Unraveled by Jennifer Estep Read Free Book Online Page A

and . . . and that was all that I knew about her. Those were the sum total of facts I had about the woman. Once again, I cursed myself for not being faster, stronger, smarter. For not being able to at least capture and question her.
    As an assassin, information was key. Who your target was, where he lived, the number of bodyguards he had, his family, friends, pets, habits, even his hobbies. All of that was important and useful in planning a hit on someone. But I didn’t have any of that when it came to the Circle.
    I didn’t have anything .
    I glared at the stupid hat I’d drawn, more disgusted than ever before. Part of me wanted to swipe my marker across it and the rest of the board, until I’d blotted out ­Fedora, Tucker, and all my damn questions. But that would have been childish, and I would just have had to erase everything and start all over again.
    I still drew devil horns on top of Tucker’s head, though. Just because I could. I put them on top of the hat too.
    It actually made me feel a little bit better, and I stared at the board, wondering how else I could mark up Tucker’s photo—
    Creak.
    I whipped around to the container door. That sounded like someone had taken hold of the handle and tried to yank the door open but hadn’t quite succeeded, given how thick and heavy the metal was.
    Creak.
    Sure enough, that person tried again, and this time, the door started swinging open.
    Someone was outside—and they were coming in.
    *   *   *
    I dropped the marker, palmed a knife, and darted over to the door, plastering myself up against the metal wall beside it.
    A second later, a woman wearing dark clothes and a toboggan slipped into the container, her head moving back and forth as she looked around.
    â€œWhat in the blue blazes is she up to now—”
    I didn’t give the woman time to finish her muttered sentence. In an instant, I grabbed her shoulder, spun her around, shoved her up against the wall, and raised my knife to her throat.
    Lorelei Parker looked back at me, her pale blue eyes steady on mine. “Is this how you greet all your guests, Gin?” she said.
    I hissed out a breath. “Sorry. I thought you were someone else.”
    â€œDon’t be. I came prepared.”
    Something jabbed into my side. I looked down. Lorelei had one of her elemental Ice guns pressed up against my stomach. Even though the weapon was only loaded with a single bullet, it would still do plenty of damage, especially in that spot.
    â€œTouché,” I murmured.
    I dropped my knife from her throat and stepped back. Lorelei slid her Ice gun back into the holster on her belt.
    â€œHow did you know that I was in here?”
    â€œI was doing a final check of the yard before leaving for the night, and I noticed that the padlock was open on the container. So I figured that you were probably in here.” She jerked her head at the door, which was wide-open now. “You might want to close that. And lock it from the inside next time, if you don’t want people sneaking up on you.”
    I gave her a sour look, but Lorelei merely arched her eyebrows in a chiding response. So I shut the door and slid the metal bar down, locking us in the container.
    Lorelei Parker was the smuggler supreme of the Ashland underworld, ready, willing, and able to get anything for anyone at any time. Weapons, cash, gold bars, art, designer fashions, exotic animals, fancy food and wines. If there was a black market for it, then Lorelei knew where to get it and how to best bring it into Ashland on the sly. She was also one of the few allies that I had in the underworld, despite the gun she’d just pulled on me.
    Lorelei glanced around, taking in the tables and chairs that dotted the inside of the container. “You’ve been busy since the last time I was in here.”
    â€œWell, I just had to decorate my new fancy digs,” I snarked back.
    â€œAssassin