ROMANCE: BAD BOY MAFIA ROMANCE: On the Run (Pregnancy Hitman Suspense Mystery Romance) (Women’s Fiction Suspense Action & Adventure) by Laurie Teller Page B

 She knew it was crazy to think, but it felt like there as somebody else here.  She didn’t fully understand how she could know a thing like that, but she did.  She was sure of it.  She rounded the corner and gasped as she saw a man sprinting towards the elevators.  He stopped for just a moment when he saw her, just long enough for her to catch the quickest glimpse of his face, and then he stampeded through the fire exit stairs, the alarm sounding immediately.  Kara struggled to make sense of the situation, struggled mightily not to lose her grip on her consciousness, which was of the utmost importance because she knew two things for certain.  The first was that whoever that was had come from the direction of Mr. Whitney’s office.  The second was that he had been covered in what looked very much like blood.
     
    *****
     

“I’m not interested.”
    “Excuse me?”
    “You heard me.  I spoke loud and clear.  Not interested.”
    “That’s not an option, Williams.  You want to be part of this unit, you’ll get interested.”
    “That so?  That’s the way it’s gonna be?”
    “You know it is.  Don’t take it personally.  its how it’s got to be.”
    Brent Williams slammed his fist down onto his sergeant's big oak desk and stood, pacing the room and lighting up a cigarette.  His boss wrinkled his nose, it was a well-known fact that he wasn’t a fan of smoking, but he wasn’t about to tell Brent to put it out.  He may have been the sergeant which technically put him in charge, but nobody told Brent Williams what to do.  Nobody was really his boss.  His superiors were really more tasked with keeping him reigned in as best they could, which was a full time, thankless job.  
    Sergeant Sharp had dreaded coming into work from the moment he woke up, knowing that he was going to have to deliver Brent with news he wasn’t going to like.  He had waited until the end of the day, not particularly interested in dealing with his temper for the entire day, and now that he had said what was required of him he felt almost relieved.  He knew Brent well enough to know that after the bellyaching he would do what was being asked of him.  He would do it because it was his job and if there was one thing he found important, it was the job.  It seemed to be the thing he lived for.  He would just take a little bit of time to come around.  That’s how things went with him.
    “What if I decide not to do it?”
    “Well then we’ll have to deal with that decision, won’t we?  So here’s what we’re going to do.  I’ll make a deal with you.  You take tonight, think it over.  If you show up tomorrow morning I’ll know you’re on board.  If not, then we’ll take the necessary steps.”
    Brent cursed under his breath and tossed his cigarette on the sergeant’s floor, grinding it into the carpet without ever breaking eye contact.  Then he stormed out, out of the office, out of the building entirely.  He was done working for the day if they wanted to give him news like that.  Fuck ‘em.  It was already a little bit past the sun going down anyway and Brent knew exactly where he was heading.  It was the same place he always headed when he felt like this, this pulsing anger throbbing in his temples.  He tore open the door of Malone’s Irish Pub with a bang, announcing his entrance to all of the patrons inside.  It was by no means an original name for a bar but it was cheap drinks and an owner who didn’t take shit from anyone and those were both things Brent could appreciate.  Plus it was one of the few places where he could still smoke inside, and as far as Brent was concerned that made the establishment as good as gold.  He squinted in the merciful, smoky dark before sliding heavily onto his usual stool.  Dave, the owner/bartender with gray hair and a knowing look in his eye met him with a tall beer and a warm shot of whiskey.  Just the way he liked it.
    “Neither one of them days, huh