Bounty Hunter

Chapter 19

Cat cleared the room before she answered the video call with her most important client. As soon as her office door locked, she accepted the incoming signal. Gabriel Sloan's visage appeared on screen, and she noticed he looked more constipated than usual. She disliked the Sloan brothers—they were murc scum, and she'd fought on the side of Zenith State during the Revolution—but the Sloans paid her enough to assuage her indigestion.

"Mr. Sloan, it's a pleasure, as always," she said.

"Cut the crap, Cat. Did you hear about Clearwater?" Gabriel asked.

"I heard that some farmworkers launched a bit of an uprising. Why, was Roderick involved?" she said, though she'd already heard exactly what'd happened, and she wished that her people had been successful in their first attempt to take Havoc off the board. When she'd first heard that Roderick Sloan had gone to Reuben for the knockout ticket, she felt insulted. Now, she felt relief that it hadn't been one of her bounty hunters who'd screwed up so badly.

"It was more than that," he fumed. "A bounty hunter teamed up with the local sheriff to ransack my brother's farm and release all the farmworkers. They very nearly killed him in the process."

She watched him for a moment before speaking. From what her source had told her, Havoc had been sent to kill the sheriff, then had a change of heart and gone after Roderick Sloan instead. But a key to Cat's success was knowing when not to tip her cards. "Why would a bounty hunter team up with a sheriff?" she asked.

"Who knows? That sheriff's been causing problems for Roddy for some time now. She probably seduced that hunter into helping her. Hunters are dumb enough to fall for a lady's wiles."

Cat raised a brow but didn't speak.

Gabriel Sloan continued. "That sheriff's still causing problems, and she's hurting the Sloan good name."

Cat laughed inwardly at the thought of anything good being associated with the Sloan brothers. She asked, "Are you wanting a knockout ticket for her?"

"Yes, absolutely, but first I have another job for you. It's a big one and needs to take place at sunset tomorrow. And I expect you to carry out this job personally."

Her brows rose. "I don't do fieldwork."

"You will for me."

She took a breath to maintain her composure. "Of course. My guild can handle the biggest of jobs, though the bigger the job, the more expensive. Especially if I'll be leading it."

"You know I have the credits. I'm the richest man in the Midlands."

She smiled but didn't correct him. Everyone knew that Arthur Law was the richest. "Of course. Now tell me, what's this big job you have in mind?"