As if she’d find salvation there.
I looked down at the pricey heels on her feet, now covered in mud, and the designer dress strangling her twiggy figure. I pulled my Beretta out of the back of my jeans and fitted the end with a silencer. There wasn’t any reason to make unnecessary noise.
“Please,” she cried. “I’ll do anything you want – I swear!”
Tears streamed down her cheeks as I raised the barrel of the weapon to her face. There wasn’t any reason to drag it out – that would just be cruel.
I pulled the trigger, and her body slumped sideways. One shove from my foot sent her into the water. She’d be found, no doubt – probably before morning. It wasn’t about making her disappear – it was about making sure Greco knew what had happened to her.
With the Beretta down the ba
ck of my pants again, I climbed into her car and drove it out to the airport to leave it in long-term parking, and then I took the L back into town.
I loved riding the trains and buses in Chicago. I was a people watcher, and it was always entertaining as hell to be on public transportation with anything from a drunk, crazy homeless guy to an equally crazy high-class, sorority bitch. If you were lucky, the two would run into each other and some kind of explosion would ensue.
No such luck this time, though. All the nuts must have taken the night off. Instead, I ended up leaning back in the seat and closing my eyes. I didn’t drift off or anything – I still couldn’t sleep – but my mind started wandering.
“What’s your name?” she asks.
“Evan,” I tell her.
“I’m Lia,” she says with a smile. I’m not sure if it is due to her continued nervousness or if she really just wants to be polite. I watch her closely but don’t respond. “Um…Lia Antonio.”
Smooth, flawless skin and warm, brown eyes. When I thought about her, I always pictured how she looked when I woke up with my head resting on her stomach and her fingers running through my hair. It had gotten long while I was in Arizona. Well, long for me, anyway.
She smiles at me, and it feels like I’ve been turned inside out.
I closed my eyes and shook my head.
“Stop that shit,” I muttered. “She was just some girl you fucked.”
A pair of tourists with shopping bags glanced at me nervously, but I ignored them.
It was late when I arrived home, but if Odin was ticked off at me he didn’t show it. I took him for an extra long walk around the park and played fetch with him in the living room for a bit before I had a bite to eat. He appreciated the extra attention when I sat down on the floor and rubbed his belly.
“I’m gonna have to ditch you for a while again,” I informed him. He looked at me and snuffed through his nose. “Just a couple days, I think. No more than that.”
His tail thumped against the carpet, and I rubbed his stomach once more before I got up and headed to the shower. The water was extra hot, and I loved the feeling of the moist heat. It relaxed me, and I hoped it meant I was going to get some decent sleep tonight.
My shower finished, I crawled into bed naked. Just as I was about to drop off, the phone rang.
Rinaldo.
“Sir?”
“You did good today, Evan,” he said. “Real good.”
“Thank you, sir. It just needed to be done.”
“It’s good to know there’s someone around I can really trust. Damn good thing to know.”
“Anything you need from me,” I assured him, “just tell me. It’ll get done.”
“I know it will, son,” Rinaldo said. “I know it will.”
Son.
Leaning my head back, I closed my eyes and smiled slightly.