Trust No One by Diana Layne

something else.
    She caught hold of the bullet, gave a good yank. “Got it.” She held the gold bullet with the flattened point in her tweezers. “Looks like a .22 Hornet.”
    “Shee-it,” Ben said, his body stiffened before slumping forward in the chair. “Yeah, it stung like a hornet too.”
    “Sorry. Told you it would hurt.” As she held up the bullet, she realized what Tasha’s message meant. Come alone .
    Unfortunately, Ben realized something similar moments later. “However,” he gasped, still in obvious pain, sweat running down his face, “Anyone who knows you, knows you wouldn’t scare off.”
    “I’m surprised you have the brainpower to think—you’re supposed to be writhing in pain.” MJ didn’t acknowledge he was on the same track as her.
    “No thanks to you.”
    “I tried.” MJ gave him a grim smile. “But I will not sew you up. You better hope this bandage will hold that wound together.”
    The wound, which had almost stopped bleeding, started oozing again once she pulled the bullet free. She pushed fresh gauze against it, hoping it would be sufficient and she wouldn’t be forced to take a needle and thread to him after all.
    “So what makes you say anyone who knows me?” she asked, continuing with the previous conversation. “What’s in that dossier Jeff gave you? They aren’t detailed enough for you to draw that kind of conclusion.”
    “Your legend precedes you.”
    She snorted. “You give credence to rumors?”
    He shifted his gaze from hers, and looked at her stove. “You tell me. You going to back off? Or are you going after Tasha?”
    “It’s possible Tasha thinks you’ve been sent to take her out.”
    “Get to me before I get to her?”
    She opened the tube of antibiotic cream, smeared some on fresh gauze and asked, “You aren’t supposed to take her out, are you?” before she slapped it against the wound, ignoring his expected protest.
    A loud suck of breath was the only protest. “Vigilante justice?”
    “It’s what Vista does.”
    “With its own operatives?”
    “When necessary.”
    “If you’re thinking of you shooting Keith, that was self-defense. I haven’t heard of it being done before.”
    She ignored the reference to Keith. “You wouldn’t hear—who would want to work for a place like that? But if she’s stepping on enough toes….”
    “Yes, I suppose it’s possible.”
    “Either way I’m being manipulated and I don’t like that one damn bit.” MJ clenched her teeth, ripped open the bandage wrapping. “If I stay, I lose Angel, and if I go, then someone with a rifle, as well as Vista, will succeed in sending me after Tasha. For all I know, Vista sent that sniper.”
    “You think I’m expendable? What if I’d been killed?”
    MJ crisscrossed medical tape on top of the bandage and admitted the thought of Ben dying would be a loss to mankind—or womankind rather. No need to let him know that though.
    “Face it, Ben, if you’re telling the truth, and you haven’t been sent to take out Tasha, then this isn’t a first class assignment. I have no idea what you did to get something this shitty, but I’ve been on top assignments and this isn’t one.”
    “So you think Vista’s trying to get rid of me?” He looked at his arm. “That’s the worst looking field dressing I’ve ever seen.”
    She frowned. “You don’t shut up, and I’m going to forget I’m trying to help you. Besides me, have you gotten on anyone’s bad side at Vista lately?”
    “You mean like sleeping with Jeff’s wife?” His gaze bore into her.
    He looked so serious MJ couldn’t keep herself from asking, “You didn’t?”
    A mischievous grin twitched his lips. “I don’t kiss and tell. Sorry. Ouch! What the hell’d you do that for?”
    “The tape didn’t look secure enough.” She tossed the strip of tape she’d ripped off his arm into the trash. Tore off another piece from the roll, smacked it into place.
    “No one can accuse you of having a gentle