Page 17 of Murder Mittens

The head honcho of the security team could likely view my kill count and didn’t want a cranky lycanthrope female with a love-life problem making a mess of his pristine lobby.

Sebastian marched to the bank of elevators and hit the up button. I took my time, as I’d have to break into a jog to keep up with his long legs.

I bet he doubled my size when shifted, which would make toying with him as a cat more entertaining. The size difference didn’t bother me much, as my father weighed in at a little more than twice as heavy as my mother, who enjoyed when my father got rough with her.

Ugh. I was my mother’s daughter. Damn it, the last thing I needed was to want a man who could snap me between his hands and make me like it because it added spice to the relationship. If life went as it usually did, I really would be just like my mother, who enjoyed when she goaded my father into getting rough and rowdy. Us Wells kids had learned to vacate the property the nights our mother went on the hunt for our father, usually picking the sanest neighbor who didn’t mind a huge pile of lynxes on their porch for a few hours.

Damn it, damn it, damn it.

I did not need a big, manly lion to put me in my place. I didn’t need any damned man to put me in my place. I could handle myself just fine.

My virus disagreed with me.

Hell, I disagreed with me. I definitely needed and wanted a big, manly lion to put me in my place. Where ‘my place’ was varied on the day of the week, but I could be flexible when the situation demanded it.

As I couldn’t tell Sebastian what was on my mind, I refrained from hissing my displeasure over the reality of my virus crushing on a lion because he fit my nature a little too well. With my luck, he’d be a sadistic bastard who would enjoy handling me the instant he was given permission.

And as I took after my mother, it wouldn’t take much for me to give him permission to do whatever he wanted as long as we both walked away happy with the results.

I needed to have a long talk with my mother about her contribution to my special brand of insanity.

“There is a serial killer who is targeting women of your age and description. He is also a probable rapist and a kidnapper among other things. It is believed, at current, that he kidnaps his victims, impregnates them, and takes the children before murdering them. As their reproductive organs are missing, it’s impossible to prove this theory. The government is concerned about the possibility of children, as it is unknown what he may have done to them. You were selected as he has not targeted a lycanthrope to date, and this would make the job safer for you to complete. It’s believed he forms relationships with his potential victims before he takes them. Unfortunately, as we aren’t certain if there are live children to account for, we need to be careful. As you match the physical general description of women he likes to target, you might be able to get close to him without becoming his next victim.”

My brows shot up at Sebastian’s little speech, given in the lobby where anyone might hear us. Then again, after a quick check, the only people who could hear us were the security guards.

“Brunettes of somewhat short stature with an overabundance of mammary material?” I regarded my breasts, which were a little larger than I preferred, although they rarely interfered with my work. If anything, given the right treatment, they helped with my work, especially when I needed to deal with a lycanthrope seeking a mate. “I usually hunt lycanthropes.”

“We don’t believe he’s infected with the virus. And while your status as a brunette of somewhat short stature plays a role in his chosen targets, all of the victims are scarred.”

What an asshole. Why did my job put me into contact with so many assholes? Oh, right. I hunted assholes for a living. Of the assholes I dealt with, killing Sumners was off the table, so I’d have to deal with him being a jerk with some grace. “Okay, it’s bad enough to have scars, but to hunt and kill us over it? Nasty.”

“After ridding you of your reproductive organs,” Sebastian added.

“That’s just wrong, Sumners. That’s so wrong I’d consider doing this one on the house, except I need that damned money for my scar treatments. Jack the Ripper copycats suck, and I will happily help you murder him. Without remorse.”

“You will have the option to choose between a cash payment or a full scar removal treatment courtesy of the CDC as payment for killing off the Jack the Ripper copycat.”

I sucked in a breath, and when the elevator opened, I froze, forcing the lion to haul me inside. While I wanted to bristle at being handled, my virus wanted more attention from him. I needed to put my virus into a corner until she had a chance to take a cold shower and remember Sumners was not suitable mate material. My virus recognized me for the big, fat liar I was, as he’d be the perfect mate, if I could convince him to pay me any positive attention. “Could you repeat that? I couldn’t have heard you right.”

“You will have the choice between a cash payment or a complete scar removal treatment. The CDC will send one of their top specialists to handle the scar removal upon completion of the job. You will need to find proof of wrongdoing, you will need to locate any children born, dead or alive, and you will need to bring his living or dead body in for trial. Frankly, we would appreciate if you brought him to us as a corpse. The trial would be very short and save the government a great deal of money. Should you bring him to us as a corpse, you will need to undergo angelic verification justifying lethal force and to confirm the evidence gathered.”

“The treatment to fix my face costs millions, Sumners.”

“Two and a half million if you go the cheaper route, almost seven million for a high-end specialist with experience handling scarred lycanthropes. The CDC would be providing the high-end specialist. Any reconstructive surgery to repair underlying issues would be included, and you would undergo imaging to identify what your face should naturally look like, if you had not undergone catastrophic injury as a child. Should the imaging technology prove insufficient to get an accurate reconstruction of your face due to trauma, an angel will be hired to provide guidance. To make it fair for you, if your treatments are cheaper than expected, you will be paid the difference in cash. If it’s more expensive than expected, the CDC will pay out the full amount.”

The CDC would go as far as to hire an angel to make sure I had my real face back? “What’s the catch?”

“There’s no catch. It’s a dangerous job, you’re possibly a target due to your appearance, and that warrants a high hazard rating. More importantly, there are at least ten women dead, all murdered the same way. As such, you’ll be compensated appropriately. We’ve found bounty hunters with personal reason to feel indebted to the CDC or other law enforcement agencies remain loyal until retirement, and someone with your skillset would be considered a threat should your loyalty be questioned.”

Right. I could perform disappearing acts with some makeup and time, so that made sense. “If an angel is needed, won’t that bring the bill closer to ten million? I was going to go the discount route,” I confessed. “I’ve already seen a consultant about it, and while there’s damage to the underlying bone, it wouldn’t be too bad after the scars were gone. The bone specialists are expensive.”

“Yes, we have a copy of the consultation file. Warrants for information are useful things, and I enjoyed poking my nose in your personal business to figure out what makes you tick. The government requires an evaluation of all elite hunters. I got to handle the investigation, as there was a rather high interest among handlers to have you, including a relative.”

“My uncle is going to be so mad when he finds out he’s not getting my contract. I drove all the way from home to here hoping I’d be getting a raise. That you have to swallow your utter loathing for me to do business just makes this day so much better. This morning? I had nothing but future debt and shit work ahead of me. Now? Now I get to participate in my favorite hobby, and when I’m done with that, I’ll have a real face again.”

“You have a real face. It just happens to be scarred. My office is this way.” Rather than stop at the receptionist’s desk to check me in, Sebastian waved and got an answering nod from the woman, who didn’t seem concerned about my presence. “The lower tier bounty hunters operate with a lot fewer restrictions than you’ll have to deal with, in that you’ll be expected to be on call whenever you’re needed. I’m aware of your current employment situation, and as that makes an excellent front for your evening work, I would like to have you maintain that for a while unless you’d like to retire from that line of work. As such, I’ll be relocating my office closer to your residence if you can’t arrange to move here.”

“My entire family would flip if I moved here, and there is nothing worse than my family when they’re all flipping. There is a lot of them, and all of them having a fit at the same time is annoying.”