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Could she have children? She didn’t seem like the type to have left her kids behind, but who knew the exact circumstances. Had she hidden the kids from her ex, and that was why he was after her? I could spend all night guessing and still never know the truth. It was just another puzzle piece to add to my collection. At some point, it would all form a coherent picture, but for now, I was no closer to an answer than I was when I first discovered she had a bounty on her head. I could ask her outright. Tell her I had seen the bounty and demand answers, but I could see that conversation devolving quickly. Explaining how I knew about the bounty would be problematic. As I’d already established, people tended to have a visceral reaction to knowing I was an assassin. I was in no real hurry, and it would be best if I got my answers from her naturally. Plus, unfolding her little mystery was the best entertainment I’d had in years—at least, that’s what I told myself. If my reasons for wanting to learn more about her were more personal, I wasn’t ready to admit that fact. Once I was dried off and dressed, I stopped in the living room to check on her. “You forgot this in the bathroom.” She jumped up from her seat on the couch, where she’d made a makeshift bed for herself, and took her bag. “Thanks. Don’t want to forget that.” She sounded mildly embarrassed, and her gaze was a feather-light touch as it drifted from my wet hair down my damp chest and beyond. I’d thought my little shower production had slaked my need, but with one casual perusal, I was right back where I started. Dangerously tempted. Swelling with need. “I’m going to bed,” I barked. “You need anything?” “No. Nope. I’m all good. Thanks.” She smiled tightly, and I couldn’t help but notice her n*****s straining through her sports bra and thin workout tank. f**k me. Needing to escape, I simply nodded and hurried back to my room, closing myself inside. Tomorrow, I’d get more answers, but for now, I needed a little distance from the s****l siren in my living room. I had a feeling she was going to be the death of me, one way or another, and I had no one to blame but myself. OceanofPDF.com Chapter 9 Emily I set my alarm for three a.m. and turned it to vibrate so it wouldn’t wake Tamir. I thought I would have passed out the minute the lights clicked off, considering everything that had happened that day. Not even close. For nearly two hours, I lay awake as my thoughts danced from one nauseainducing subject to the next. Had I been at home, I would have gone straight for the tequila. I wasn’t an alcoholic. I usually only drank, maybe once a week, but in times like these, a girl needed something to take the edge off. It was those precise thoughts, imagining the tang on my tongue and citrus smell biting my nose, that gave me enough reprieve from my worries to send me to sleep. I got a whopping three hours before the alarm went off. I almost threw the phone across the room in an attempt to stop its vibrations before I remembered why I’d set the damn thing for such an ungodly hour. Once everything came back to me, my sleepiness vanished. It was time to run. I hated what I was about to do, but it was by far my best option. Tamir had said he had a car, and I was desperately in need. I wasn’t going to ask him to take his car and risk him saying no, which was what any normal person would say. Stealing his car was my best bet for leaving town quickly without providing my pursuers a trail to follow. It was the worst repayment for his kindness, but I was desperate. Buses and trains left a paper trail, so I needed a car. Tamir had given me the perfect solution when he mentioned his basement parking spot. I’d get rid of his car once I found an alternative vehicle, so I knew he’d get it back eventually. That thought kept my conscience from judging me too harshly. Skulking out in the night still felt like a slap in the face, but I needed to do this alone. No entanglements. No way to track me down. Aside from gnawing guilt, my primary problem was finding the car key. I did a cursory scan of the front door area, but there was no catch-all bowl set out or key ring hook on the wall. If his keys were in his bedroom, I’d have to leave emptyhanded and fall back on a trusty Greyhound, but I would do a thorough search of the kitchen before I accepted that fate. As it turned out, I didn’t have to look long. Like most people, Tamir had a junk drawer. His was probably far more organized than most, but he had one all the same. Inside was a BMW key fob. Any other time, I would have been thrilled to drive something as luxurious as the car that went with the fancy remote. But in this instance, knowing I was about to steal his car rather than just borrow it, I desperately wished he’d owned a rusty Chevy instead. I would just have to hope that it made it back to him in one piece and that God actually was as forgiving as I thought he was. I might not have bought into Catholicism anymore, but I still believed in a higher power. A forgiving, kind higher power. Please, be forgiving. I made the sign of the cross, just for good measure, and flipped the two deadbolts that locked Tamir’s front door. There was no alarm panel, which seemed odd, but when I opened the door, I was met with silence. I decided to accept my good fortune without question and hurried toward the elevator. The second I stepped foot outside Tamir’s apartment, my heart began to pound so fast, I could feel it clear down in my toes. Never in all my years had I imagined that one day I’d steal a car. Sure, I’d smoked pot and tagged a few buildings, but I’d never done anything like steal a car. I spent too many years watching people I knew go in and out of jail to walk that same path. I didn’t want that for myself. Yet there I was, about to live my very own version of Grand Theft Auto. Sighing heavily, I clicked the car remote to see which vehicle came to life. A black sedan flashed its lights, calling me over like the little devil on my shoulder who encouraged me to do terrible things. I would have given the angel on my opposite shoulder a chance to chime in, but her opinion wasn’t welcome at the moment. Nothing she had to say was going to keep me safe, and that was all that mattered. Tamir had reversed into the parking spot against the far wall, making my escape that much easier. Within minutes, I was exiting the parking garage and heading to my first stop. Even the city that never sleeps was quiet at that lonely hour. Lights flashed from neon signs, and the occasional car passed by, but it was nothing like the normal frenetic activity of downtown Manhattan.
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