Tasha bit her finger. "Ow," Her nail snapped and she whimpered.
***
Odetta swept her room as good as new. She introduced stretching into her new routine before work, the pain lasted in her side and arms.
She rotated her shoulder and received a text that the office was off limits and she had to show up at Harley street. "That can't be good,"
She smelled the gombo she made and ate it before working at the shop, she noticed aunt Dinah wasn't at work yet and cleaned up the shop.
***
A man across her street loaded a bullet and flicked the pivot back in. He was waiting for a clean shot at the woman in the Tack Shop to step outside in the display doors and the waiting seemed to take longer.
"I want you to kill her. Make it look like a suicide attempt,"
If he didn't make his findings about the woman and why his client wanted him to take her out, then he wouldn't be wasting his time. The wait was taking too long, longer than he would consider long.
He pulled up his shades and went across the street.
Odetta was making arrangements on the pieces asked and her head throbbed mixing up the measurements. Her eyes lit up at their first customer and his eyes flashed the moment he saw her.
Odetta's hand dropped with the fabric when he turned around and left the same way he came. "Hmm, maybe he wanted to ask for directions," She shrugged and set her hand on a sewing machine. "Ow,"
She held her finger at a splinter.
***
Tasha grinned almost in victory and she pushed through the doors of the first floor, her glasses went up at the police tape. "What is this?"
She held the tape and a cop pulled up a badge.
"Ma'am, we're under an investigation and we understand clearly that there's been a theft,"
She winced "Theft?" The hair on her neck rose at Edward coming by crutches.
"What's happened to you and what's been stolen?"
"No need to worry. The police can handle it,"
"Oh no," She said more to herself than to him.
"This is awful," Her hand brushed his face.
Edward shrugged away and he faced the detective when he got back.
"What else could you find?"
He raised a zip up bag "We found the harddrive and we'll be scanning for the footage of the perpetrator on that day,"
Tasha gasped.
"It would've been a lot easier if you reported the case on the same day, the evidence might've been all mixed up,"
He sighed. "We'll do our best, Mister Cummings," He tipped his hat and turned to walk away.
Tasha bit her lip and she held Edward's side.
"We'll catch him,"
***
She grimaced and then called Jordan "Listen, I'll give you the money you want, it's best you leave the country, now,"
Jordan resorted to a slow dirty grin "Things have changed,"
"What do you mean you dumb, dirty dog?"
"I'm gonna need a raise," He brushed the tip of his fingers. "You don't want the police's investigation on your little scandal to be closed right?"
"How much are we talking?"
"120 million,"
"Do you think I have that much in my bank account?"
"Don't play with me, Limelight, you set me up, I'm doing you a favor so don't be ungrateful," He sat up.
She growled. "Never mind, I'll.see what I can do," She called her hitman, "Have you done it yet?"
His chest heaved drawing up smoke "I'm not taking that contract,"
"I gather you don't bring anything too personal to the game.
Unless you haven't had a personal dealing with Odetta Lawrence, she needs to be terminated, my career's on the line!"
"And I said no, you never gave me a reason to,"
"But,"
"Are you testing me, Miss Limelight?"
"You..., well then, I'll let you keep your bargain if your lips are sealed,"
He scoffed "I don't need any favors from you, I'm not taking out Lawrence,"
She sighed, she was in a whirlwind right now.
"It's nothing personal, I smell trouble, big trouble and I suggest you run,"
She cringed "Are you telling me I don't know what I'm doing!? This is my life_"
"Hello?" She screamed slamming her phone to the ground.
***
In the daytime, he was only John McCain, at work, he was known as the Darkswan, he took lives for a living. He wasn't good and he wasn't entirely evil, either.
"Just somewhere in between," He mumbled in the collar of his coat and a pet parrot stared at him. He passed a crumb to feed it. "Don't talk too much,"
Squawk* 'Don't talk too much. Don't talk too much,'. It whistled getting the owner's attention while he made it blocks away from the bench and cuffed his sleeve.
He passed by the shop again and saw a different woman come in, she was punctual and regular as always and he made connections with Lawrence.
***
"Sir! Sir! Are you okay?"
He saw and heard her when she brought him back to the light, his eyes weren't the same size and he was bleeding tremendously.
His head tossed and his lungs felt like they were getting squeezed. The henchmen were gone after they left him badly wounded and left for dead on the side of the street. He felt her fidgeting inside his jacket for a phone.
"You'll be fine," She said and her eyes rounded at the pack and he muffled trying to get it back.
"Don't move," Her hands were shaking when she got a tube and water, forging a makeshift syringe. His eyes dilated at the recreational drug when she injected it in his system but the pain was dimming.
He coughed up blood and his vision dimmed.
***
At the hospital, he was treated and he never saw her again. But he did get her features, his recall was heightened from years of study and he laughed at the fact that he nearly murdered his helper.
Tasha would be having many other plans to kill her and he would be having many other assignments.
"Maybe I really should retire,"
He spotted her on Harley Street and it wasn't hard for him to figure out that she was on an important meeting.
***