“Yes, hello?” Francesca’s voice calls cautiously from inside. I turn my back so if she looks out the peephole, she won’t see my face.
Here it comes, the gamble that will make this thing work or not.
“I’ve got a delivery here for Francesca Morgan?”
“Oh, you can just leave it there, thanks.”
I smile. Like the rest of us, Fran is waiting on a last-minute Christmas gift to show up in the mail.
“Sorry, but I need a signature.”
She sighs, and I hear the door unlock. “All right, no problem—”
The door swings open, and I turn. She sees me, and her eyes go wide with shock.
She tries to slam the door on me, but I slip through into her apartment before she can.
“Help!” she shouts, screaming like a banshee. “Help me!”
“Fran, relax,” I say, putting some distance between her. “I’m not here to hurt you.”
“Like hell you’re not!”
She reaches out and snatches something from the counter and points it at me like she might beat me with it if I come any closer. A roll of wrapping paper.
I just look at it, and when she realizes what she’s done, she almost laughs.
“Fran, I know about the photo. The letter you gave Kathryn.”
Her face twists with confusion. “But…how?”
“Your reflection. I saw your reflection in the glass.”
A look of defeat comes over her. She drops the wrapping paper and leans back against a support column, closing her eyes.
“Shit…”
“Don’t worry,” I tell her. “Kathryn doesn’t know. She’s talking to her accountant right now about the best way to wire the money to your account.”
Her eyes snap open. Suddenly, she’s interested in what I have to say.
“Seriously? Then what are you doing here?”
“Well.” I smile, taking a seat on a stool at the counter. “I wanted to ask you...why did you only ask for five million?”
Fran frowns, then slowly takes a seat beside me. I watch her facial expressions shift. It’s like watching a ticking clock—tiny, incremental movements that move with the passage of time.
“Why did I only ask for five million?” she repeats.
“That’s right.”
“I mean…it seemed like a good number. Five million is a lot of money.”
I nod in agreement. “It is, but Kathryn is wortha lotmore. We could definitely get more out of her.”
“We?”Francesca asks, looking more confused than ever.
I’m grinning back at her now, feeling the tension rise as she starts to realize why I’m here.
