The Fifth Avenue Series Boxed Set (145 page)

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.”

“We’re on deadline.”

“You have a way with words.”

“So, are you ready to kill me?”

CHAPTER FOUR

Outside, they walked over to Fifth and took the Children’s Entrance at the 76th Street entrance to the Park.
 

It was fall and there was a chill in the air.
 
Carmen discretely took in her surroundings and she could sense Alex doing the same.
 
In the city, it was still early for a Saturday night and there were several people on Fifth, including one woman who was jogging down the street, her blonde ponytail snapping behind her as if it had a personality of its own.
 

Nobody here set off alarms.
 
It appeared as if they were as alone as they were going to get.
 

Alex put his arm around her and drew her in close.
 
At first she was surprised by the gesture.
 
But then, when his forearm brushed the butt of her gun, she wondered if that’s why he’d done it.
 

Each knew the other was carrying, but neither knew exactly where.
 
Now, Alex knew.
 
She put her arm around his waist and felt nothing but muscle.
 
His gun was either inside the blazer he was wearing at dinner or it was strapped to one of his calves.

They walked down the right sidewalk.
 
A few other nighttime joggers zipped past them and as they did, Carmen could hear from their ear pods a range of music styles in their wake.
 
Jazz.
 
Hip-hop.
 
Even opera.
 

When it appeared that no one was around them, she took Alex by the hand, stepped over one of the low iron fences and hopped over onto a grassy knoll.
 
Below them, in a protective enclave of bushes, they could get this over with.

“Where to?” he said.

“Just over there.
 
In the curve of those bushes.”

“You know this place?”

“I’ve used it before.”
 
The irony that she herself might die here was not lost on her.
 
As they approached the bushes, she could feel her heart ramp up and start to pound in her ears.
 
Adrenaline shot through her.
 
She wondered if she was making a mistake.
 
He might kill her.
 
It was possible.
 
Or maybe he did have feelings for her and would stick to her plan.
 
She didn’t know.
 
She gave his hand a final squeeze and then let go of it.

“I’m not going to kill you, Carmen.”

“I’m not going to let you,” she said.
 
“But if I fail, at least make it quick.
 
I’ll return the favor.”
 
She looked up at him, but with the moon shining behind him, she had difficulty seeing his face.
 
“I’m going to reach into my handbag and remove the bottle.”

“I don’t think you understand,” he said.
 
“I meant it when I said I trust you.”

She wanted to believe it, but her instinct told her to follow protocol.
 
She knew he was watching her and judging her moves.
 
She knew he was every bit as nervous and as dangerous as she was.
 
They were the same person, only different gender.

She pulled out the bottle and handed it to him.
 

“I’m going to lie down there,” she said, pointing to the ground.
 
“Just spatter my forehead with the sauce, put some in my hair and then dump the rest of it around me on the grass.
 
Don’t spread it too thinly.
 
We want to lay it on thick so there will be enough of it to shine in the flash when you take your photo.
 
Where’s your camera?”

He reached into his pocket and instinctively, her arm fell at her side.
 
She was wearing a short jacket.
 
If he pulled a gun on her, she could bust out his knee, pull out her own gun as he fell and finish him off quickly, just as she promised.

But he pulled out his camera.

“You look worried,” he said.

“The next few minutes are going to tell me everything I need to know about you and where we go from here if you make the right choice.”

“Lay on the ground.”