Ambush (Michael Bennett 11)

Alex knew the hotel and the area well. It would be difficult to get into the woman’s room at the Giraffe. That meant she had to find a spot in the open to do it—rarely a good idea in New York City.

She conducted the rest of her surveillance a little farther back than she normally would to keep both the bodyguard and Alicia Toussant in view.

The Canadian seemed to have hourly meetings. She was a hard worker. Alex admired that. They were all short face-to-face meetings with white or Hispanic men. Alex didn’t care what each meeting was about. Because some time after sunset tonight, any agreements struck would be null and void. That’s how things worked in the narcotics business.

Later in the day, Alex followed while Ms. Toussant strolled down Fifth Avenue. Alex had enough photographs of her to create a pretty good biography in pictures. It was the necessary preparation for any assignment.

Only once did Ms. Toussant have any contact with her bodyguard. She bought something small from a jewelry store, then turned and walked directly to him. He stuck whatever she had bought in his left front pants pocket.

Alex noticed that the sun was setting and some of the city lights were slowly coming on. Her target turned and started to stroll back toward the Hotel Giraffe.

Alex fell in behind the bodyguard. She had both her stiletto and her 9mm pistol in her Vera Wang purse, which had a strap that slipped over her shoulder comfortably. She was as ready as she would ever be.

First she had to deal with the bodyguard.

Chapter 34

On the walk back to the hotel, Alex formed a plan in her head. It was tricky because there were two targets, though she was only getting paid for one. She would’ve preferred to kill Alicia Toussant without having to deal with the bodyguard. But killing him, too, was just a good business decision.

Then she saw an opportunity she couldn’t resist. Her target, Alicia Toussant, strolled into Madison Square Park. She stopped and sat on an ornate cement bench. She pulled out an iPhone and relaxed on the bench. It looked like she’d be there awhile.

Immediately Alex changed her plan and started to ease up behind the bodyguard, who was standing behind a chest-high wall at the edge of an intricate water fountain.

Alex glanced around and realized the park was relatively quiet. The bodyguard gazed up at the Flatiron Building in the distance. Then he returned his gaze to his employer. It almost looked as if he was spying on someone from the bushes. He was just being professional and maintaining his surveillance of the entire area.

That was his mistake.

He never even noticed Alex as she came up behind him with her stiletto already extended.

Just as she stepped up next to the bodyguard, he turned, giving her the opening she needed. She shifted her weight and drove the stiletto straight up under the man’s jaw so that the sharpened steel crashed through his mouth and nasal cavity, then directly into his brain.

Alex would call his expression confused. He didn’t understand what had happened or why he couldn’t move. His eyes focused briefly on her, and he gurgled a question for a moment.

Then she moved her left arm behind him and eased him carefully to the ground. He was now just a sack of bones and skin. Against the wall, with the bushes near him, his body was barely visible.

Alex ran her hands over his waistline and found a Browning 9mm pistol in his waistband. She slipped it into her purse.

Just as Alex was about to leave the body, she reached down into his left front pants pocket and retrieved the tiny box that his boss, Alicia, had given him earlier.

She opened it and found a pair of beautiful pear-shaped diamond earrings. They were at least two carats. They were remarkable. For a moment, Alex wished she were a thief instead of a killer. She slipped the earrings back into the man’s pocket.

When Alex stood up and peeked over the wall, she could see Ms. Toussant still sitting in front of the fountain.

Maybe this wouldn’t be as hard as she thought.

Chapter 35

Alex was polite and waited until her target completed her phone call. When the woman slipped the iPhone back into her purse, Alex calmly walked toward her and sat down on the same bench.

Alex said, “Hello, Ms. Toussant.”

That got the woman’s full attention. She turned her pretty face, framed by light brown hair, and focused on Alex.

She said, “Do I know you, dear?” She had a slight French accent.

Alex said, “No. I’m not someone you would normally do business with.”

/> “But you do work for someone. That means you’re not here for a friendly conversation.” The woman looked over Alex’s shoulder toward the wall where her bodyguard had been waiting.