01 Untouchable - Untouchable

UNTOUCHABLE

(Book One in the Untouchable
Trilogy)

by

Lindsay Delagair

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011 by Lindsay
Delagair

Published by Lindsay Delagair at
Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License
Notes

This ebook is licensed for your
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another person, please direct them Smashwords.com and have them
purchase their own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of
this author.

This ebook is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s
imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual
events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is
coincidental.

UNTOUCHABLE

PROLOGUE

He pushed the money across the table.
“Are you sure you can handle this assignment? It’s different from
what you usually do.”

“
I can handle
it.”

“
You realize you’re going to
have to get close.”

“
Yeah, I know. No shot from
across the parking lot.”

“
That’s not what I
mean.”

“
I know, I know. This one is
all about trust.”

“
People tend to get attached
to those who trust them. I’ve seen entire plans ruined because
someone couldn’t pull the trigger.”

He slowly thumbed through the money.
“I’ve never botched a job and I don’t plan on starting now. When
will I get the other two-hundred thousand?”

A cell phone slid across the table.
“This is our only contact. You call me when the job is finished and
I’ll tell you where to get the rest of the money.”

He studied the cell phone for a moment.
“So who is she really? This is a little more cloak and dagger than
usual.” The question was being ignored. He knew better than to
repeat it.

“
Did you have any problems
getting the papers?”

“
I never have problems with
paperwork. You know that.”

“
Just making sure. Your
associates are the best in the business, but one never knows when a
tie might get cut.”

“
No, not even if I wanted
to. It’s just too lucrative to switch careers now.”

“
How long?”

“
How long will it take?
Depends on how trustworthy I look.”

“
You have at least six
weeks. If it isn’t finished by then—well, I guess I’ll assume you
couldn’t do it. In any case, someone will finish the job—and you.
No hard feelings, but with fifty-thousand dollars down, someone’s
gotta pay for it.”

The top of the gun was pulled back to
chamber a bullet. “Like I said, I can handle it.”

CHAPTER ONE

I pulled my little blue Volkswagen into
the school parking lot and turned off the engine, but left it on
accessory so I could sing a little bit longer. Jewels, the varsity
cheer captain, was waving furiously to me from her little Kia. She
began to dance in her seat as the base from her stereo became loud
enough to pummel me through steel and glass. She motioned for me to
come over and join the fun.

I really didn’t feel like getting my
eardrums smashed this morning, but you don’t turn down Jewels when
she wants something. With that, I unplugged my iPod and slipped it
into the pocket of my hoodie and gave her the signal like, “Hang on
a minute, I’m getting there!”

“
Hey!” I shouted as I opened
the door and tried to slip into the passenger’s seat. The force of
the music was so hard on my chest that it literally felt like an
invisible pair of hands pushing me back, warning me not to come
closer. I saw her lips move, but I couldn’t make out what she said.
“Jewels, turn it down! I can’t hear you!” I yelled into the
base-reeking void.

She cocked her head slightly sideways
as she wrinkled her little Barbie nose. Her hand went straight for
the volume and turned it down. “Wha—What’d you say?”

“
You know you are going to
be deaf by the time you hit twenty,” I warned, sliding into the
seat. “And, your dad would flip if he caught you playing the radio
that loud,”

She threw her head back like some
little demon-possessed monster and laughed, “He hasn’t got a clue!
Why do you think I park next to you every day? He thinks you’re the
one with the bad taste in music.”

“
Ah, that’s just great,
Jewels. I listen to Christian rock and he thinks I’m into K-fed. No
wonder he gives me the evil eye during lunch.”

“
Don’t be stupid, Leese.
He’s the principal; he gives everyone the ‘evil eye,’” she said,
making quotation marks in the air. “He just does that so everyone
will think he’s mean and tough and that way they won’t get out of
line.”

“
Yeah, I’m a real
dangerous…”

“
Oh, Momma!” Jewels
exclaimed, cutting me off and jerking on my arm.

“
Ouch! Jewels—you’ve got my
hair, Jewels!” But I could see by the look on her face she hadn’t
heard a word. I followed her eyes to where a guy was climbing out
of a black 370Z two rows over from us. With all the muscle he had,
he really didn’t look like someone who should be called a student.
He was dressed in blue jeans and a Hollister shirt, neither of
which had an inch to spare. He reached back into the car and pulled
out a folder of papers and glanced around as if he had no clue
where he was going.

“
OMG!” Jewels sputtered,
“He
must
be
new.”

“
Jewels, people don’t
normally talk text language.”

She was still ignoring me.
“Come on! We’ve got to go show Mr. Hunk where the
office is.”
She sang out
the last two words.

“
No, no thanks. I’m not
going to be late for class to get the latest guy you are drooling
over to the office.”

She looked up quickly into her
rear-view mirror. “I’m not drooling—am I?” She wiped the corners of
her perfectly lip-glossed lips and smiled. “You’re a
stick-in-the-mud! See ya later.” And with that she practically
skipped across the parking lot to meet Mr. Hunk, or whatever his
name would turn out to be. I knew I’d meet up with them later
because once Jewels sank her claws into a guy, she didn’t let go
easily.

By the time I’d finished AP English,
Psych II, and Macro Economics, I was starving and ready to dive
into a grilled chicken salad. I had forgotten about Jewels chasing
after Mr. Hunk until I stepped into the cafeteria. There she was,
parading around with what’s-his-face on her arm, going to each of
her friends (which amounted to the majority of the cafeteria) and
making introductions. I had no desire to meet this guy before my
stomach met a salad. I pulled my long brown hair from the pony tail
holder and brought it around to cover the side of my
face.

“
Hey, Lee…”

“
Shhh!” I motioned Kevin to
keep quiet as I stepped into the lunch line. He looked perplexed
until I mouthed the word, “Jewels.”

“
Oh,” he said with complete
understanding.

I had the first mouthful of ranch
covered, mouth-watering Romaine and whatever it was that the school
passed off as grilled chicken ready to put between my lips when I
heard Jewels say, “There you are!”

I paused mid-bite and then slowly
lowered the fork. Taking a deep breath, I looked up to see her
beaming a huge smile and standing beside Mr. Hunk. Oh, yes, with
closer inspection he was exactly that. He looked like a jock; tall,
broad shoulders, muscled arms and definitely some six-pack abs
hidden under that brown and blue striped shirt. He smiled as I
quickly wiped the drop of dressing that had made it to my lip
before the interruption.

“
Evan Lewis, this is
Annalisa McKinnis, but we just call her Leese. Leese, this is Evan.
He’s new,” she added with that little quiver to her voice that told
me she was barely keeping her enthusiasm under control. “Leese is
new, too,” she went on. “Not really new like you, but she started
at the beginning of the school year. She moved here from…” Her
voice trailed as I realized she had forgotten where I told her I
was from.

I wanted to blurt out Palm Beach, but I
had to remember that subject was taboo.

“
Alabama,” I said, putting
out my hand.

“
Really?” He took my hand
into his warm, firm grip. “What part? I have family in
Alabama.”

I withdrew my hand. “Nor—northern,” I
stammered. “Birmingham,” I added for a pinch more
credibility.

“
Yeah, that’s where my uncle
lives. Where in Birmingham are you from?”

“
Jewels are you going to let
Evan eat, or are you going to parade him around the cafeteria the
whole lunch period?” I dodged.

She glanced down at her watch, “Wow, we
only have about ten minutes left. Are you hungry, Evan?”

“
Sure. Are you getting
something?”

“
Yeah, I was going to get a
shake.” She started to pull him toward the dwindling line, but he
slipped out of her grasp and went for his wallet
instead.

He flipped out a ten and flashed a
devastating smile. “No sense in both of us being in line. Would you
mind grabbing me a burger?”

“
Oh—sure,” she fumbled,
clearly unhappy with the prospect of leaving him alone even if it
was only for a few minutes.

“
Unless you want me to…” he
motioned toward the line.

“
Oh, no, no, that’s okay.
I’ll be right back.”

Evan sat across from me and continued
where he’d left off. “You don’t talk like an Alabamian. Where in
Birmingham did you say?”

“
Ah, Miss McKinnis,” came a
commanding voice.

I smiled at Evan because I was never
quite so glad for the principal to approach. “Mr. Lykman,” I said,
turning around in the chair to face him. “Did you meet…”

“
Yes, I did. Jewels brought
him by my office this morning.” But his tone indicated that he
wasn’t going to be distracted by small talk.

I knew what he wanted to discuss. Bring
it on, I thought. This has got to be better than making up stuff
about Birmingham, Alabama, which I know nothing about.

“
I also heard your stereo
this morning
all the way from the parking
lot to the main office
. You do know there
is a noise ordinance in the city limits, right?”

“
Yeah, I’m sorry about that.
I accidently turned the volume the wrong direction and before I
could turn it down, I saw Jewels rocking out to my music
and…”

He let a sound escape that was similar
to someone blowing an annoying fly away from their mouth. “Don’t
make a habit of it. You might find Officer Martin in the parking
lot one morning.”

“
Yes, sir,” I mumbled as I
finally placed my forkful of salad into my mouth. The bell would be
ringing in a few minutes and I was still starving. Cute guy and
principal watching or not, I was going to eat. Besides, how many
questions can someone throw at you when you are stuffing your
face?

“
Hey, Dad,” Jewels
interrupted, as she placed the foil wrapped burger in front of
Evan. “Is it too late for Evan to try out for spring
football?”

“
No, that’s okay Jewels. I
really don’t…” Evan started to say.

Principal Lykman finally smiled because
other than intimidating students, football was his focus. “You
certainly look like you could do some damage on the field, Mr.
Lewis. Did you play ball for Dawson High School?”

“
Ah—no, sir. I was into
weightlifting.” It was Evan’s turn to look
uncomfortable.

I couldn’t figure out why. Could this
possibly be the one guy on the planet that didn’t like football?
Surely he had played some rough sports. He had a scar above his
right eyebrow and another across his sculpted chin. I glanced at
his hands and realized that his knuckles had taken a beating, or
more appropriately, given a beating a few times. Surely this guy
had played some kind of contact sport.