by B. B. Hamel
“So he has a dog?” I asked.
“Right.”
“And the dog’s name is … Mookie?”
“Right.”
“What sort of dog?”
“Westie.” He frowned a little. “I hate Westies.”
“And this guy is, what? Another hitman?”
“Lee is more like your run-of-the-mill scumbag,” he said. “Sort of an everyman of crime.”
“That’s weird.”
“I guess so.” We reached the fence and Tanner paused. His eyes scanned the park. I spotted a little white fluffy dog running after a Doberman that looked like it might eat the fluffball for breakfast. A small black lab loped after the pair of them, its dumb red tongue lolling to the side.
“There,” Tanner said, nodding.
I followed his gaze. A half-bald pudgy guy stood at the far end of the park not speaking to anyone. He wore a white shirt with a black vest over top and a pair of ratty jeans. He had on black fingerless gloves and the little hair he had was a fluffy puff of white on either side of his skull.
“He looks like a clown.”
Tanner smiled at that. “Don’t say that around him. Trust me. I found out the hard way. He doesn’t like being called a clown.” He opened the gate and stepped through. We were in a small entry section. Tanner opened the inner gate and I followed, shutting the gates behind us.
“Uh, excuse me?”
I looked over and saw an older woman, forties or fifties, blonde hair, tight jogging outfit, arms crossed, short blonde hair.
“What?” Tanner asked.
“You can’t come in here if you don’t have a dog,” she said, enunciating like she was talking to morons. “It’s a dog park. Not a people park.”
Tanner made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “Shoo,” he said.
“Excuse me?” The woman’s neck curved back like he slapped her.
“Sorry,” I said. “We’re meeting a friend. Who has a dog. So we’re dog-adjacent?”
She looked at me and made a face. “Is this guy insane? What’s with you people?”
“The gnat keeps making noise,” Tanner said.
I looked up at the sky then back to the woman. “Sorry,” I said.
She made a disgusted face but didn’t follow us as we hurried over to Lee. He looked up and his face brightened once he spotted the bag hanging from Tanner’s shoulder.
“You made it,” Lee said.
“Had to get past the dog park cop over there,” Tanner said.
Lee rolled his eyes. “Hate people like that,” he said. “Acting like they’re the authority. Entitled, spoiled little—”
“I got your money,” Tanner said, interrupting him.
“Great.” Lee crossed his arms then looked at me. “I guess this is the girl everyone’s been talking about.”
Tanner stepped closer to Lee. “You never saw her.”
Lee held up his hands. “Whatever, man. I really don’t want to get involved. At least, not more involved than I already am. I just need you to get me out of this bullshit with Hog.”
Tanner took off the duffel and shoved it at Lee, who took the bag and weighed it in his hands.
“I won’t count it,” Lee said.
“You’re a prince.” Tanner looked out over the park. “How’s the dog?”
“Fine,” Lee said. “I tried this new food. I think she’d constipated.”
“She’s getting humped,” I said and pointed. Out in the field, Mookie was getting assaulted by the black Lab.
“Hey!” Lee shouted. “Mookie! Get off!”
The black Lab hopped off Mookie and scrambled away. The short-haired blonde woman glared over at us like she wanted to call the cops.
“Your turn,” Tanner said. “Where’s Bennigan been staying?”
“Oh, yeah, right. You’re gonna love this.” Lee grinned at him. “Remember that job he did a couple months ago? Killed that guy in his house?”
“Made the papers,” Tanner said. “Sloppy work.”
“Yeah, well, the house has been empty ever since. He’s been sleeping there most nights.”
“Most nights?” Tanner frowned. “What do you mean, most?”
“Every other night, he’s there. I don’t know where he’s at the other nights. But that’s the best I can give you.”
“When’s he going to be there next?”
“Tomorrow night,” Lee said. “Unless he shakes up the pattern, but you know Bennigan.”
“Sloppy,” Tanner said.
“Right.” Lee shoved his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Mookie came running over and jumped at my legs then jumped at Tanner’s legs.
Lee swept his dog up into his arms. The dog wrestled then fell into a contented panting.
“I’m not going to lie, I don’t love this,” Tanner said. “Half the time isn’t exactly what I asked for. And this isn’t cheap.”
“I know,” Lee said. “But shit, you should be proud. I found him in the last place anyone would think to look. I mean, the house of his last victim? That’s some dark shit.”
“It’s weird,” Tanner said. “Even I can see that.”
I snorted. “That’s saying something.”
Lee shot me a look. “Say, could you put me in touch with your dad?” he asked. “I have this business opportunity, and I just—”
“Thanks, Lee,” Tanner said, taking my arm. He steered me away. “Another time, then.”
“Bye,” Lee said. “Nice doing business with you!”
He dragged me away, a dark and stormy look in his eyes. The annoying woman glared at us but didn’t say anything as we left. Once we were clear of the gates, he released my arm and cursed.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “We can find him now, right?”
“Yeah, we can find him. But I think it’s a trap.”
I stared at him. “How do you think it’s a trap? He doesn’t know you’re looking for him.”
“Bennigan’s sloppy, but he’s still a professional,” Tanner said, walking toward the street. “Sleeping in the same place in the same pattern reeks of a trap to me.”
“So what are we going to do?”
“I just dropped a ton of cash on this info,” he said. “I’m going to use it. I just have to figure out how.”
“Can you trust that guy back there?”
Tanner nodded. “As much as I can trust anyone in this business. Lee’s been pretty straight up in the past. He sets a price and abides by it. Sometimes he tweaks things last minute, but not so bad that it upsets anyone.”
“I guess you have to expect that sort of thing when you’re dealing with criminals and thieves.”
“More or less.” Tanner stopped, walked to a bench, and sat down hard.
I lingered in front of him, arms over my chest. “What’s wrong?”
He stared up at me and crossed his legs. “Been thinking about what you said earlier.”
“About what?”
“About my life after all this.”
I softened a little. “I think I was out of line.”
“You weren’t.”
“I don’t know you. I don’t know if this is really going to ruin your life. I mean—”
“You were right,” he said. “I knew it when I made the decision. But hearing you say it didn’t feel good. Pissed me off, truth be told.”
“I could tell.” I tilted my head and smiled a little. “You didn’t want your back rub.”
“You’re still paying that debt, don’t worry.”
“I’m sure I will.”
“But I’m coming to grips with my future. And I’m wondering if I’ll be able to stay in this city.”
I felt a strange tugging at my chest. I walked over and sat down next to him, close enough for our hips to touch.
“I’m sorry if you’re going to have to leave town because of me.”
“Depends on how things shake out. But maybe it’s for the best. I’ve been thinking for a while now that my current occupation isn�
�t exactly a long-term thing.”
“What happens to most hitmen?” I asked. “I mean, I don’t think there’s a retirement plan, right?”
“The retirement plan is live long enough to retire, and hope you still have money left.”
“So prospects aren’t great.”
“The majority of killers end up dead or in jail,” he said. “I don’t want to end up either of those.”
“Stop killing then.”
“I’m good at it.”
“So what? Are you addicted to the thrill of murder or something?”
He snorted. “No. That’s some TV shit.”
“Then give it up. Find something else.”
“The reformed killer. You want to tell everyone you saved me, right?”
I laughed a little. “You saved me, remember?”
“True,” he said. “That’s very true.”
We sat on the bench together in the deep darkness. Fireflies flickered in the field. I watched them blink on and off. It was a Pollock painting in mid-air.
“Maybe you’ll be happier,” I said. “You know, without killing.”
“I’ll find a job waiting tables,” he said. “Be a real normal working stiff.”
I smiled and looked at him. “I could see it.”
He looked at me and smiled back. The night seemed brighter. I felt his warm body shimmy closer. I smelled his skin and wanted to feel his stubble on my lips.
He bent forward. “What if I didn’t let you go when this was all over?” he asked, almost a whisper.
“I don’t know if you have much of a choice in the matter.”
“Oh, I think I do,” he said. “What if I kept you, sweet girl?”
I opened my mouth then shut it again. I found I didn’t have an answer, and that scared me more than anything else.
He kissed me then. I returned the kiss and tried not to think about the future. I tasted his tongue and mint gum. The kiss lasted hours, or maybe seconds, I wasn’t sure.
But he pulled away and stood. He half turned to me, took my hand, helped me up.
“Come on,” he said. “Before we do something stupid.”
“Right,” I said. “Uh, wait. Something stupid? Right here on the park bench?”
He grinned at me. “As if you could resist.”
I rolled my eyes and he pulled me along the path, holding my hand tight.
15
Elise
After the meeting with Lee in that weird dog park, I got the pleasure of learning exactly how stakeouts work.
Turns out, they’re incredibly boring.
“So you just sit here?” I asked.
“Yep,” Tanner said.
“And stare at the house?”
“Yep.”
“And wait?”
“Yep.”
“Stop saying yep.”
“I don’t know what else you want from me.” He killed the engine and turned off the lights. We were parked midway down the street on a quiet tree-lined block. An old woman with a silk scarf wrapped around her head limped the sidewalk alone.
“I don’t know,” I said. “Something. Anything. What are we even doing here?”
“We’re waiting for Bennigan.”
“And then what?”
“And then I’ll know he’s definitely here.”
I stared at him. “You don’t trust Lee?”
“Not at all.”
I snorted. “Great. Really great. So you paid him all that money for what? So we could sit in this car and do nothing?”
“Basically.”
“And isn’t Bennigan going to notice this car?”
“Nope,” he said. “It’s black, basic. Fits in anywhere, especially this part of the city. There’s another Lexus parked two cars up.”
“Still—” I started, but he interrupted.
“I know this sucks,” he said. “Sitting in a car for hours at a time doing nothing isn’t my idea of fun. But it’s necessary.”
“Necessary for what?” I asked.
“We need to confirm Bennigan’s here,” he said. “Once we do that, then we can plan our next move. Maybe I go in there and kill him. Or maybe we just keep an eye on him so he doesn’t get the drop on us again. Either way, we need to figure out what the plan is, and this is the first step.”
I let out a frustrated breath but nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For just explaining what we’re doing instead of giving me one-word answers and expecting me to just do whatever you ask.”
He smiled and ran his fingers over the steering wheel. “You really want to be a team?” he asked. “You gonna help me kill Bennigan when we go in there?”
“No,” I said. “I mean, I just want to be in the loop.”
“Right, I get you,” he said. “You want to push back against my plan without taking on any risk.”
“No,” I said. “What are you—” I stopped myself when I saw him grinning at me. I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a dick.”
“Can’t help it. You’re easy to piss off.”
“I’m on edge, okay? Can you blame me?”
“No, I can’t.” He turned back to the street and leaned his seat back. “Get comfortable. This’ll take a while.”
He wasn’t joking. I was on the edge of my seat for the first two days. I kept thinking something was about to happen, we were going to spot Bennigan and some kind of fight was going to break out and—
But no, nothing.
By the third day, I slept most of the time. He didn’t bother waking me up.
The fourth, fifth, and sixth days were all a blur. We’d get up early, drive around the city, then park near the place where Bennigan was allegedly staying. We’d wait there for a few hours, drive around some more, then park and wait a little longer. Sometimes we couldn’t get a good spot, so we just kept driving and driving, sometimes for hours, until a spot opened up.
My ass got sore. Then it got numb. Then I just didn’t care whether I had an ass or not.
The seventh day started like all the others. Tanner hustled me out of bed at six in the morning, got us coffee and donuts at Wawa, and drove around the city for an hour or two before parking on Bennigan’s block.
Then we sat there for a few hours. I listened to the radio. I read on my phone. He never let me go for a walk, and only gave me a few bathroom breaks.
But he was like a tank. He never complained, never deviated. He sat there and watched the house with a strange feline grace, like he was in his element.
We ate lunch at a diner. I had a Coke and fries. We barely talked anymore.
The afternoon came and went.
Something occurred to me an hour after sundown. It hit me like a stray bullet. I sat up like a shot and stared out the window as my mind raced through my body’s math.
“What’s wrong?” Tanner asked.
“Nothing,” I said.
I couldn’t remember the last time I got my period. I should’ve gotten it by that point. It’d been… five weeks? No, six weeks at least. I haven’t gotten my period in six weeks, and I was never, ever late. My body ran like clockwork. It was one of the few things I could count on.
“You’re pale.” He peered at me then looked around. “Do you see him?”
“No,” I said. “No, that’s not, it’s nothing.”
“You’re freaking me out.”
“I’m fine.” I leaned back in my seat.
He let out a breath. “I know this is boring,” he said.
I made a face. “That’s an understatement.”
“I’m not going to try to explain it to you again. I’ve tried a million times.”
“And I keep telling you that I understand. I just happen to hate this.”
“Nobody likes a stakeout,” he said. “You just do it.”
“It’s fine.” I looked out the window again, mind flipping through possibilities.
Maybe I was doing my math wrong. Maybe I wasn’t remembering right.
But deep down I knew that I wasn’t wrong.
It could be trauma. All this crap going on could have me all messed up. The stress could make me late, or maybe skip my period entirely.
There were a hundred other reasons why I hadn’t gotten it yet, and my brain went through all of them like flicking through file cards.
And yet I kept coming back to one reason.
The one reason that scared me more than anything.
More than Bennigan breaking into our hotel room and killing me in my sleep.
I might be pregnant with Tanner’s baby.
It had to be his. I mean, I hadn’t slept with anyone else.
And if I was going to have his baby…
I couldn’t think about it. I didn’t know how he’d react if he knew, and I couldn’t imagine what this baby would even be like. I mean, Tanner was a killer, he was a total psychopath, I couldn’t imagine bringing another living creature into this world that would grow up to be just like him.
And yet I knew that if I was pregnant, it was my baby. My baby, my child. No matter who the father was, I’d love my baby with every single fiber in my being.
It scared the hell out of me.
“Come here,” he said.
“What?” I stared at him, pulled back into the moment.
“Come here,” he said, leaning toward me.
“What are you doing?”
“You’re bored,” he said. “I think I can make you less bored.”
“Tanner,” I said, pushing him away.
He grinned and kissed my neck. “Just relax,” he said. “We can ignore the house for a little while. Not like anything will happen.”
I stared over his shoulder at the empty house and its quiet stoop. And watched as a figure came down the block.
A very familiar figure.
“Tanner,” I said, pushing at him.
He laughed, kissed my cheek. “I like it when you fight back,” he said. “It’s more fun that way.” His hands strayed between my legs.
I let out a little half laugh, half gasp, and shoved his hand away. “Tanner!”
“Sensitive now?” He brushed my hair back and kissed my lips. “Just relax and—”