He leaned in and kissed my head. “I’m not easily scared off.”
“I know,” I said, “but I love you too much. And Andrea would kill me if anything happened to you because of me.”
He scooped Sweets up and started heading for the door.
“Neil?” I stopped him.
He turned and faced me.
“Do you think Andrea’s sister can see me today? And if so, can you do me a favor and book the appointment?”
“I’ll see what I can do for my Peps.” He winked at me and left.
I hurriedly took a shower, dressed in an all-black midi dress that was form fitting, jazzing it up with some jewelry, and then I slipped into a pair of sky-high heels and grabbed my bag.
A taxicab ride later, I walked into the salon Andrea’s sister, Gabriella, worked at and sat in her chair.
“Ava?”
I lifted my hand. “Hi, it’s me…” I practically sang.
She squeezed my shoulders and laughed. “I haven’t seen you in a while, but I’d know that kick-ass personality anywhere.” She grinned at me. “What are we doing with all this silk?” She lifted a few strands of my hair.
“Cut it off,” I said, “and let’s try a different shade.”
“Relax,” she said, waving her magic cape over my clothes and fastening it in the back. “I got you.”
While she mixed colors in a bowl, I called Joe the Detective. He had no idea who was calling, but he answered. I told him to meet me at Vice in three hours. I looked at Gabriella and she nodded. That was enough time. He went to say something else, but I hung up.
As Gabriella started, she said, “Let’s see if brunettes have more fun, shall we?”
By the time she was finished, my hair was inches shorter, cut into a chic bob with face-framing bangs, as she called it. My hair landed just above my collarbone and was a rich brunette. It also had a ton of body on top, which made it look so much healthier.
Gabriella stood back and admired her work. “Your eyes pop with this color, girl.” She studied me a bit harder. “You know who you remind me of? That chick from that show. What was the name of it?”
A coworker passed and checked me out. “Saved by the Bell.”
She snapped her fingers. “Before my time, but the girl…”
“Tiffani Thiessen,” the coworker supplied. She tilted her head, studying my features. “I can see it, kind of…”
“I see it! That’s who you remind me of!”
As long as she didn’t say I was Janis’s twin, we were all good.
Even though I couldn’t erase her from my features entirely, I breathed easier when I looked at Ava in the mirror. Gabriella’s coworkers clapped at me and whistled as I left—she refused to let me pay, but I was going to give the money to Andrea and have him slip it in her purse when she wasn’t looking. It was easier than arguing when I only had a limited amount of time.
Outside of the salon, dark clouds hovered over the city, ready to drop rain. I hesitated when I flagged another cab. The last time I was here, and I took a ride in this kind of weather with ON the Psychopath, I wasn’t prepared.
This time I had Nazzareno’spistolatucked into my bag, but still…the memory of him invaded my space. He was a stage-five clinger in dreams and thoughts, and he showed no signs of slowing.
When the cabbie pulled to the curb, I leaned close to his window and narrowed my eyes. He had no hair, and unless he was packing a bunch of toilet paper in his track suit, he wasn’t of the same build.
I tucked my hand in my bag, keeping it on the gun, and told him where to go. “Vice City Press.”
He called me Catwoman, a reference to Batman’s love interest, since everyone referred to Vice City as Gotham, and hit the gas. He turned his wipers on when fat raindrops started to splash against the windshield.
He dropped me off a few minutes later and slipped right back into traffic, going for another fair.
