Camille winked at Celeste. "It's our secret. Speaking of, is the boss around?"

"Yeah, he's back in the stockroom. We just got a shipment of some new kind of tea or something. He's been back there all morning, and he's been giddy as a child."

Celeste pulled open the curtain separating the front of the store from the stockroom and called out, "Hey, boss. You have a visitor."

Jaxon stepped out from the back room, flakes of tea scattered all over his face and shoulders. He looked up and saw Camille and smiled. "Fancy seeing you here," he said as he walked up and kissed her.

Camille returned the embrace, before playfully pushing him away, so as to not cause any undue discomfort for Celeste.

She noticed and smiled. "It's okay, Camille. It's nice to see that Dad has someone that he loves."

"He loves me, does he?" Camille asked with a smirk.

"Of course I do, baby. Haven't I told you that every day since we've been here?" Jaxon asked. "By the way, how'd it go this morning?"

Camille stepped back from the counter, her feet close together, and her back arched upright. She held her head high and said, "You are now looking at the new regional director for the GSA on Taloo Station. Overt classification."

"Ah, that's wonderful, Camille," Jaxon said.

"Thanks. They initially offered me a covert position, but I had to turn them down. I told them that I was tired of all that top-secret spy lingo. Just not my style."

"Wow, that's really fantastic," Jaxon said. "And quite a relief, too."

"What's a relief?" Camille asked as she sipped at her tea.

"I mean that you're the head of the overt sector. God, I'd have hated to report to you if you'd been appointed as the regional covert supervisor." Jaxon winked.

"You better watch yourself, Mister. I'll still have some pretty strong pull inside the GSA. One false move from you, buddy, and-"

Jaxon kissed her on the lips, interrupting her obviously rehearsed spiel.

"Oh, God. Get a room," Celeste said before she disappeared into the back room. Jaxon and Camille laughed.

"For what it's worth, being in this position will allow me to see a little bit more of what's coming down the pike for you. I'm still surprised that you accepted Director Howe's offer in the first place."

"Ah, it's okay. He promised me it's only going to be on an as-needed basis, and I get to keep all my memories. And, for that matter, so do you and Miles. Speaking of, I don't think you properly thanked me for such a selfless gesture on my part."

"Oh? What was last night? Didn't I thank you enough?" Camille asked as she remained in his bear hug grasp.

"That was a thank you? I thought you were just being kind to me."

"Oh, stop. If gratitude is what you want, when I get home tonight, I will thank you all night long."

Jaxon raised his eyebrows with excitement. "You've got a deal."

Thank you for reading The Hunted Assassin.

Reviews are an important key to the success of a novel. If you enjoyed reading The Hunted Assassin, please leave a review wherever you purchased the book.

Give feedback on the book at: www.paul-kohler.net.

Also By PAUL B KOHLER.

The Borrowed Souls.

The Immortality Chronicles.

Rememorations (contributed).

Linear Shift, A Novel.

Silo Sage: Recoil.

An Anthology of Short Stories.

Something to Read: A Charity Anthology.

Four Stories Contributed.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR.

Paul B Kohler is the author of the highly acclaimed novel, Linear Shift, and the remarkable novel series, The Borrowed Souls. Aside from his longer works, a number of his short stories have been included in various anthologies. His latest short, Rememorations, has been included in The Immortality Chronicles - a Top 5 SF Anthology and Hot New Releases. Rememorations was also nominated for Best American Science Fiction.

When not practicing architecture, Paul works on his writing. He lives in Littleton, Colorado, with his wife and daughter.

To learn more about him and his books, visit www.Paul-Kohler.net.

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