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“I think the battery died.” He plucks a lollipop from his pocket. Was that always there? How many of those damn things did he bring?
“Then sing in your head.”
“You're awfully grumpy this morning. Maybe you should've had some hotel coffee.”
“Or something stronger,” I say, shooting him a glare. “Do you like phone games?”
“Sometimes.” He shrugs.
I hand him my phone while pulling out of the parking lot. “Download and play one then. My phone charger is in my bag in the back seat if you need it.”
“Okay.” Leaning against the door, he stretches out his legs and pulls up the app store. The songs and sounds from the games are worse than his little remarks and questions. When he turns down the volume, I can still hear his fingers tapping against the screen and him sighing in frustration every time he loses. Suddenly, turning on the radio doesn't sound so bad.
We grab donuts and coffee forty minutes away from the hotel. I check Gio's location before getting back on the road. He hasn'tmoved in a long time and is at a motel a little over an hour away. Having Phillip with me while I take someone down might be a problem but I’d rather not waste anymore time with this guy. I have an opportunity staring me right in the face and I need to take it.
“We stopping somewhere else?” Phillip asks in between licking his fingers.
“Yeah, a motel but not to stay. When we're there, I need you to stay in the car. If you try to leave—”
“You'll hunt me down. I know.” His tone is mocking as he waves his hand around. “Are we almost there?”
“We don't have too far to go. And please don't be one of those people who asks that every thirty minutes.”
“I wasn't going to but now I'm not so sure.” Laughing, he reaches for another donut and shoves it between his lips. They are pink and sticky with glaze when he looks at me again.Keep your eyes on the road, Antonio. Not his lips or long tongue.I was fine until he got too close to me. I've kept my distance and don't like to work with others for a reason.
Gio moves by the time we reach the town he's in. Not far from the motel though—at a convenience store it looks like. He's still inside when I pull up three spaces away from his car.
“Are we here for snacks?” Phillip sits taller in his seat and I stop him when he reaches for his belt. He's always so soft. The world seems like a less harsh place when I touch him.
“No. Stay here.”
“But why are we here? I thought we were going to a motel?”
“Plans changed again. The man I'm looking for is here. Here's my phone. Play a game and keep your eyes on the screen until I'm back.”
“You're going to kill a man here?”
Glancing around the empty parking lot and lack of other buildings around us, I nod. “Yeah, I think I will.”
“When you're done, can we get snacks? I really have to pee too.”
I sputter a laugh and pat him on the leg. “Sure, burrito. But not at this store.” How he reacts to everything continues to take me by surprise. I've been to the warehouse on more than one occasion and never once met someone like him. He confuses me with what scares him versus what doesn't. Strangers’ houses make him uncomfortable, he's overly nervous at airports even when he doesn't have drugs on him, and he doesn't like when other men are holding guns. But sure, me leaving him here to go kill someone isn't a big deal, and all he can think about is snacks.
“Okay. Don't take too long. I shouldn't have drunk so much milk.” He rubs his stomach and I set the phone between his legs.
“I'll be back. Keep out of trouble and lock the doors.”
“Mhm.” No longer paying attention to me, his fingers move quickly across the phone screen as he moves a bunch of colorful shapes around.
Groaning, I step out of the car and lock the doors from the inside before heading into the gas station. There he is. Wearing a gray shirt and faded blue jeans. He's flirting with the clerk while messing with the black sunglasses on top of his head, laughing obnoxiously.
“I gotta go to the little boy's room, but I'll be back, sweetheart.”
“Oh, I'm sure you will,” the blond says, winking at him, not realizing there's another person in the store. No cameras inside or outside the tiny, run-down store works in my favor. No one has to know I was ever here—no one except for the man whose life I'm about to end.
The clerk turns his back and Gio glances at something in the coolers. While they are distracted, I head to the unisex bathroom and wait in the dark. The door twists open and as soon as the light comes on, I grab him from behind, holding a gun to the side of his head. His eyes widen in the mirror’s reflection.
“You're supposed to be in Miami,” he says between clenched teeth.
