Whyam Ismiling? On the rare occasions I had to break into our victims' apartments for a little recon during operations, I never particularly enjoyed it. They were tolerable experiences at best. But today? My body feels lighter, like I’m floating. I’m almost giddy in anticipation. Sam’s right. Must be creepy. “I’m not smiling.” I stretch my lips into a wider grin.
I catch Sam's eyes going wider in shock. “I didn’t even know your face could do that.” His voice is contemplative.
“What kind of friend gets creeped out by their friend’s smile?”
“The one who has to witness the creepy thing your eyes are doing. Why aren’t you blinking? You know we’re not killing anyone today, right? That looks like you're ready to kill face.”
I shrug. “Can’t kill anymore, remember?”
“Oh yeah, the promise to your wolfman. The number of loopholes you’ve found there, I’m one second away from slipping Adrian’s card to the poor guy. He can use better clauses.”
I nod. “Adrian is pretty good at his job. If he’s in touch with Raymond, we should be able to find something in the house for sure.”
“It’s just… I don’t like how excited you are by this. You know this is the last thing close to a mission we’ll do, right?”
“Yeah, obviously,” I say quickly. The last time I can be useful in any way that matters. After killing Raymond, I’ll go back to running my business.
I can organize more fairs. We ended up helping many animals. I can try taking care of plants too? I found a tutorial on turning your yard into a flower garden. It looked time-consuming. So,perfect.
Some of my excitement bleeds out as I reach Adrian’s street. We researched the hell out of this neighborhood, one of those expensive ones that’s mostly occupied by lawyers and finance bros. We studied the blueprints of Adrian’s house a thousand times. Sam even dug out pictures of the interiors that the previous owner posted online to sell the place.
Two things were very clear. We can’t make any mistakes because one wrong step and we’ll be caught immediately. I don’t want to face Nicholas’s disappointed face. That is, if Adrian decided to get the authorities involved in the first place.
And the second, Sam will never be responsible for picking outfits for any of the future house break-ins. I adjust my coat for the thousandth time. Who even wears a suit in this weather?
I park my rental car in a small parking lot a few streets away, and we walk the rest of the way. We spot at least three men in suits before we can even see Adrian’s place.
“See, I told you we’d blend in,” Sam says as we walk past one mansion after another, each with a yard big enough to qualify as a park.
I pull my collar away from my sweaty skin. A kid and her mother wave at us, and we wave back with smiles of our own, keeping our pace leisurely.
Adrian is at a gala and isn’t expected to be back tonight. Sam had to dig into his email inbox to find the invite and Adrian’s RSVP. So, we have all the time in the world to check every nook and cranny of his expensive-ass house to find any evidence that he lied about not knowing his father.
When we reach a single-story cream-colored house with a gated driveway, we stop. We get lucky there’s no one on the street. Fewer witnesses mean fewer complications.
We walk towards the door, Sam holding a small black device.
“You’re sure there’s no one inside?” I ask as Sam waves his device at the keypad on the side of the door. It beeps, then turns off.
Sam slides the door open. “The camera across the street only showed Adrian getting in and out of the house for the entire week. Unless he’s homing a hermit, I think we’re clear.”
We walk through the empty driveway, climbing the steps leading to the house with exposed white brick. “What if he’s sheltering a criminal?”
Sam pulls his jacket away to show me the Glock underneath. “We’ll deal with it if it comes to that.” He uses his device again to deactivate the door lock.
I check if my gun is still where it’s supposed to be. “And you’re sure the cameras are not recording this?”
Sam sighs. “I showed you the feed after I replaced it with the frame of the empty street. It’ll play on a loop until I manually change it back. I thought you were a pro at this. The break has made you awfully anxious.” He pushes the door open.
We’re immediately swallowed by darkness as the door shuts behind us.
I hum in agreement. It must be the break and not the fact that this is the first time I’m doing this with Sam. He wouldn’t let me come alone, and now he is putting his life in danger because of my stubbornness to find Raymond and end him. I just hope I’m able to protect Sam if it comes to that. He might look confident with his suit and his gadgets and his guns, butI know he’s never killed a fly.
Sam finds the light switch with the help of his phone light and switches it on, bathing every surface in warm yellow light. A pristine white couch set sits in the middle of a spacious living room, with an electric fireplace at the front. The walls have big windows overlooking the street.
I grab Sam’s sleeve and move him away from the range of the windows. “Oh god, are those quartz countertops? I was considering it for my apartment…” he blabbers as I pull him away from the kitchen, too.
“Focus.” I drop his sleeve as he crankily pats his coat. “Let’s stick together until we’re sure we’re the only ones here.”
