“Sam?” he got out of bed and found her staring out the living room window. “Sam?”
She turned around and hugged him tightly. “I’m so sorry.”
“Why are you sorry, babe?”
“That I ever doubted you,” she buried her face in his chest. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“Anything you have to do for the job, I won’t hold against you. I love you. I know we don’t have a normal relationship. Hell, we found ourselves together under very unusual circumstances. I just want to love you. That’s all. I know … when this is all over, we will continue to be together.”
“Yes, we will. Ihope.”
“I promise you, babe,” he kissed her softly. “So, what do we do now?”
“Well, I have a hat and sunglasses you can wear. MyMustangis parked in the garage that adjoins this building. You can use the catwalk and I’ll use the street. It’s level B-6. I have some clothes you can wear and we’ll go to the penthouse. I just don’t know how you’ll enter the building.”
“How’d you get out?”
“I used the fire escape. I jumped from the balcony to the fire escape. I don’t think you can jump up to the balcony.”
“I could use the service entrance. If you drop me off down the block, I’ll take the back alley.”
“Oh, then I meet you up in the penthouse?”
“Yeah, is that all right?”
“Yeah, that’s fine. I have my, um, appointment at ten.”
“How far is it from the penthouse?”
“About twenty minutes,” she said. “Let’s get dressed. We should get going.”
“All right,” he said, as he followed her into the bedroom.
Sam sat down on the sofa in the penthouse and opened her dufflebag. She pulled out the telescope and one of the rifles. She grabbed the duct tape out of the bag as Parker came out of the kitchen.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s a trick,” she said. “Watch and learn,” she laughed, as she pulled out the etching of the rose and placed the steel plates into the barrel of the rifle. “I’ll be right back,” she said, as she left the room with the metal rod. She came back a few minutes later, with a red hot metal rod. She slowly inserted the rod into the barrel. “There,” she said, as she pulled it out.
“What’s that thing?” he asked.
“It embeds roses on the bullets once they’re fired. I saw it at the store and thought it was cool.”
“Hmm, it is pretty cool. A new calling card?”
“Yeah, well,youknew my old one and that was before I knew if I could trust you. Can you hand me the red paint in that bag?”
He rummaged through the bag. “How did you get all this stuff in this bag?”
“I pack very well. I did spent some of the money, but just a little over a thousand.”
He pulled out the red paint. “No nail polish?”
“No, I figured I needed red paint anyway,” she smiled.
“Oh, blood, right?”
“Yup, I figured it was better thanreallykilling you,” she smiled.
“Yeah, itwasbetter,” he kissed her cheek. “So, now what are you doing?”
“I needed a make shift scope. I just tape this to the rifle,” she said, as she opened the box of ammunition. “If I empty out a third of the gun power in the bullets, they will travel faster.”
“Wow, I didn’t know that. You are so smart.”
“Well, in the marines we had to improvise sometimes. Today’s mark is going to be a long range shot and it has to penetrate glass,” she said, as filed the tip of the bullet. “Can you hand me that screw driver?”
He handed her the screwdriver and watched in awe as she prepared her bullets. She, then, painted each bullet with the red paint and let it dry, she then reassembled it into its casing. She looked at her watch. “OK, it’s eight now. Two hours. I can do this.”
“Yeah, you can. Oh, one question, what about the token?”
“I got his business card and because he thought I wascute, he wrote his home phone on the back of it. Extra points for that one,” she said.
“Anyone could get his business card,” he said.
“No, not really. He only keeps him. His secretary doesn’t even have them to give out. You have to make an appointment or meet with him directly.”
“Youhavedone your homework, haven’t you?”
“Well,youwere supposed to scope him out. What did you find out?”
“That he likes the ladies,” he said.
“That’s what I figured out, too. I walked into his office and made an appointment.”
“Why?”
“I didn’t use my own name. I figured that way, no one would be in his office if he had an appointment.”
“You are so smart,” he laughed.
“Just experienced. Whatever I do, please, forgive me.”
“There is nothing to forgive. How many times do I have to tell you? I just hope you forgive me.”
“I do. Oh, crap, I forgot to stop at the pharmacy.”
“I know. That’s why I did. I stopped at the one around the corner from here. Don’t worry. After your job, come back here. He thinks that you have a procedure after kills, remember?”
“Yeah,hewants to be the procedure. What if he decides to come early?”
“I’ll be in the bedroom. There’s a hidden panel in the closet. All the drapes here are all ready closed. Don’t worry. He won’t know I’m here. You just come back here and if he shows up early, we’ll deal with it. I won’t let you use yourself.”
“I know. I hate having to touch him.”
“I know, but, babe, just pretend it’s me. You do like touching me, don’t you?”
“Definitely,” she kissed him softly. “I love touching you.”
“And I, you,” he said, as he lightly touched her chest. “I wish…”
“Later, PK,” she grinned. “I need to get ready.”
“You’re not wearing that?”
“No, I’ll be on the roof of a building. Work boots and pants. It’s more comfortable.”
“Oh, I all right. I’ll just sit here and behave. I’ll also fix the drink for tonight.”
“Oh, what do I do?Idon’t want to be knocked out.”
“Don’t worry. The glasses will be poured in the kitchen. His will be the port and yours will be the white wine. The Port bottle will be on the counter. I’ll also put a charm on your wineglass. That way you know not to drink it.”
“Sounds like a plan,” she said, as she headed down the hall.