Fifth Ave 02.5 - From Manhattan With Love (2 page)

Carmen watched them for a moment.
 
They were good-looking, probably somewhere in their early thirties, either successful or deep in debt given the Birkin bag that was at her feet and the large nickel-plated watch that was on his wrist.
 
The woman was playing it cool.
 
Her arms were folded and she wore on her face the look of the disinterested.
 
He, on the other hand, looked weirdly demonic in the shadows being cast onto his face from the candle.
 
Carmen listened and heard talk of money--or misuse of it--while he picked up what likely was a two-hundred dollar bottle of wine and topped off his glass.

“You still with me?”

“Sorry.”
 
She nodded over at the table, where the woman now was yawning.
 
“I was with the Joneses.”
 

“Looking for reasons to stay single?”

“I think I’ll always be single.”

“Why?
 
We can’t stay in this game forever.
 
There’s a phase two for each of us.
 
What’s yours?”

“Me on a beach in Bora Bora.”

“Want company?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“Because I enjoyed last night.
 
I think of you when we’re not working together.
 
I think there’s something here worth exploring.”
 
He paused for a moment and seemed to make a decision.
 
“But it goes deeper.
 
There’s something I was asked to do tonight that I know I can’t do.”

Her eyes flashed up to meet his.

CHAPTER TWO

She sat unmoving in her chair, studying his face while instinct laced through her.
 
She looked for his hands and saw them on the table, one holding the stem of his wine glass, the other holding his steak knife.
 
She didn’t look away from the knife until he put it down.

“Let me guess,” she said.
 
“This was to be done at nine o’clock tonight?
 
A messy hit because the press likes a mess?
 
Is that how it was supposed to go down?”

He let a silence pass.

“You were to take a photograph of me and send it electronically to them, proving I was dead?
 
Is that right?”

There was no need for an answer.

“I’ve been struggling with this all evening,” she said.
 
“It’s why I couldn’t eat.
 
And you were right earlier.
 
I am upset.
 
I was asked to kill
you
, Alex.”

It was almost imperceptible, but she saw it.
 
His hand nudged closer to the knife.
 
“Were you going to go through with it?”

She pressed her back against the chair and felt her gun concealed behind her back.
 
He had the advantage with the knife, but she was fast.
 
She could dodge it.
 
If he made a move, she’d throw her glass of red wine into his face, blind him with its acids and then reach for her gun.

“Obviously not or I wouldn’t have told you.
 
And by the way, I told you first.
 
What if I hadn’t told you?”

“Then I’d probably still be sitting here weighing my options.”

“So, you were considering it?”

“It’s what we do, Alex.”

“It’s what we do to strangers.”

“Not all the time and you know it.”
 
She studied his face.
 
“Look, if it makes you feel better, it’s unlikely that I would have done it.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t need the money.
 
If I told them I screwed up, they’d just send someone in else to do the job.”

“And you wouldn’t have warned me?”

“I don’t know what I would have done.
 
But here’s what I do know.
 
They want each of us dead.
 
They were betting that in spite of our history together, one of us would go through with it for the five million.
 
Is that the amount they offered you?”

He nodded.

“So, with one of us dead, they’d be left with only one of us to take out.
 
Not a bad deal.
 
You say there’s no ticket waiting for me at LaGuardia?
 
Actually, I’ll bet there’s a ticket waiting for each of us at LaGuardia.
 
You told me you were staying in the city.
 
Where were you really going to tonight?”

“Spain.”

“And if you arrived there, they’d have you killed.
 
If I arrived in Paris, they’d have me killed.”

“Why are they doing this?”

She shrugged.
 
“Who knows?
 
Maybe we know too much.
 
We’ve had access to the kind of information that could lead to blackmail, especially after this last job.
 
Nothing we’ve ever done for them has been this significant or created this kind of media attention.
 
Obviously, our time is up with them.
 
Both of us are being targeted.”

“They could be watching us now.”

“You and I never enter a place without first scoping the area.
 
It’s what we do.
 
I saw nothing unusual when we came inside.
 
Did you?”

“I didn’t.”

“But that doesn’t mean that someone isn’t outside now.
 
Or maybe even in here with us.
 
To be safe, we probably should eat and look less intense.”
 

She cut into her steak and took a bite of the cool meat.
 
She poured herself more wine and said that the steak was good.
 
She reached down for her handbag and parted it open.
 
He watched her.
 
She had another bite of steak.
 
Her fork dropped from her hand.
 
She bent to pick it up and as she did, she moved her body in such a way that no one in the room could see her grab the bottle of steak sauce that was on the table and drop it into her handbag.

“What are you doing?” he said.

“Reaching for my fork.
 
I’ll need a new one.”
 
She looked around for their waiter, caught his eye and motioned for another fork.
 
A new one arrived swiftly.

“What are you up to?”

“You’re going to shoot me in the head,” she said.
 
“You’ll photograph it for them and send it along, just as they asked.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you trust me, Alex?”

“After this conversation?”

“I need to know if you trust me.
 
If anything that happened last night meant something to you, I need you to weigh your feelings and tell me if you trust me.”

“I don’t know.”

“Fair enough,” she said, cutting off another piece of meat.
 
“I get it.
 
Five million is a lot of money.
 
I don’t know if I can’t trust you, either.
 
So, I’ll need to take a risk because last night did mean something to me and I also think it did to you.
 
You’re going to shoot me in the head and you’re going to send them that photo.”
 

CHAPTER THREE

“You need to be more clear with this plan of yours,” he said.

“It’s simple.
 
We find an alley or go to the Park.
 
I lie on the ground, you pour that steak sauce around my head, you splatter my face with it and then you take your photo.
 
Blood always looks dark at night.
 
It would never look red.
 
They know that.
 
They’ll believe what they see because it will look real.
 
I know what a dead face looks like because I’ve dealt my share of them.
 
They want dead?
 
We’ll give them dead.”

“It’s not a bad idea,” he said.

“It’s a brilliant idea.
 
The question is whether you’ll choose to kill me for real because you believe you still have a chance to get that money.
 
If that’s what you’re thinking, here’s what you need to know.
 
Don’t expect the money to be deposited in your bank account tomorrow morning.
 
It won’t be there.
 
They’ll know you didn’t board the flight to Spain.
 
They’ll know you sensed something was off and they’ll come after you with everything they’ve got.
 
We’re not the only assassins in the world, Alex.
 
I’ve worked with some of the best and so have you.
 
Imagine if they got Vincent Spocatti to do the job.
 
I’ve worked with him.
 
I know how good he is.
 
What would you do if they contacted him?
 
He’s the best in the business.
 
Nothing personal, but you’re no match for him.
 
Neither am I.”

She picked up her glass of wine and sipped.

“Why is all the focus on me?” he said.
 
“How do I know you’re not planning to kill me?”

“Because I’d actually prefer to be with you.
 
I do think there’s something between us.
 
But we have this problem.
 
We’re assassins.
 
For too long, we’ve only been out for ourselves.
 
We rarely trust anyone.
 
So, how do we get beyond that?
 
I want to trust you, but I’m not sure that I can.
 
I have a feeling you feel the same way.”

“I do.”

“So, what do we do?
 
Take a leap of faith?
 
Hope for the best?”

He studied her face and she had an idea of what he was thinking.
 
If he showed his loyalty to them by killing her, would they come after him?
 
There was a chance they wouldn’t and Carmen knew it.
 
That’s why when she did play dead for him, her dead face would be one in which her eyes were wide open.
 
If he went for his gun, she’d know it and grab her own.
 
Whoever was quickest would win.
 

Or would they?
 
It all depended on what happened next.
 
If the people they were dealing with really wanted them dead, they’d see to it that that happened.
 
And that’s something neither of them knew.

“It’s almost nine o’clock,” she said.
 

“I see that.”