“Oh, it was a great day. I got lots done.” I followed the pharmacist from a distance for a few hours, to the coffee shop, then a salad place for lunch. When she tossed her receipt in the garbage, I retrieved it, easily getting her name: Jennifer Patrick. Next, I’ll track her to her home, learn where she lives, if she goes to an evening Pilates class or has a boyfriend. The stalking, the hunting, theanticipation—it’s one of my favorite parts of the job, the most satisfying to the creature inside me.
Brian looks at me as though I should have more to say, and I rattle off, “I was thinking about expanding to vow renewals. That seems to be a hot thing right now. What do you think?”
His eyes widen because he has no idea what the market for vow renewals is, which is lucky, since I don’t either. “I mean, if it sounds good to you—you’re so successful, I can’t imagine it’s a bad idea. Hey, maybe we could even do that. What do you think? The girls could join in, they’d look adorable in cute little dresses…”
Crap, I wasn’t expecting that.
I change the topic, and fast. “Guess what Evie said today?”
He leans across the table, anticipation lighting up his face; this is one of our favorite topics. Eliza is the quiet, observant child, the one who took her time saying her first words and, as her vocabulary grew, spoke slowly, made certain she was saying them just right. Her sense of humor is dry, cutting, and I love it. Evie, on the otherhand, has been speaking in full sentences since she was eighteen months old, likely because she had an older sister to chase after and compete with for attention.
I barely suppress a laugh as I launch into the story. “Apparently it was lunchtime.”
“Uh-huh.” He grins, sips his beer, watches me with those intense eyes of his.
“And she needed a fork…” I nearly snort out my beer, imagining whatforksounded like coming from her tiny three-year-old mouth.
Brian presses his lips together and drops his face into his hands, laughing. Last week it wastruck. Except hert’s sound likef’s, and well…you get the idea.
As Brian shakes with laughter, that warm feeling hits me—the one that took me by surprise the first time it happened, and I realized that while I don’t feel the same way others do, I do have genuine emotions, the kind that you feel in your soul, for Brian and my family.
Brian clutches my hand, beaming. “That girl is trouble,” he says, but in a way that expresses what he really means isShe is adorableandGod, how did we get so lucky?
Or maybe that’s what I’m thinking.
My purse vibrates with an incoming call, yanking my attention away from Brian. Our rule is we don’t take calls during dates. Brian goes so far as to turn his phoneoff. But being the mom, I can’t. What if Piper needs something? What if the girls get hurt?
“I’m going to run to the restroom real fast.” His eyes dim a bit—like maybe he knows I’m not really going to pee. I lean over, press a kiss to his cheek. I hate to interrupt date night, but I’ll be distracted through our whole meal if I don’t take a second to see who wants what.
The hallway to the restrooms also leads outside, which I know because anytime I enter a building, I sort out where the exits are. As I step out onto the River Walk, the sun burns hot in the early evening sky, instantly dousing me in sweat. I’ve missed the call, but as soon as I pull out my phone, it starts to vibrate again—John.
“Hello?” My heart pounds as I answer the phone to hear video games on the other end. I don’t always feel emotions the same as others do—but excitement, that dumping of adrenaline into my bloodstream—that’s one emotion I feel strongly, and I feel it now. “John?”
“Finally. You say you want a job, then you don’t answer your phone.”
I don’t reply, just wait for him to continue, practically trembling with anticipation. It makes me realize how much I want this—how much Ineedthis. Yes, I have to consider my family, but Brian leaves town all the time, often with almost no heads-up. A client calls, his boss tells him to go, and he does.
I have a right to pursue things I’m passionate about too. In fact, other than the whole killing part, I think Brian would agree and encourage me to do so.
All of these facts rattle off in my head in the 1.5 seconds it takes John to continue.
“I have a job for you.”
Possibilities flutter through my mind at warp speed. This is coming faster than I could have anticipated. I thought it would take a week, maybe two. No doubt he got on this right away after last night’s call. As much as he annoys me, he’s good at what he does.
“What kind of job?”
In the background, what I think is Nintendo’sMario Bros.plays—thedinging of the little plumber in red collecting coins.
“What kind of job did you ask me for?” he teases.
“A big one.” I lift my hand to block the glare of the sun and look across the River Walk. On the other side is a garden, a family with children taking in flowers, a duck waddling by. The mom squints at me as though she might know me from somewhere. Probably she does, given my attempts to be involved at Eliza and Evie’s school. I should wave, smile—that’s what Nadia the Mom would do. But right now, I’m Nadia the Assassin, and I turn, giving her my back, staring into the restaurant. But that only gives me a view of Brian. He’s looking around, smiling—just happy to be on a date with his wife on a beautiful Texas evening. And I’m on my secret phone, squirming with excitement over the prospect of this new job I will lie to him about.
God, I don’t deserve him. Don’t deserve my family.
“Do you want it?”
I open my mouth to sayYes! Yes, of course!but John hasn’t told me anything about it. “Can you give me details?”
