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Goldstein: Why?
Me: Somewhere I need to be.
Me: If I do, my brothers will be in touch.
Goldstein: Should I contact them?
Me: No. They’ll communicate with you when/if the time comes.
Goldstein: What’s going on?
Me: Nothing. Just hedging my bets.
Ignoring his other messages, I dragged on a suit after I used the bathroom. My doorbell was buzzing as I zipped up my fly, and I ignored it to continue with my preparations.
Two squirts of aftershave to the left side of my throat and two squirts to the right.
An old vintage Rolex that had been battered years ago was on my left wrist, a new smartwatch on my right that was of my own making because I already had the government sniffing between my ass cheeks; I didn’t need to invite them into my life with a mass-produced gadget that was nothing more than a tracker.
With that done, I sketched out a note on my bedroom dresser.
Aidan,
If you see this note, I’m probably dead.
It’s okay. It was a long time coming anyway. They always say you can rest when you’re dead, and fuck, if I don’t deserve a rest.
Anyway, love you, deartháir.
Kid
PS. Don’t try to look for me. I don’t want you ending up in a body bag too.
My nose crinkledat the short but not exactly sweet message as the buzzer sounded again.
It was always maudlin to write these goodbye notes but I did it just in case. In the past, I’d tossed each in the trashcan, but who knew with the state of the world?
I shrugged into a winter coat, rolled up the cuffs twice on each arm, then strode out of the bedroom, collecting my laptop bag on the way and hitting the intercom as it buzzed once more.
“I get the message,” I growled. “I’m coming now.”
As usual, there was no response.
Yanking two strands of hair off my head, I bit down on one and held it in place between my teeth and kept a hold of the other as I shut the door, jamming the first lock at the top of the jamb, above eye level.
If someone tried to open it after I left, the hair would fall.
As I locked the door, I heard the multilevel pins spin into place, then I jimmied the handle twice to make sure it was closed. After, I retrieved the remaining piece of hair from between my teeth and rested it on the doorknob.
That done, I walked over to the elevator.
Once upon a time, this had been an open space, but I’d had an entranceway built so that I didn’t walk straight into my apartment from the elevator anymore.
Over the past year, I’d learned that giving home invaders an extra workout, even if it only took ten minutes for them to get through the door, was ten minutes in my favor to either arm up, aim for the safe room, or to head to the helicopter pad and leave the building via the fire exit.
A short ride later and I was in the lobby when I saw the car idling outside.
The doorman greeted me softly, to which I nodded without making eye contact. The last thing Denny needed was the US government looking at him askance because I’d been friendly with him.
