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“Good.” Rapp exhaled nervously and looked around.

The man smiled. He could always charge foreigners a premium. “Is there something I can do for you?”

“I hope so.” Rapp rubbed his palms on his jeans, continuing to fake nervousness.

The man began to mumble off a short list of drugs and prices.

Rapp shook his head emphatically. “I’m not a druggie.”

This brought a smile to the man’s face. Denial was all part of the trade. “Of course not. What can I do for you?”

“I have a proposal. A job that could earn you a lot of money.”

“And what would this job involve?”

“It involves me giving you the key to an apartment and the combination to a safe.”

The man took a drag from his cigarette and smiled. “What’s in the safe?”

“Some cash.”

“How much?”

“A lot.”

The Frenchman tilted his head from side to side. “A lot is a relative thing. What might be a lot to you, might not be so much to me.”

“At least twenty thousand . . . and some jewelry that’s worth more than that.”

He stabbed out his cigarette. “Why me?”

Rapp blinked his eyes nervously and said, “Because I’m an American and I don’t fucking know anyone in Paris. At least not anyone who’d be willing to walk into this bitch’s apartment and take what’s mine.”

“This money is yours?” he asked skeptically.

“Yeah . . . I earned it. We had an arrangement. She was supposed to pay me, but now she’s fucking screwing me.”

“What kind of deal?”

“That’s not important.” Rapp looked over each shoulder as if she’d walk up on them at any moment. “The bitch treats me like a slave. She’s got my passport in the safe, and my money, and she won’t give it to me.”

“So why don’t you just open it yourself and take what’s yours?”

“She doesn’t know that I know the combination and . . .” Rapp let his voice trail off as if he was too embarrassed to continue.

“And what?”

“She’s friends with my parents. Good friends. If they found out I’ve been sleeping with her they would shit.”

The Frenchman lit another cigarette, exhaling a cloud of smoke. “Let’s back up for a second. Why me? How did you find me?”

“I’m not a druggie,” Rapp said defensively. “I mean, I’m not hooked. I use them from time to time, but I’m not strung out. I have some friends at the university. Everybody knows this is a place where you can get hooked up. You and the fat guy across the street.” Rapp jerked his head in the man’s direction.

The Frenchman smiled broadly, revealing a pair of sharp canine teeth. “So why do you think I would want to help you steal from this woman?”

“You sell drugs. You already break the law and what you do day in and day out is a lot riskier than this. Here’s the deal,” Rapp said, pressing his case. “This bitch is rich. She isn’t go

ing to miss any of this. We’re supposed to go to an art gallery exhibit tonight. We’ll be gone for at least two hours. I can give you the key, the security code, and the code for the safe. I don’t give a fuck what you take. I just want my cash and my passport.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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