“The name’s Chris,” the girl said.
“Shanna.” She raised a hand in greeting, lowering it when Simon glowered at her.
“Who hired you to kill me?”
Chris opened her mouth, deliberating for a second. “I don’t exactly know. A few days ago, I was hanging out with my friends—well, they’re not friends, more like people I sometimes hang out with—at this old, abandoned factory. Cool place to practice graffiti, ten out of ten, recommend.”
Simon raised an eyebrow.
“Anyway, this dude comes in and says he has some business for us that pays well. All the others got scared because they’re losers, I guess.”
“That’s why they’re not your friends,” Shanna said.
“Exactly!”
“I think you’re teaching her the wrong lesson,” Simon murmured to Shanna, then locked eyes on Chris. “And? What did he look like?”
“Kind of weird. I didn’t see much of his face because he wore a hoodie, but he had a beard. And I don’t think he was used to this kind of shady business. Anyway, I stayed because I was curious. And he tells me he needs to get rid of this man—you—as soon as possible. He offered twenty grand.”
Shanna gasped. “Twenty?” That was so much—
“That’s as little as my life is worth?” Simon shot out.
“For you, it might be little,” Chris grumbled. “For me, it would help save Freddie’s life.”
“Who’s that?” Shanna asked.
“A fellow kid at the shelter. A few years younger. He has HAE.” At Simon and Shanna’s blank looks, Chris rolled her eyes and explained, “Hereditary angioedema. It causes swelling and a lot of pain, and if it happens in a bad spot, it can even be deadly. But there are drugs that can control the enzyme that causes the condition. If you can buy them, of course.”
“You know a lot about this,” Simon said.
Chris shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”
“And you took the offer without any down payment?” he said.
“He gave me two grand if I needed it to get here and buy equipment and all that.”
Simon sat down on a chair across from Chris and hid his face in his hands.
“And what will happen when you come back without fulfilling the deal?” Shanna asked.
“I don’t know. It’s not like he wasted that much money on me, so maybe he’ll ignore it. Get someone else to do the job.”
“Oh, great,” Simon said. “So I’m about to have a line of assassins after me. For what, again?”
“I don’t know.” Chris twisted her mouth to the side. “Did you scam someone? Kill someone? Cheat with someone’s wife?”
“He’s been dead for the past three years,” Shanna said.
Simon exploded out of the chair. “You didn’t have to tell her that!”
Chris looked at them like she was pondering her escape again, this time for entirely different reasons.
“The point is, Simon couldn’t have done anything,” Shanna said.
“Maybe it’s some competitor,” Simon said in a tired voice. “Somebody found out I was still—again—alive, and they’re trying to use the chaotic situation to get rid of me. The rest already thinking me dead would serve them well.”
“None of the people who helped you come back would have a reason to do so,” Shanna said. “So who else knows you’re alive?”
