Tijuana Nights (The Nights Series Book 1) Read Free

“I’m assuming you didn’t need anything else out of the car? No spare iPhones floating about?” Eyebrows raised, he waited for a response with a glint of amusement in his eyes.
    Since Luke had left me I had become a very independent woman. But here was this guy trying to look after me and take control. I swallowed my frustration. I knew he was just trying to help.
    I sniffed, and swiped at my eyes, giving him a watery smile. “My lucky dagger?”
    River burst into laughter. “I have a spare one you can use.”
    I rolled my eyes. “Is there anything you don’t have?”
    “Not that I’m aware of.” He smiled. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket, and unlocked his truck. “The sooner this is over and done with, the sooner we can get you back to England.”
    I climbed into the big black Range Rover, and onto the cool leather seats. My hair was damp with perspiration from the Tijuana heat, and undoubtedly from the stress of almost dying again, and I wondered how the hell I signed up for this life. I’m a qualified historian, not some covert operative interfering with Mexican cartel business. I knew that River would protect me. I was just being silly. “I never understood why you needed such a big truck. Doesn’t it draw attention to you?”
    “No,” he answered drily. “There are plenty of ‘big trucks’ around this region, if you hadn’t noticed. It’s one of the ways the cartels move their product. Luckily for me, I never seem to get stopped.” He dropped his phone into its cradle, and pressed a button. “Chase,” he said, his tone firm.
    “Dialling,” the phone responded.
    Chase. Panic welled within me. I just knew that there was so much hiding behind those intelligent eyes of his. I couldn’t tell if he was a good guy or a bad guy. “Why are you ringing Chase?”
    River smiled. “Because he’s the one that pays the bills.” He took the phone off speaker, and lifted the mobile to his ear.
    Chase is a different story to both River and Gabe. Chase is scary as hell. I don’t know where he comes from, but he can put on any accent he wanted. I have the distinct feeling that he has always been an assassin, although I don’t know for sure. His natural accent is definitely English. It sounds refined, but I don’t think he grew up anywhere with the same level of class as River. Chase looks a million dollars at all times; everything designer. He’s clean-cut, well spoken, with high chiselled cheekbones and vibrant blue eyes that he often hides behind glasses or different coloured contacts so that he’s not so memorable. If I were going to pick any word in the world to describe him it would be ‘tailor made.’
    River once told me that Chase was extremely accurate at reading people and the situation around him, which made him a handy asset to have on the team. Perhaps that was why he made me nervous. I constantly wondered if he was assessing me.
    “… yeah, I’ve got her. She seems to think that she can do over Carmen Amaro.” I looked up at River, instantly snapping back into reality.
    “Roger that. See you soon.” He ended the call with a press of a button and turned to me, his smile infectious, though, considering the circumstances, I should have been crying. But I wasn't.
    We started to head towards the coast area. I had been to River’s Tijuana house a number of times before. If truth be known, it was more like a mansion, by my standards, anyway. The first time we went there was a defining moment, where I really understood that being an assassin must pay seriously well. His house was huge and intimidating; I felt more at home in more intimate spaces.
    I went to reach for my phone to check for any messages, when I suddenly remembered that River had thrown it out. It was a dead and useless phone anyway, but with it missing, I felt as though I had lost some sort of appendage. “I can’t believe you threw my phone out,” I said sullenly. “You could