Contract to Kill Read Online Free PDF Page A

but made it clear that Lauren would speak to no one but Nathan. Apparently, Lauren was on her fourth night of giving her mom the silent treatment. For her part, Jin refused to cave in their dispute, insisting that her daughter behave like a normal human being. But Lauren had clearly inherited the McBride stubbornness, a trait not limited to grandchildren. Nathan could’ve written a thesis on the subject.
    He understood Lauren’s frustration. Raised as an only child, he’d often felt as though he were being suffocated. There were times when he simply wanted to be left alone to sulk. He didn’t have any experience with the mother-daughter dynamic but imagined it paralleled the father-son thing.
    Nathan parked in the driveway, and he and Holly approached Jin’s front door. His half sister must have been watching, because she opened the front door before Nathan could knock.
    Jin was dressed in blue jeans, a T-shirt, and socks. Fifteen years older than Nathan, she had classic Eurasian features that defied her age. Jin possessed an extremely rare genetic marker. She had one blue eye and one brown eye. Heterochromia was the official medical term. The blue side came from Stone and the brown side from her mother, now deceased—an unfortunate victim of the Korean War. Jin often wore colored contacts to hide the trait, but not out of embarrassment. In a former life, she’d been an assassin and spy for North Korea, and the French still maintained a hefty bounty on her head for her theft of Exocet missile specs in the early ’80s. Years later, she’d struck a deal with the United States and traded everything she knew for asylum.
    He gave his sister a hug and introduced Holly. They shook hands, and Jin turned back to Nathan, her expression showing the kind of stress a mother often faces when she can’t communicate with her daughter. “I’m sorry to drag you down here, but she won’t talk to me.”
    “What’s going on?”
    “She thinks she’s an adult, that’s what.”
    Nathan nodded. “Thirteen can be tough.”
    “Tough? She’s impossible. She won’t listen.”
    “We were all that age once.”
    “I just want her to enjoy being a kid awhile longer.”
    “Is she in her room?”
    “She won’t come out, won’t eat, won’t do anything. I don’t know what to do.”
    Nathan smiled. “Maybe Uncle Nate can help.”
    “Good luck,” Jin said.
    Holly sat down with Jin while he walked down the hall. No sound came from Lauren’s room, but a small strip of yellow light spilled under her closed door.
    “Lauren? It’s Nathan.”
    No response.
    He rapped softly. “Lauren, you in there? It’s Uncle Nate.”
    Thinking Lauren might have a headset on, he tried the knob. It turned, so he pushed the door open a crack and peered in. Dressed like her mom, Lauren was lying on her back on her bed. She made eye contact but didn’t move.
    “Is that all I get? I interrupted cleaning my guns to come over here.”
    He saw a half smile.
    “That’s more like it. How about a hug?”
    She slowly got up and hugged him. They settled on the edge of her bed, facing the same direction, the mirrored closet doors giving them a view of each other. Matching his own, her eyes were the color of deep arctic ice. Somehow, the McBride genetic stamp had survived her Korean ancestry. Her natural black hair, combined with those blue eyes and fair complexion, made her look like a heroine from a science fiction movie. He truly believed she was the most beautiful child he’d ever seen, but knew his opinion was biased. In contrast to his own, her skin was flawless, despite the pouty expression.
    Nathan didn’t say anything, knowing Lauren would fill the silence.
    “She hates me.”
    “Your mom doesn’t hate you, but it’s not her role to be your friend right now. She said you haven’t talked to her in days.”
    “What’s the point? She doesn’t listen. She only cares about herself.”
    “You don’t really believe that, do you?”
    She didn’t