The Jerk

**Note: this book is not a romance**

I sat quietly as the man in the black jumpsuit finished up a phone call across from me, and I got a better idea as to how large of a man he was. The top of his head grazed the roof, and he was positively ripped underneath that baggy jumpsuit of his. Not what I’d call handsome, but it would be difficult to deny a body like that. We were the only two people in the back of the limousine, but even as we were packed with his considerable girth I felt completely alone. I’d just hit a man with my car, and now I was being hauled off to some prison or maybe a mental institution. There’s no way some of the stuff in my trunk was legal; prostitution was still a crime, even if it happened all the time.

The man hung up his phone and removed his sunglasses again. His eyes were spaced just a little too far apart for his head, and his thick eyebrows were set at a furious-looking angle.

“My name is Harman Greene,” he said, reaching out a gloved hand to shake mine. His other hand—the one he used to manage phone calls—was bare. “Mind telling me yours?”

I glanced out the window. We drew the attention of some people on the street, but only because we were in a limousine.

“Jubal Janek.” I took his hand. “What do you want with me?”

He crossed his legs and laced his fingers across his knee. “Jubal, things are complicated in the city of Atlanta. Some people do things to make money that they aren’t…so proud of. You understand? Things they’d rather keep out of the public eye, or they’d never put on a professional résumé. Dark things.”

I swallowed.

“I manage those particular people and make sure they get the job done as cleanly and as quickly as possible,” he continued. “Have you ever heard of ORKA?”

I shifted my eyes. “Like a killer whale?”

Harman laughed. “Close, but of course you haven’t got a clue. It’s the Organization for the Recruitment of Killers and Assassins. I run the Atlanta branch.” He released a thoughtful sigh and stared out the tinted window. “The man you killed was Agent Stabbs McKenzie. He was in the middle of an assignment, and I’m afraid you managed to interfere.”

“I’m so, so sorry. I must have spaced out at the wheel, and the guy just came running through the street, I didn’t even see him until it was too late.”

Harman raised a hand and shook his head. I felt my weight swing to one side as the limo took a sharp turn.

“We lose assassins on a regular basis; that’s just part of the job,” he said. “But there’s a good reason no one knows about ORKA and lives to talk about it.” He reached into his lapel pocket, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

“Please don’t shoot me!”

He was staring at me with a blank expression on his face and a business card between his fingers. “Take this. We’re going now.”

I examined the card and glanced back up at him. “Going where? What do you plan on doing with me?”

“You have to meet the other assassins, don’t you?” He chuckled.

A man in a similar jumpsuit came around the side of the car and opened our door. Harman gestured for me to step out, and I found myself gazing up at the Buckhead district skyline.

“You’re here in the city?” I asked. “I figured you’d be a bit more discreet or something.”

“There’s no better place to hide than in plain sight.” Harman stepped out of the car beside me. “This way now.”

I recognized the part of the city we were standing in. Lenox Square was just a couple of blocks over, and I used to work in one of the buildings around there before I lost my job—the one I could tell my folks about. We were parked behind a popular luxury hotel, which we entered from behind. The half of the building we stood in was unremarkable, featuring only a set of elevator doors. Harman pressed the button to call it down, and the elevator descended and dinged open. I stepped inside, he pressed the button for the fiftieth floor, and the doors closed again.

“So why are you showing me all of this?” I asked, and the cage lurched upward with a quiet hum. Generic jazz played through a pair of speakers mounted in the high corners. “If you’re just going to kill me afterwards, I should let you know I’m not exactly at a good place in my life to die. At least let me clean up my apartment first.”

“Nonsense.” He folded his arms behind his back and leaned against the reflective elevator walls. “I’m showing you the ORKA headquarters because you deserve to know where you’ll be coming in for work tomorrow.”