It’s not until his eyes are closed and his breathing deepens that I dare approach. I press a soft kiss to his forehead, but back away in a hurry, not trusting he’s as sound asleep as he appears.
I look around his bedroom, then in the living room and kitchen until I find a set of keys to a Porsche. I might have overcome two obstacles, but the biggest one awaits me outside. I have to ditch the guards posted outside the condo door and in the lobby.
It was far easier snooping through Alejandro’s medicine cabinet when I excused myself to go to the bathroom. I went in there with a specific intent. I breathed easier when I found the bottle of powerful muscle relaxants. It was nearly entirely full and must be left over from Alejandro’s last significant injury. I crushed one on a tissue and carried it back out to the dining room with me.
It took all my restraint not to keep checking my pocket to be sure the tissue was still there while we ate. I dropped the powder into that last quarter-glass of wine. I feared he’d complain there was something gritty in the drink, but he downed the wine in two swallows, so I doubt he tasted anything.
I still have the burner from the bodega office. Alejandro gave it to me on the way to Enrique’s. He’s still gotZiaCosima’s phone. I also have the gun Javier handed me during the hospital parking garage shootout. The phone goes in my front left pocket, and I tuck the gun in my waistband at my lower back. I brace myself as I open the door.
“Hola, señorita Trevisan.”
“Hola.”
The guard sizes me up as I smile. I grabbed the bag of trash from the kitchen before opening the door. I hold it up and scrunch up my nose.
“It smells.”
The guy stares at me for a long moment before nodding. He clearly questions me, and I don’t blame him. He should.
“I’ll take it for you,Señorita.”
“Thank you.”
I hand it off to him before closing the door enough for it to click. But then I pull it open and watch the guard stroll down the hallway. I slip out and make my way to the emergency stairs. I don’t doubt security’s watching my every move. I bolt down two flights before opening the door and heading to the elevator.There’s no way I can make it down twenty flights of stairs without taking so long the guards catch me.
I hop on the elevator with a silent prayer of thanksgiving that I’m not alone. The family of five shifts to make room for me, and I keep my head down and hide amongst them. I get off on the first level of the parking garage and click the key fob.
Lucky guess that I’d find it on this level. I figured our driver pulled all the way into the ground floor here for the same reason we attempted at the hospital. Fewer people to notice us. However, Alejandro parked on the top level to make it easier in case he needs to leave in a hurry. I pull open the door to his Porsche and slip inside. One of the many times I’m grateful I’m European. I don’t even think twice about driving a stick shift.
I pull out of the garage and get my bearings in Manhattan. I recognize enough around me to know I’m in the recently gentrified Hudson Yards area. Developers have built some of the most high-end condos in this area. Once I figure out where I am, I point myself in the direction I need. When I cross out of Manhattan and get onto a small side street, I pull over. I dial my last known number for Patrick. It rings through to voicemail. That’s no surprise. A moment later, I get a text.
Patrick
New phone, who dis?
He thinks he’s far funnier than he ever has been.
Me
Lisa Jennings
I use the persona from the gala. Immediately, the phone rings.
“Lisa, Lisa, Lisa. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“What the ever-loving fuck, Patrick?”
“A job’s a job, but it’s not work if you love what you do.”
“You’re a fucking psychopath.”
“Takes one to know one.”
“Patrick, meet me in two hours. We end this.”
“Why should I agree?”
“Why shouldn’t you? This is far more efficient than you hunting me. Whether we agree to meet or you stalk me, there’s only one outcome to all of this—one of us dies. So why waste our time playing cat and mouse when we don’t have to? I know you’re a sick fuck and you enjoy that. But the sooner you kill me, the sooner you can move on to the next job and the next paycheck, right?”
