his hand and looked as if he was having second thoughts … until he realized she was testing him. If he backed out now, he’d be admitting he wasn’t dealing honestly with her. And then there was her boyfriend.
    He was on his feet now, too, a big SOB. Tall and strong.
    The recruiter was a war vet with extensive close-quarters combat experience. But the boyfriend was a monster, and he looked just a bit crazy. With guys like that, you wanted to have a bigger weapon and a full magazine.
    The recruiter looked back at Reggie.
    “You’ll get a fair shot, Ms. Green. The rest is up to you.”
    Reggie, joined Zeke, George and Paulette for dinner that night: carry-out fried chicken. They ate in the kitchen, one of the first rooms to be completely rehabbed. The idea of dining on the terrace on a pleasant evening had been rejected, after a bit of discussion.
    “You’re worried about someone dropping in, I could always growl at unwanted guests,” Reggie suggested.
    George replied, “That’d scare them off, all right, but we don’t want to lose any of the good will we built up.”
    “You feel the same way?” Reggie asked Zeke.
    He said, “You know how I am. I want you all to myself, loonie or not.”
    “Amen to that,” George added.
    A look that would have intimidated an assassin flashed through Reggie’s eyes, but she let the moment of wrath pass. She turned to Paulette and said, “I told Zeke I’d be happy to help with his case, but he said he can’t tell me what it is. Client confidentiality and all that. He said I could ask you if you’d like to share.”
    Reggie picked up a chicken leg and took a bite with an audible snap of teeth.
    Way to make an impression, Zeke thought.
    To his surprise, though, Paulette nodded. Rather than frighten Paulette, Reggie’s savage table manners seemed to reassure her. Or maybe she just wanted another woman involved in the effort. Maybe both of those things.
    “Please understand that I’m not making things up here,” Paulette said to Reggie.
    Reggie nodded. “Try me. I’ve heard a lot of strange stuff that turned out to be true.”
    Paulette nodded, taking comfort in those words. She told Reggie her story and why she was afraid she would be murdered a second time. Then she squared her shoulders and waited for an adverse reaction.
    Reggie liked that posturing. She told Zeke, “This is a brave woman.”
    Paulette laughed. “Me? I’m Chicken Little.”
    “Unh-uh, a coward would have just run and hidden herself. You not only took a stand against a threat, you opened yourself to possible ridicule. Although the