A Marked Man Read online

  “A Marked Man”

  Sandrine Gasq-Dion ~~DEDICATION~~

  To my husband and kids, thank you for your patience and understanding. To my Mom who supported me and didn’t even bat an eyelash.

  To my siblings for backing me up.

  To my Editors, Jen and Kim, for putting up with my love of run-on sentences.

  To my readers at LRO, thanks for your patience as I spread my wings.

  To Van and Eric for starting it all…… Copyright 2012 © All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  ~Chapter One~

  “ Oh for fuck’s sake.” Mateo sighed in frustration. He’d been in Yemen for three days perched on a mountainside waiting for the opportunity to take his shot, and now his intended target was getting blown by a kid twenty years his junior. He had to give the old guy props though; he was getting a fantastic blow job and had kept his load for quite some time now. Poor Blondie’s head was bobbing up and down and Old Man Nasty was loving every second of it.

  Jiblah was in the southern part of Yemen, and the month of July was in full swing. Mateo was sweating buckets and dressed in a Ghillie suit to match his surroundings. Most of his Ghillie suits he made himself. It was hours of work, but worth it in the end. If you made it right, you blended in so well no one could find you. Not even with a high powered scope.

  He figured his shot could wait. After all, he was feeling generous today. Let the old man get some pleasure before he relieved him of his life. This guy was sick. He was the leader of a kiddie porn ring and Mateo had been given the task of taking him out. This was his job. He was a hired assassin, and had been since he left the military. Ten years of playing by the rules of engagement for the Army left a bitter taste in his mouth. He and three others, Josh Montgomery, Sam Waters and Troy Bishop were part of an elite sniper unit run by General Derek Jacobs. Once the three of them decided not to re-enlist, the government came calling for their services in a much different way. Their new team was still led by the General, who just happened to still be active duty military.

  They were kind of like the A-team, except they weren’t

  hunted by the government. They worked for them.

  Homeland Security, as well as the FBI, CIA, DEA and ATF were all involved in one way or another. Most of the time they were called on to take out low-life scum. Unfortunately, there were the occasional babysitting jobs. When witness protection wasn’t enough or was compromised, the job came down to Josh, Sam and Troy. Mateo left that particular task to them, they had better people skills. Mateo hated being stuck in a safe house, it was boring. The only thing you could do was talk, and Mateo hated trying to make small talk with someone he didn’t know from Adam. Ignoring the fact that he hated being in close quarters and not being able to leave, cabin fever would become an issue as well as claustrophobia. When orders were cut, the job would be texted to his secure Government phone and then Mateo went about tailing his target. Finding out where he went, how long he would stay, etc. When he got a feel for the when and where, he’d find his position and wait, sometimes for a day, sometimes a week.

  It was quite lucrative really. Fifty thousand dollars per target went a long way, especially during a busy month. Although he had plenty of money and two cars, he didn’t own a house. Two sixty eight Chevy Impala’s to be precise, one a sleek black, the other one red. He didn’t like the idea of being tied down, so a house was out of the question. Hell, even a boyfriend was. Mateo still got laid his fair share of times though. Aquick fuck on the run was all he needed and he was set. Having someone around all the time would drive him nuts, he liked his privacy way too much. Besides, being responsible for someone else’s happiness? Yeah… no.

  Blondie finally got his cum shot and wiped his mouth. He gave Old Man Nasty a kiss and sauntered back into the house butt naked. Mateo smiled. Blondie had a nice tight ass; he’d love to sink his cock into it...

  “ Fuck.” Mateo laughed and zeroed in. The silenced Remington 300 went off with a muffled popping noise and Old Man Nasty took a dirt nap. Mateo didn’t stick around, never did. He high tailed his ass down the mountain making a run for his extraction point. The adrenaline high in itself was worth it. He always had a hard on when he was finished. The best part of his job? Getting to kill lowlife assholes in nice surroundings. Well, except for this job. Jiblah was, well, blah. Mateo radioed the chopper and within a half hour the Chinook hovered long enough for him to jump on. Mateo sat back in the seat and smiled at Derek.

  “Hello, General.” Mateo put his hand out.

  “Mat.” Derek shook Mateo’s hand. “Any problems?” “Is there ever?”

  “Smartass.” Derek looked at the mountains as they turned. “No weird sixth sense this time?” “ Nope, the hairs on the back of my neck were just fine. “My sixth sense saved our asses more than once, Derek. I see you’ve become a believer.”

  “ That I have, Mateo.” Derek sat back in the seat and closed his eyes. Mateo either had a weird streak of luck or he sensed danger, because he had saved their asses on more than one occasion. Mateo would stop, close his eyes, and then know exactly which way not to go. It was weird. “Get some rest we have a long way to go.”

  Mateo closed his eyes and relaxed into the seat of the chopper. Falling in and out of sleep, he opened his eyes to see the Army base in Kuwait come into view. The chopper landed in a whirl of sand and dust, and Mateo jumped out. The blast of desert heat hit him like a sucker punch to the gut. “Jesus.” Mateo mumbled.

  “Welcome to the sand box.” Derek smiled and winked. “Get your ass back to the states, take a vacation.”

  “Thatwasmy vacation.” Mateo shook Derek’s hand.

  “Take care.” Mateo made his way to the terminal and checked in for his flight to Germany. From there it was Dallas and then finally Tucson.

  ~~*~~ Twenty four hours later the landscape of Tucson came into view. Mateo had slept through most of his flights and now sat wide awake as the plane descended into Tucson International Airport. Once he retrieved his bag from the baggage claim, he made his way out to the long term parking and smiled at his black Chevy Impala waiting for him. “How was the weather girl?” Mateo ran his hand across the hood of his car. He unlocked his car and sat in the driver’s seat looking at the Swiss military watch on his wrist. It was a gift from his friend Naomi for his thirtieth birthday. That had been two years ago. He realized it was just after seven in the evening. The sun was still high and beating down without mercy. Mateo pulled out of the airport and headed down Valencia road towards the freeway. He needed a shower, a change of clothing and a good blow job. The stress of work always had his adrenaline pumping on high and the only way to come off that high was getting a blow job or getting fucked. Mateo smiled, tapping his thumb on the steering wheel as he took the Wilmot exit. He thought about calling Naomi and letting her know he was coming, but where was the fun in that? Mateo knew she’d be happy to see him, she always was.

  Naomi Richland. They had met five years ago at a gay club. Naomi was bisexual and Mateo was strictly man on man action. They had struck up a conversation at the bar and after more than a few drinks Mateo had gone home with her and passed out on her couch. Naomi used him mercilessly to pick up men and women from that day forward. Mateo got his share of men in the process, so it was a win, win situation. After keeping his sexuality in the dark throughout his military career, he’d be damned if he was going do it when he got out. Being in the Non-ATeam meant he could be himself. One of the few perks courtesy of his new job. The subject of his job had come up when Naomi had stumbled across his sniper rifle while he was in the shower after about a year as friends. Up until then Mateo had kept up the façade that he was a private invest
igator. Mateo gave the condensed version. He worked for the government doing various jobs for them. Then Naomi dropped the bombshell. She worked at the Army base in Sierra Vista. Can you say Intel? After

  that, their friendship wasmuchmore relaxed.

  Turning onto Tanque Verde Road, Mateo took the side streets to Naomi’s apartment. He pulled into the apartment building and made his way up to the second floor. He heard the TV on and smiled. She didn’t live in the more upscale apartments in the foothills of Tucson, but it was nice. Two bedrooms and one and a half bath, with a balcony that overlooked the heated pool and the clubhouse. The best thing about Arizona hands down was the sunsets and the monsoons. Mateo took his keys out and jingled them, giving her time to get dressed, or stop fucking. Whichever one she was engaged in at the moment. He opened the door and stood smiling down at her. Naomi was on the couch with a pint of ice cream, she looked up when he walked in and smiled.

  “Uh, oh.” Mateo looked at her. “What happened?” “ What makes you think something’s happened?” Therefore, I am going to assume that your heart was stepped on yet again.” Mateo sat down next to her and hugged her close.

  “You are sitting on the couch with Ben and Jerry. “ Why did you have to be gay?” Naomi looked up at Mateo. His hazel eyes seemed greener tonight, and he was in need of a haircut too. His jet black hair was curling slightly at the nape of his neck.

  “ Why are you a lesbian?” Mateo smiled and pinched her cheek. Naomi’s own jet black hair was tied loosely in a ponytail. Her olive skin a perfect match for eyes as black as onyx.

  “I’m BI asshole.” Naomi giggled and slapped his leg. “Need a place to crash?” “ God yes,” Mateo sat back and sighed. “I need a shower too, and then I’m going out to relieve some stress.”

  Naomi nodded, sucking down another spoonful of Ben and Jerry. “I suggest ‘The Boat’ tonight, they have half priced drinks.” “ Really?” Mateo sat back, toed off his shoes, and put his feet up on the coffee table. “Okay, I’ll check it out, but in the meantime I need a shower. Badly.”

  “ Towels are in the bathroom linen closet as always.” Naomi waved her hand in the direction of the bathroom, even as she shoveled another spoonful of cold comfort food into her mouth.

  “You want to come with me to the club? We can tag team.” Mateo flipped her ponytail.

  “Nah, I’m going to sit here eating my stress away and watch info-mercials.” “ Suit yourself.” Mateo stood up and stretched. “If I find a hot lesbian, I’ll bring her home for you.” Mateo sidestepped her slap to his ass and ran for the safety of the bathroom.

  ~~Chapter two~~

  ‘ The Boat’ was dark and crowded and smelled like a brewery. Most bars did, but this one more so than others. His eyes scanned the room looking for the right guy to suck his dick tonight. He found him. Young, blonde haired, blue eyed, and looking like Bambi. Add to that a sinful body and a nice tight ass, and his dick stopped looking. Mateo knew he looked good tonight. He wore a tight fitting shirt, which accentuated his large biceps and showed off his tribal tattoos that were strategically inked around each one. Follow up with the tightest jeans he owned, and his eight inch cock was well displayed for the crowd tonight. His ass wasn’t too bad either, or so he’d been told as it was being pounded. A nice, round, juicy bubble made for sex.

  Mateo flashed Bambi a smile that said.Please come suck my dick.And Bambi came over in a hurry. Mateo

  ran his hand over Bambi’s tight ass while whispering his intentions in Bambi’s ear. He got a smile and nod, and ten minutes later he was out back in the alley with Bambi on his knees sucking his dick and fingering his ass like he was on a mission from God. Mateo felt his dick singing out with joy. Mateo had a tight grip on Bambi’s hair and was pulling him in deeper. Making sure Bambi’s mouth was pressed to his pubes, Mateo pushed his hips forward. Fuck if it didn’t feel like heaven. Mateo spread his legs out further to help balance him and felt Bambi’s fingers stretching him. He was pushing in up higher, up to the knuckle. Running it over the swollen gland and pinching. Bambi was bobbing and humming while Mateo’s fingers gripped those platinum locks, fucking Bambi’s mouth with a little more urgency.

  Swirling his tongue, and using his fingers to roll Mateo’s balls, Bambi make short work of bringing him to the edge. Mateo’s head jerked back, eyes rolling as he emptied himself into Bambi’s warm and waiting mouth. He leaned back against the wall trying to catch his breath. Bambi was slowly making his way back up Mateo’s stomach. Licking and kissing his sweaty skin while his hands kneaded Mateo’s ass like a fucking ball of dough. Bambi’s lips came within inches of Mateo’s and Mateo pushed him back a step. “Thanks, I needed that.” Bambi looked upset but Mateo didn’t much care. He didn’t kiss, and he didn’t hang around. He gave Bambi a quick slap to his nice curved ass and winked.

  ~~*~~ Mateo decided, upon returning to Naomi’s, to treat himself to another long hot shower. When he finally crawled into bed, he ended up thinking about how things were unfolding for him. This happened every time he took a life. Not that he gave a shit who his target was,

  they werealldisgusting low life’s that needed to be put

  down. Mateo had lost his parents at the age of five, and was then circulated through the foster system never quite finding the right family. The ones he was placed with tried and failed to bring him out of his shell. His longest stint had been a year, and even then the only person he had opened up to was their teenage son. At fifteen, Mateo knew when he was being checked out. He’d caught Mark with a hard-on on a few separate occasions. Mark seemed to get them just from looking at Mateo.

  They had been watching cartoons one day when Mateo had put his hand on Mark’s thigh. Mateo was fifteen and Mark was nineteen. Mark was beautiful, with warm brown hair and the bluest eyes Mateo had ever seen. Mateo wanted to kiss him. Their first kiss had been soft and warm, and when Mark had pulled away Mateo wanted more. Mark had said no and then explained that he was older and that someday Mateo would find the one that was meant for him. After that Mark left for college and Mateo never saw him again.

  Mateo’s only memory of his parents was his mother’s green eyes, he remembered how they lit up when she smiled. After the loss of his parents and the consequential foster care, Mateo was determined never to fall in love. He swore he would never let anyone close to him and chance being hurt again. After being shuffled around for most of his teenage years, Mateo joined the military as soon as he was of legal age. Showing an adept skill with a rifle, he was shuffled off to sniper school and that, as they say, was that.

  Mateo could still remember the first man he killed, Zaman Rigel, leader of the insurgents at that time. They were in Afghanistan and he and Josh were pulling twenty four hour guard duty when the base was compromised. At two in the morning, in the heat of the desert, Mateo had zeroed in on Zaman. Black hair and black eyes looked up at the exact moment he pulled the trigger. Everything is a variable as a sniper; temperature, wind

  speed,everything. But that night Mateo made his shot

  the first time out. Even then, their team was considered the toughest guys. Running into heavily armed buildings, he and the rest of the guys were shot at and stabbed and still managed to carry out their missions. Rage was an effective tool. Mateo sighed looking at the digital red numbers on the clock. He sighed again, and willed his body to sleep.

  ~~*~~ Mateo rolled over to look at the clock. Noon, it was amazing how much you could sleep when your body needed rest. The smell of bacon came wafting into the room. He threw his sweats on and made his way to the kitchen. Naomi sat at the table with the morning paper and a cup of coffee. Mateo grabbed a cup of his own and measured in a spoon full of sugar. Grabbing a plate, he spooned a generous amount of eggs onto it, added bacon, and sat down at the table. As he picked up his fork, his cell phone beeped alerting him to a text message. Mateo grabbed his phone and flipped it open.

  The text from Operations was simply a name.Riley Flynn. Mateo furrowed his brows and looked up at


  Naomi. “Riley Flynn?”

  Naomi nodded and swallowed her bite of food. “He makes guidance chips for the military.” Naomi opened her laptop and tapped at the keyboard. “Riley Flynn, Ooh, he’s cute.” Naomi giggled. “Okay. Flynn, Riley. Age: twenty four, no siblings. Mother; Margaret Flynn, deceased. Father, Edgar Flynn. Oh get this. When Riley’s mother died, she left the company to Riley and not her husband.”

  Mateo took a sip of coffee. “I wonder why?” “ Couldn’t trust the hubby?” Naomi tapped at the keys again. “I’ll get everything you need on him. Let me start with a Google search and see what comes up. You’re going to Phoenix on this one, Mateo. Riley’s company is based right there in the heart of downtown.”

  Mateo stretched his arms up and cracked his neck from side to side. “Can you get me a ticket? I’ve got to take a shower and get packed.”

  ~~*~~ The flight to Phoenix wasn’t too bad, you were only in the air for twenty five minutes. He should have driven it. Mateo always sat in first class in the back where no one could see what he was doing. Currently, he was studying the picture of his target. Riley Flynn had the rugged features of an outdoor athlete. With short chestnut hair, beautiful blue eyes, full lips, strong chin, and a square jaw, he was your basic male model type. Mateo sighed. What the hell did this guy do to be a target? Mateo read the article of his recent breakup with socialite Mandy Brown. The girl had the biggest tits he had ever seen and Mateo wondered how she walked upright. Daddy was famous, which in turn made her famous. No talent, no brains. He looked over all the other information Naomi had pulled up. No red flags, no scandal, no record.

  Nothing. Usually there wassomething,but this guy was

  squeaky clean. At least at first glance he was. His eyes caught the stewardess checking him out and he gave her a sly smile, she blushed and looked away. He chuckled to himself. Mateo knew how he looked at that moment, dressed in a black Armani suit. He would have preferred to fly in worn jeans and a T- shirt with sneakers but he was trying to lie low, and a guy in first class dressed like that, raised questions. They landed at Sky Harbor Airport and Mateo got off the plane and went to rent a car. The minute he opened his mouth, he swallowed the heat of Arizona. Phoenix was always a few degrees hotter than Tucson, but right now it felt like a damn furnace. Turning on his blinker, he pulled out of the airport parking lot and started into the city. Phoenix had grown since his last visit. Towns that used to be thirty minutes away now stretched out and met with the city. As always, the smog alerts were up. The hotter it got the worst they became. They were in need of a good rain. Mateo hit the freeway and relaxed back into his seat, enjoying the feel of the air conditioning on his face. He was going a few towns over to Casa Grande to avoid running into Riley Flynn.