I shook off the stray thought (I wasn’t hit that hard, but my brain sure was acting scrambled) and got back to business. The hardest thing about this job was going to be acting interested in the Target. She was attractive and I was sure she was well educated and all, but she wasn’t my type. She was one of those girls that people built a glass house around because everyone thought she was important. She probably never had an ounce of fun because of the duties that had been bestowed upon her just because her father chose the career he did.
Maybe that was it. Maybe the key to getting to her heart fast wasn’t romance. Maybe it was fun. Excitement. Maybe I should break down that glass house and show her what life on the outside was all about.
I sighed. I didn’t really know what life was about either. All I did was plot and kill.
I watched Frankie walk across the parking lot. She was wearing a pair of loose-fitting black cotton pants and a pair of heels. The red pea coat she wore flared out around her waist and swung around as she stepped. She would know all about how to have fun. Like I told her before, she was brimming with energy.
But I wasn’t going to involve her any more than necessary. Not like she would cooperate anyway. She was more stubborn than a mule’s ass.
A black BMW pulled into the lot and parked in the row right in front of me. I caught a flash of long dark hair and knew it was the Target. Time to get to work.
I waited until she pushed open her door, and then got out of my car, pressing the lock button on my key fob. The SUV beeped and just like I hoped, she looked over her shoulder at me.
I smiled and held up my hand. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“Charming, glad you could make it.” Her eyes swept over me quickly and then settled on my face, or rather the injury that was unnoticeable.
“What on earth happened to you?” she asked just as I fell into step beside her.
“I was at the grocery store earlier and I saw this little old lady trying to reach onto the top shelf for the last box of cereal. I reached up to get it for her and would you believe she thought I was taking it for myself and she clobbered me.”
She laughed. “Actually, I don’t believe that.”
I shook my head. “I had no idea how serious old people were about their fiber.”
She laughed again as we approached the entrance. I stepped ahead to pull open the door and hold it for her. The scent of wood-fired pizza and bread wafted out onto the sidewalk.
“That smells so good,” she said.
We stepped in and my eyes found Frankie immediately. She was sitting in a booth toward the back. She saw us and waved.
When we arrived at the table, the Target slid into the booth, opposite of Frankie, and I wasn’t sure what she would think if I slid in next to her so I gave Frankie a light shove and sat down beside her.
“So that’s your story, huh?” the Target asked, picking up her menu. “Black eye by old lady?”
Frankie gave me a look.
I smiled sheepishly at the Target. “Actually, no. I was at the gym earlier. I do some boxing and some guy got in a lucky shot.”
“You box?” Frankie said, surprised.
“Been boxing since I was a kid. You know that,” I told her. She was a lousy con.
“Right. Sorry. I didn’t realize you still did it.”
I nodded. “When work allows me to get away.”
“Oh, I know how that is. I was in meetings all day.”
“What do you do, Rosalyn?” Frankie asked.
“Mostly I just head up some of my father’s foundations and causes. I wanted to go to law school, but my father needed me.” She shrugged.
“Not me. I hated school. College sounded like torture. Of course, now I’m stuck in a job that’s like torture so I guess I traded one for the other.”
“There has to be something you want to do that wouldn’t be torture. What is it?”
I knew I should interrupt their conversation, swing it in my favor, captivate the Target’s attention, but I kind of wanted to hear the answer.
