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I love winding up this powerful man. Smirking, I push my hood back and slip my hand into my pocket, stroking the object. “Why would I do that when you pay me to be silent and discrete?”
“All right, all right, hand it over then,” he grumbles.
“Money first,” I counter.
Laughing, he starts to count bills. “After all this time, you still don’t trust me.”
“I trust no one.” I shrug. “It isn’t personal.”
“Aye, and it’s how you stay alive. All right, kid, here you go, and there’s a bit extra for getting it back so quickly.”
I pull the bobble head out and hand it over.
He caresses it gently, checking it for damage. “Perfect. You are handy to have around, kid.”
“That’s why you keep me alive.” I shove the money in my pocket and start to move to the door, wanting to be gone. I must catch his eye, because he stands and gets to his feet.
“Wait, girl. I have another job for you.”
I hesitate. I don’t need one right now, and I wanted a day off, but he leans in.
“It’s more money than you make in a year, maybe even two.”
Shit, okay, I can’t say no, and now he has my interest. A payday like that could get me out of the slums and into a safer area. But would I really leave when this is all I know? Like he knows he has me, he retakes his seat.
Knowing he’s offering that much money, however, makes me worry about what he wants me to do. “I’m not killing anyone,” I blurt out.
“Who the fuck do you think I am?” He shakes his head. “Don’t answer that. I’m a finder, you’re a runner, we ain’t killers. People come to us for lost objects or, as in this case, to get something beyond the wall.”
“I’m listening,” I reply, but I don’t sit. I rock on my heels, ready to get out of here as soon as I decide what I’m doing.
“Someone is paying a lot of money to get someone inside,” he tells me.
“As in a person?” I gawk, genuinely shocked. “As in, you want me to take a person with me under the wall? What for?”
“Fuck if I know, nor did I ask. They pay me not to. All I know is that they don’t want any questions, and they want this person taken in safely, escorted around, and brought back.”
I debate it, but honestly, I work better alone. I’ve never taken anyone through the wall. I know some people who tried and died, so I can only rely on myself. Someone else would put my safety in jeopardy and ruin the security I’ve found beyond the wall.
“No,” I reply.
“Fine, I’ll get someone else,” he snaps in annoyance.
“There is no one else, and you know it,” I retort.
I turn to leave. I could think on it, but I know I’m right—no one else could get a person into the city undetected. I could ask for anything. Shit, I’m going to do it, aren’t I? “I want five thousand, not three,” I say without looking back.
“Done,” he replies without hesitation, and I almost yell with excitement, but I manage to stay calm. “They must be kept safe. In and out, girl, I mean it. This one is important, straight from our government itself.”
I shiver. If they are hiring us, then shit is going bad. Maybe it’s a good thing to take this job and get out while I can. After all, I’ve had a bad feeling for a while now, so maybe this is just the beginning of the end. They all can’t stay forever, and the slums are too full. There’s disease, murder, and so much crime, they will have to step in at some point.
“Got it. Bring it to the usual spot at 5 AM. I want to get started just as the sun rises and the shifts swap.”
“Understood, girl. Be safe, okay?”
“Don’t go getting all soft on me now.” I grin at him, and he waves me away.
“You’re the best employee I’ve got, that’s all.” He tosses me a wad of bills—half of the payment upfront. Even holding that much money makes me nervous. I could buy a new life with this, but this world is an expensive place. After, what would I do to earn money? This life is all I know. For people like me, we don’t get out of the slums.
