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“How the fuck is anybody going to know where I am?” I growled.
“There are people in New York who know what you look like,” he argued back.
“I’ll wear the ball cap and do tourist shit. No one will recognize me.”
“Yeah. Right. No offense, but I saw your version of blending in. How many women gave you their numbers at the coffee shop the other day?”
“None, asshole.” But that was another thing I needed him to do. “Speaking of that, when you bring me my clothes, stop downstairs at The Coffee Spot and pick some stuff up for me.”
“What am I, your lackey now?”
I had to bust his chops. “Since the day we met. You want to keep me safe, then that means you’re the only person who can know where I am. Which means, yeah, you get to be my gopher today. I’ll text you my order for the shop and her address. It’s next door. Text me when you get here, and I’ll meet you downstairs.”
I waited for Andre’s text and kept myself busy in the meantime. It would be at least two hours before I heard from him. He had to make the calls, gather what I needed, and then drive into the city. Traffic should be light that early on a Saturday morning, but I still had a long wait ahead of me with nothing more than one window and a tiny television perched on a precarious corner shelf to look at.
Living in New York city is expensive, but Suzanne’s apartment was claustrophobic. Our kitchen was twice the size of her entire studio which had to be no more than thirty feet long and about six feet wide. It was almost as if someone had walled off a hallway and made an apartment out of it. I found the television remote on the small table in front of the single couch that made up her living room area. As soon as the television powered on, I turned the volume down to where I could barely hear it. Adrenaline and anticipation would keep me awake, but Suzanne didn’t need to lose any more sleep.
As the morning news filled the background, my mind wandered from Suzanne, to work, back to Suzanne, then to work again. Though I’d only slept for a few hours, the comfort her presence brought also brought clarity to my thoughts.
I had my doubts about the hacker. Maybe there was a better way to handle this. Maybe he could be scared into keeping his big mouth shut. Either way, I was through with him. Even if I let him live, and I still hadn’t made up my mind about that, he wasn’t going to work on any of my projects anymore.
Besides, he had as much chance of living through this as the Titanic did of not sinking after hitting the iceberg. I wasn’t the only person whose work was at risk. If I didn’t call the shot, someone else probably would.
Maybe he wouldn’t die at my command, but I wasn’t going to rescue him from anyone else’s clutches, either.
I took the coffee carrier from Andre’s outstretched hand. “Our friend...the droid.” That was what we called them. No names. No real identities.
“Taking care of it as soon as the bail is complete. Unless you want to speed up the process?”
“No. Let it runs its course. I’ve spent enough money on him.” I couldn’t believe I was going to say this. “I want you to wait. Don’t call it in yet.”
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. Get our guys on the inside to scare the shit out of him before he gets out. Make him think that if he even sneezes too loud, he’s done. I want to wait.”
Andre stood speechless before he let out a low whistle. “Wow. One week. I told you this girl would be your kryptonite.”
“This has nothing to do with Suzanne.”
“Oh, no. Of course not. You’ve just suddenly grown a conscience in the last twenty-four hours.”
I didn’t answer him.
Because he was partially right.
But Suzanne wasn’t my Jiminy Cricket.
Those nagging feelings had been growing for months. I could taste my freedom; if only I didn’t fear it so much.
“Are we understood?” I growled.
“As you say, so shall it be done.”
I would have thought he was mocking me, but I knew better. If anyone, or anything, ever brought us down, Andrew had as much to lose as I did. Possibly more. I might be the decision-maker, but there were a thousand degrees of separation between me and the darkness. Andre was one step closer to it than I was. If I fell, he’d fall even harder. It wasn’t deliberate - it’s just the way things were. Now, if he was as smart as I knew him to be, he’d taken care of his business, but it wasn’t my job to know that. I couldn’t be ignorant of the details if I knew all the answers.
This was a fucked up business we were in. I’d always known that. If I was going to remove myself from it, I’d have to start somewhere. Maybe today, the droid didn’t have to die.
It was his lucky day.
