That favor was used instead on my sister’s friend Vera, who was taken by some dipshit drug dealer. I knew Charlie had completed the task as Vera had stopped by to see Grace a few weeks ago. I had my suspicions that Charlie left the game and shacked up with Vera, but couldn’t confirm it. All Grace had told me was that Vera “fell in love”. It seemed very fucking unlikely that Charlie, a known associate of The Boogiemen, would fall in love and leave the game.
Then again, years ago I would have balked at using up my favor for someone else, much less someone I didn’t know. But if we’re talking about love and the funny fucking tricks it plays on you, I was a different man then too. Lenny changed me.
“When do I need to be there?” I asked, clearing away thoughts of Lenny and Charlie like cobwebs. I couldn’t say I was happy for Charlie. Happiness wasn’t something you felt for others in the game. I felt nothing for him, and that was as close to joy as I would get.
“Six hours,” Dom replied.
“Send me the details.”
As I was about to hang up, Dom interjected. “I have to say Vic, I’m a little surprised. Rumor had it that you were getting out of the game. Now you want a hit? Peculiar.” I pulled the phone from my head, pausing, and then hung up without a response. Dom didn’t need to know my reasoning. This hit would probably kill me. In my mind, I was already dead.
It looked like a clean job—well, as clean as murder can get. Some asshole was hiding out in Mexico and another asshole wanted him dead. I had twenty-four hours to complete the job or there would be a target on my back. Once given a job, you complete it or you die. Can’t have loose ends in the world.
By the time I was done looking over everything, two hours had elapsed and it had started to rain. The prospect of going home and finding Lenny still there packing was nauseating. The prospect of going home and finding Lenny gone, along with her stuff, was nearly crippling. I figured either way I was going to end up in some kind of fucking pain, so I pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward home.
While I was driving home, the urge to turn off my wipers, let the rain obscure my view, and drive off the highway until I became a ball of fire and smoke was tempting. I wondered if that was how Lenny felt. I’d never felt such overwhelming emotion before. It was pretty fucking annoying.
In the end I kept driving until I reached our—my—apartment, shoving down emotions until they were just shades of their former selves. I thought I was safe, thought I would be okay, thought I could handle my shit at least until I reached the apartment.
I was so fucking wrong.
As I rode up the elevator, more goddamn memories assaulted me. Looking down at my body, drenched from the rain, I remembered when Lenny had first moved in. She’d run to catch the door, soaking wet. I remembered the daggers she shot me when I didn’t hold it. She’d been so feisty, calling me on my shit. She’d dropped her locket and I didn’t immediately tell her. I should have realized then what deep shit I was in. Instead of giving her her jewelry like a normal person, I’d held on to it, like some fucking school-boy pining after a memento.
Later that night I ran into her in the hall—well, more like stalked her. I’d waited until she’d returned home and then followed her. The pull I felt to her was stronger than gravity. Every sigh, every breath, I felt deep in my marrow. The shivers she made when I touched her that night felt like ripples against my skin. It should have been obvious, when I barely knew her and she affected me so, that I was doomed.
Lennox Moore was my undoing, but the devastation still felt better than any happiness I thought I knew before.
The elevator dinged open and I left the box, feeling as if I was walking through ghosts and shadows. Each step I took seemed to unleash another latent memory. When I approached the apartment, I was so consumed in memories that I almost didn’t notice my lock was undone. The door was slightly ajar, imperceptible to the untrained eye.
Cocking my head to the side, I pulled out my SIG from the holster. The day I’d quit GEM was the day I’d put a red bullseye on my back. Officially, GEM had only burned me, but I wouldn’t have put it past Alice to try something on her own. Pressing myself against the wall, I thought back to the beginning. Before Lenny, I didn’t have anything else in my life save my job. Now, staring at my unlocked door, I was pissed.
Lenny could have been inside.
It could have been her fending off some hired mercenary.
My stupidity could have killed her.
So I guess it was a good thing that our twisted, thorny bond had finally snapped. Instead of dying for my sins, she was safely asleep at Lissie and Zoe’s.
I advanced slowly, kicking the black door open a notch. The wood creaked slightly on its hinges. I peeked my head in, keeping my gun cocked, but saw no one. Still, I kept my body tight and on alert. With caution, I advanced farther.
“Surprise!” voices yelled in unison. Balloons floated to the top of the lofted ceiling. Presents were on the countertop. A banner that read “Happy Birthday Vic!” hung taught in glitter. I even saw a cake.
For perhaps the first time in my adult life, I was truly surprised.
I quickly shoved my gun back into the holster. I was surprised, but not in the way I should have been. My birthday was the last thing on my mind. It wasn’t happiness I felt looking around at my decorated apartment. Bewilderment was the first thing to hit me.
Then indignation as I saw Lenny make her way out from behind the couch.
“Are you surprised?” Lenny asked. Only hours before she’d been near tears in the car, saying she was going to practically pack up her life. If that was faked, she was in the wrong field. Professional actors couldn’t drum up the kind of performance Lenny did.
“Very,” I replied dryly just as she reached out to hug me. I accepted the hug, more stunned by Lenny’s sudden change in mood than the party.
“What’s up?” she asked, smiling. I stared down at her, making no attempt to mask my shock.
“What’s up?” I repeated. “What’s up is that only hours ago you—” My alarm went off and I glanced down at my watch. The red numbers reminded me I only had two more hours to get my ass to the airport if I was going to complete the hit. Fuck.
I’d been so sure Lenny and I were over, but now balloons hung in our apartment and Lenny straddled my side as if the previous few hours had never happened…not to mention my entire fucking family was there. Lissie, Zoe, and Grace all laughed with each other, eating various appetizers. What the fuck was happening? Had I fallen into the Twilight Zone?