ng

d you to do," I demand.

t only takes him two

upposed to clean her place. Like, wipe

ike a normal cle

c-couldn't be picky. Please, sir,

ent. Then I'll

ath stutter

rit. "I wa

-can

ksi

ase,

nother familiar sound-th

they are! They hire through notes and pay

r say who

ds burrow d

carrying a numbing cold thr

emor

where. The smell of gunpowder i

oths stained

I bark,

rcy! I swear I don't

A

y thumps to

cker was starting t

Maksim's voice again

ow. He piss

d, I fucking love working fo

mployee satisfa

Anyway-what about tonight?" Maksim asks, a swift

deal," I say. "And I don't need to

ke that

s with my mood on the best of days, an

a lon

m fucked. Find me a

be hard on s

ks in my hand as I clench it tight. "And k

can answer

ing

ppen tonight,

tch. And the man I'm meeting tonight, Baldwin, is exactly the kind of sha

ne, this deal's

h my date, I type

car, I realize the p

n't there

ht orange sticker on the ground. A

the towing compan

I spit the second

e reached Brownsville Towing Trucks.

to a fucking h

o get your car back, please show up with your

t my watch

uc

to the men

UC

t lands with a loud crack on the con

ys. Not when the thing I've been chasing af

family's killers-

ppen without Ba

e. I'm about to type an

en I s

d bun. Tired blue eyes, without a smudge of makeup. A beauty

ng grin like the ca

, I know wh

get closer, I realize how tiny s

etting my merciful side,

t does n

of her. "Did you get

steel in her spine, her shoulders

thing, she'

ry to te

ad no

r than most. It's a refreshing novelty. The way she holds m

's spoken to me like this-li

only mean

know who t

that, I ge

idea or a bad idea

LI

as her hea

ll me yes, I'm going to put a large amount of cash in your hand, and you

he gears in her brain working overtime. Cataloging bills to be paid. Clothes

espairing midnight tears, the ones she doesn't dare show anyone. I can feel t

n beaten

taught herself long

nctly. "My date is... indisposed, on

," she hisses, c

n to Maksim so he comes to collect me and my new

es go wide.

one night of your time. You

clashing in her eyes. Pr

to see whi

tions," she s

e th

he blurts. "Nothing

As if she has any idea wh

even one night, she's alread

or her. To pretend her little