Day Two
July 22, 1952
Tuesday Morning
River woke Tuesday morning in a panic. He was supposed to take the target, Alexa Blank, no later than yesterday. That didn’t get done. He needed to take her this morning, right now, before anyone found out he screwed up.
He rolled out of bed.
January reached over and grabbed his hand.
The covers fell off her body. The tattoo of a dragon started on her stomach, wrapped around her hip and over her ass, then around her left leg, ending slightly above the knee. Unlike the tattoos on her arm, which were a jumbled mess, this was a work of art with perfect colors and a fascinating imagination.
“Where you going?” she asked.
His instinct was to take her.
His body was strong enough now.
It hadn’t been last night.
He shook it off.
“Business.”
“This early?”
He nodded and kissed her.
“I’ll be back by noon,” he said. “Go back to sleep.”
She curled up and closed her eyes.
He was halfway out the door when he heard, “River, come back here a minute. I lied to you about something.”
He headed back.
“Lied about what?”
“About me,” she said. “My initial plan was to kill you. I was just going to be nice and bide my time until the right moment came. What you did last night to those two guys, that made everything even. You don’t have to worry about me any more.”
A beat passed while he processed it.
“Fair enough.”
He headed for the shower boxcar, got the temperature as hot as he could stand it and lathered up.
Don’t do anything stupid.
That was the important thing.
He needed to get Alexa Blank this morning but had to be careful to not be in such a rush that he did something stupid.
He had to be sure she didn’t see his face.
He had to be sure no one saw him.
More than that, he had to be sure no one even connected him.
How was he supposed to do that in the daylight?
Even thinking about it was stupid.
He took the car downtown and swung by the Down Towner on foot.
There she was, pouring coffee in someone’s cup.
She was fit.
Pretty, too.
She had a nice smile.
How did she factor into anyone’s equation? What made her important enough to be a target? She was basically a walking nobody. She hardly registered on the world. Did she see something she shouldn’t have? Did she know something she shouldn’t?
Maybe River would question her after he took her.
The answer might turn out to be a lot more lucrative than the payment. The information might be something he could use to blackmail someone. He’d just need to be careful that it never got traced back to him. Maybe he’d let January take the lead if it got that far-set her up as the blackmailer.
Interesting.
Should he bring her in as a partner?