I put the phone away, feeling pensive. It’s an unusual feeling for me. I don’t hesitate during a job. But after seeing her, I want to know more. Not to complete the kill. To understand why.
It’s against my rules. I don’t care. I feel compelled to know.
As disturbing as my thoughts are, I don’t change how I proceed.
I shadow her when she exits the shelter with a garbage bag in each hand, dragging them to the dumpster to throw them inside.
The wind whips her hair around her face. She shivers. She looks over her shoulder—just once.
I know she can’t see me.
Can she sense me, though? I doubt it. Maybe it’s just habit. A woman alone at night in New York.
She walks back inside, disappearing into the warm glow of the shelter.
And I stay in the dark, watching.
I follow her home and am surprised that she’swalking.
No car?
I text Logan:Where the fuck does she live?
Logan:She rents a one-bedroom walk-up in Alphabet City.
He sends me the address. I grimace. It’s in a slightly more affordable edge of the East Village.
I stay outside when she enters a building. It’s narrow, brick, and leaning slightly like it’s tired of standing.
It’s the address Logan sent me.
Before I can prod Logan for the next piece of data I need, he sends a message.
Logan:Third-floor unit, old building with creaky floors. Temperamental radiator. She’s complained to the super three times.
I glance up at the building and see a light go on on the third floor.
Hers.
Logan:She doesn’t have a car. And like I said, no savings, anywhere. She lives alone. No boyfriend. No dating apps. She gets a salary.
He tells me how much she makes, and it makes sense why she can’t afford a car and lives in a shithole.
Logan:There’s nothing here…it’s all too clean. I need to dig in.
Well, at least I have that, I think sardonically. If Logan believes she’s hiding something, then she is, and that makes sense because I’m supposed to cap her ass.
I stare at her window and catch her silhouette through the curtain.
A thought surfaces, unbidden.
She’s alone.There’s no man in the shadows to keep her safe…except me.
The fuck? I’m not here toprotecther.
I’m here tokillher, and I will.
Butnot until Logan gives me more on her, because something doesn’t feel right.
