AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A blank look.
"Through Honcho?" I prompted.
"Er, yes, right, but..." His gaze traveled down me. "I, um, think there's been a misunderstanding."
"Yes, I'm a woman. It's an equal opportunity job these days. If you want gender specificity, you have to request it on the order form."
He stared, a note of panic behind his eyes, as if thinking there really had been a form, and he hadn't gotten it.
"Is it okay?" I asked. "Does the job require a man?"
"N-no. You're fine. Maybe better, even. Sure. Okay. It just... threw me. So, I guess the first thing we do is - "
"Move over there." I waved back where I'd been sitting.
"Isn't here safer?"
"You look like Mr. Suburbanite waiting for his dealer... and I don't look like your dealer."
A nervous twitch of a smile. "Right, right."
I led him to the bleachers. "No one's around, so just play it cool. You came home from the office early and found your wife had gone for her jog, so you caught up with her and now we're having a nice little 'how was your day, honey' chat."
"Right, right."
We sat through twenty seconds of silence.
"You have a job for me?" I said finally.
"Right. I need someone... taken care of."
He put a tiny growl in the last words, as if trying out for a guest spot on The Sopranos. I bit my cheek to keep from smiling.
"That's what I figured."
A giggle. "Right, I guess so. Not like I'd be asking you to, uh - " He massaged his throat, unable to come up with anything witty. "The, uh, job. It's this guy."
I blinked to cover my surprise. Another moment of silence. When he didn't go on, I had to clarify.
"You mean the mark is a man."
"Right, right."
The first prickle of apprehension set my arm hairs rising. I resisted the urge to rub them down and kept my face neutral.
"Go on."
"It needs to be done tonight?"
"Tonight?" That time the surprise escaped. I covered it with, "Is he local, then?"
He nodded. "He has a house right here in Detroit. That's where it has to... go down."
"Family?"
His eyes widened, lips parted in an O of horror.
"Is there going to be family in the house?" I went on. "Because that's a problem, and not one I intend to 'take care of "
