Blood Money Read Online Free Page A

Kelton on high alert. He would have pulled his
firearm from his holster and barged into the room ready to put
three holes into the first thing that moved, or perhaps headed
towards the back door, where he could get a better look inside the
house before entering.
    But having just finished an operation a few
hours ago, he simply chalked the feeling up to frayed nerves and
let it slide. He had no other choice, really, seeing as how he was
currently unarmed.
    Besides, if someone was looking to settle an
old score, he’d already be dead. Any professional worth his salt
would have taken him down on neutral ground instead of waiting for
him at his home.
    With these thoughts in mind, Kelton took a
deep breath, opened the door and stepped into his house.
    Despite all his rationalizing, he
involuntarily held his breath as he crossed the threshold of the
room, exhaling only after a full five seconds of stillness.
    The lights were off and the blinds were
pulled down, blocking the light from the street. The only
illumination came from the soft light of the green numbers of the
digital clock on the wall and the dim glow of the streetlights
behind him.
    Kelton closed the door and walked directly
into the kitchen. He opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water
off the shelf, drank half of it, and headed towards his bedroom,
the plastic bottle still in hand.
    He had just turned the corner when he saw a
one-inch flame appear in the darkness near the back wall of his
bedroom. The flame illuminated a surprisingly small area for just a
moment, allowing Kelton a brief glimpse of a shadowy, wrinkled face
behind the lighter before it cut out, leaving only the red tip of
cigarette in the darkness.
    The red dot grew in intensity and Kelton
heard the soft sniffle of burning paper. A few seconds later a puff
of smoke shot towards the ceiling. Kelton stood silently, waiting
for his visitor to speak.
    “Hello Kelton,” said the unmistakable voice
of a life-long smoker. “How are you doing?”
    “Better than you, Walter.”
    “Oh, I beg to differ.”
    “Beg all you want,” Kelton said. “It won’t
change anything.”
    The four-line opening was a long-running
tradition; a rehash of the first exchange they’d ever had, and
they’d used it to greet each other ever since.
    “You mind if I turn on a light?” Kelton
said.
    “By all means.”
    He flipped the light switch and sat down on
the end of the bed. Kelton stared at his old friend’s features;
ringed, deep-set eyes on a wrinkled, gaunt face, small nose, thin
lips, and one side of his mouth turned up in a smirk that said he
always knew more than he was letting on. Walter’s face pegged him
at 80, but his demeanor and vitality spoke of a much younger man.
Kelton had no idea how old he actually was.
    “Sorry about all this clandestine crap,”
Walter said. “But things are a bit sketchy right now.”
    “No problem,” Kelton said. “Anything less
from you and I would have been disappointed.”
    “What’s it been? A year since we last
spoke?”
    “About that.”
    “Keeping busy, I assume?”
    “As always.”
    “I’m sure you are,” Walter said. “There’s
plenty of need for a man with your attributes these days.”
    “There certainly is,” Kelton said.
    Walter took a hit off his smoke. “So, do you
have anything on your plate right now?”
    “Not at the moment.”
    “Are you looking for something?”
    “I’m always looking,” Kelton said.
“Especially if it’s the right thing.”
    “Good,” Walter said. “Because I’ve got a job
I need done, and it’s going to take someone that knows what they’re
doing.”
    “Then it’s a good thing you got a hold of
me.”
    Walter nodded. “Indeed.”
    “So tell me about the job.”
    “It’s an extraction.”
    “Who are the players?”
    “A young woman named Jessica Robbins and the
federal government. They took her into custody yesterday
afternoon.”
    “And you need me to get her out,” Kelton
said. It wasn’t a