Blind Trust Read online

  “Hi, Audrey.” I pushed out a kind smile. Audrey and I weren’t friends; the only time she spoke to me was when she needed something.

  She popped her gum and said, “You get the notes from Anatomy? I only got the first half. Can I copy yours?”

  I dug through my bag in search of my notebook labeled ATY. Everything I had contained labels. It helped me keep my life organized. “Yeah, here.” I handed her my five-subject notebook stuffed with excess paper.

  She turned up her nose at my notebook like I was passing her a spoiled napkin. “Can you turn to the page for me?” she asked. “I don’t want to lose something important if I drop one of your sheets or put something back in the wrong place.”

  I was tempted to tell her, her perfect straight nose, and her little pointy finger, waggling at my notebook like it was baby drool, “No, you may not see my notes.” If she wanted them so bad, she should have paid attention instead of dallying with Tommy. But I was a peacekeeper when on an assignment.

  “Sure, Audrey.” I flipped through my notebook until I found Tuesday’s ATY Notes, February 3rd labeled in the top right corner of the notebook page.

  “Thank you, Valerie. You’re the ultimate best!” she praised.

  I rolled my eyes and tended back to my target.

  Our chem instructor called on Kyle a few times for the answers to her questions, but he avoided her. She always stole looks at Kyle and I often wondered if they had something going on.

  Honestly…

  If I wasn’t me and he wasn’t him, and if I wasn’t meant to assassinate him, I would understand.

  Kyle was one of those guys you only hoped wanted you because there was no way you’d ever deserve his time. And dammit did I want his time.

  Class ended and I gathered my notebook from Audrey and my chem notebook, stuffing them in my knapsack. Since my agency had forced me to go back to school, I should’ve forced them to provide me with all the essentials. A good bag, better clothes, colored hair, abs, a tan… but they didn’t want me to stand out or draw attention to myself.

  I stayed near the door of the lecture hall to keep an eye on Shultz, wondering if he’d be doing something different today. He’d stayed behind.

  He still hadn’t left ten minutes after class ended, and I lurked to find out if he and our chem instructor had been having a fling.

  Instructor McMenamin approached Kyle, removing her glasses. She eased into the row and leaned against the seat in front of him, giving him a seduce me stance, with her unbefitting intentions sewn deep in her dark eyes. They spoke back and forth until he pulled her onto his lap. She glided up his legs, pushing her hands over his shoulders as she leaned toward him. He avoided her kiss, his head dipping into her chest as he cupped her breasts…

  I had spared myself the disgust of witnessing the remainder of their illicit activities by leaving.

  She was one lucky tramp. And I couldn’t stand seeing him all over her like that.

  You know that guy… that good guy you never realized was a good guy because he didn’t look that way from the outside? But once you got to know him, he actually turned out to be really amazing? But because every girl had treated him so badly, he always kept his distance?

  That was Shultz.

  I had been watching him for too long. Secretly I’d gotten to know him so well I’d fallen in love with him. I had fallen for his kindheartedness, his care for others though he tried to keep it concealed, his like for all the same foods I liked, and the way his ears moved when he got an idea. My employer had called a hit on the guy of my dreams.

  Even worse, I was forced to see him with other women, watch him smile, know what could make him happy, catch him angry, see him get sad about his mother and sister, and watch him hide out. He was doing a good job at hiding from everyone but me. And I was doing a better job at staying unnoticed by him.

  “Excuse me, Valerie Harper?”

  Oh God.

  It was him. He’d spoken my full name. Was he on to me?

  I stopped on the sidewalk that led on a twenty-minute walk to my small loft. I built up my courage to see what he wanted, silently, turning around.

  “This yours?” He held out my literature book. “I think it is. You answered to the name written inside its cover.” He opened the book, showing me my inked name in my handwriting, scribbled in large letters on the outer cover.

  I grabbed the book. “Thanks,” I said, stuffing my hair behind my ear.

  I wasn’t shy, I was nervous. Nervous for many different reasons. One, I didn’t want to make an impression. Two, I didn’t want to give him the googly eyes. Three, he was kind enough to bring me my book, which totally matched with the real him, the guy who cares. And four, if I stared at him too long I would find twelve reasons to invite him on the twenty-minute walk to my place to have a warm cup of coffee, then off him in the kitchen. After, and I repeat, after I got him closer than clothes.

  “No problem. I’ve seen you around before. You’re in a few of my classes.”

  I’m in all of your classes. “No. Well, maybe in a couple. I think.” Don’t fraternize with your target, Val, I reminded myself. My heart was beating so fast I couldn’t stand it. I’d never been this close to him and it made me uneasy.

  “I’m Kyle,” he said.

  One year. One full year I had been around this man. One year I had watched him, studied him, designed so many ways to kill him without him seeing my face. One long drawn-out year, I’d tried to stay unnoticed by him. And now, today, three days before I was supposed to take out his dear mother, did he speak to me.

  A frustration blossomed in me causing my face to twist in annoyance. How dare he?

  “Sorry. Kyle Shultz is my name.” He extended his hand.

  God, and now he was making it worse. He wanted us to touch. No, absolutely not.

  I clutched my book to my chest to stop myself from reaching out for him. Perturbed, I stomped my foot, rolled my eyes, and whipped around to flee his vicinity.

  How dare he speak to me? How dare he break this code? It may have been a code he knew nothing about, but still…

  “Sorry, did I offend you?” He ran to my side, catching up with me quickly.

  “No.” I stopped walking. As I glanced at him, the remnants of McMenamin’s lipstick smeared on his neck regrettably grabbed my attention. I put all my weight on my left foot and crossed my arms, still holding my lit book to my chest. “Is there something I can help you with?” I purposely asked too harshly. I needed to put an end to this, and coming off as a bitch seemed like a good way to push him away.

  His brows furrowed. “Yes. What’s up? You just stomped off on me like I was being a jerk. Did I do something to offend you? Did I say something wrong? All I was trying to do was return your book.”

  “Sorry about that. I just really need to go.”

  His lips drew to the side, as a sardonic expression swept over his face. “Okay, I understand.”

  “Hey, Shultz!” Rick yelled for him.

  I restrained myself from looking their way. “Thanks again for bringing me my book. That was nice of you,” I admitted.

  “Yeah. I can take a hint.” He jogged off.

  Though my bitchiness served its purpose, regret and a strong disapproval for my actions climbed onto my shoulders. It added an extra weight to me that made my legs heavy.

  “Cat.” I slid closed the heavy door of my loft. My roommate was a small cat that came and went as he pleased. I wasn’t sure what window he came in, but I got used to his company.

  It meowed from somewhere around the kitchen.

  I made sure the cat had some dry cat food and a fresh bowl of water. It often came near me, but we didn’t have a companion relationship. It didn’t want me to touch it and I didn’t want to touch it. Hell, its name was Cat…

  I rummaged through the cabinet for the small bag of food I’d bought it. The bag was empty and I couldn’t leave my roommate’s food bowl empty. I didn’t care much for the cat, but it relied on m
e for a meal so I headed out to the market.

  I should have said to hell with that cat and its food. I’d never wanted to get away from anyone I spent so much time around as much as I did standing in line at the market a cashier away from Kyle. He looked at me, made direct eye contact with me, and his perfect green eyes rolled hard as if my presence just annoyed the hell out of him.

  He tried to do that talking thing again. Back in the bread aisle, he’d said, “Bread, huh?”

  I looked at the bread I held, gave it to him, and said, “No.” I walked away, carrying my small bag of cat food.

  He just didn’t get it. Like, dude, I am here to kill you… this is going to be a lot easier on the both of us if we stop having contact with each other. I guess that was too much to ask for.

  I stopped looking his direction because each time our eyes met, he rolled his eyes even harder, looking even more annoyed.

  I was happy I was annoying him. Good. If he got pissed off enough, maybe he’d stop flashing that perfect smile that weakened my knees as he laughed at Rick’s joke. Maybe killing him would become a lot easier. Maybe I could quickly get this over with and finally be done with him.

  I walked through the house, dropping clothes on my way to the bathroom. I have trails of clothes leading to many different areas of my loft. Tuesday was not a cleanup day. It was a make a cup of tea, sit in front of the computer in my underwear and listen to Kyle’s calls as I throw my legs up on my desk and read a book day.

  My life was unfortunately flooded with Kyle. I was hoping it would soon be coming to an end. I’d added in books to level things out, take me out of Kyle’s world. But in books with romance, I’d often wind up replacing the woman with myself and the man with him. I tried to stay away from romance novels. Thrillers and mysteries were my thing.

  I’d dreamed over and over about taking Kyle out. Each dream ended the same way… I couldn’t do it. He licked his full lips with his deep pink tongue. His vibrant green eyes would narrow. The muscles in his masculine arms would flex as he readied himself for my shot. One word woke me up in a cold sweat. One word kept me from pulling the trigger. One word made me not want to do it.

  The phone rang from the hall. It was the landline; it rarely rang. “Who is this?” I answered.

  “Valerie Harper?” a woman’s voice requested from the other end. It was direct and prepared to deliver information I wasn’t ready to hear.

  This drew on my discomfort. “Possibly.”

  “I’m sorry, but I have some terrible news.”

  BNFCTR: KS, I have two for you. 24 hours to complete. Name one: Alfred Greene, 250K. Name two: Levi Jeffery 1.2M.

  I reread the text, shocked I had an opportunity for two names. I’d been waiting for that text all day.

  “Ay, man. I’m sorry but I gotta go,” I told Rick. We’d just walked into his spot.

  “Aww bro,” he whined. “You just got here. Your phone rings and you’re off. What is it, a chick? If you’re going to blow me off, she better be a hot chick. Not ‘the dude, hot chick,’ but an actual hottie that’s a girl…”

  I left as he rambled on. Rick was cool. He took a little getting used to because he was loud and full of energy. But he was a guy I could hang around and know what I saw was what I got.

  I tapped in Janet’s number as I walked to my apartment. Rick’s was three blocks from mine.

  “Hey Kyle, what’s up? You got some work?”

  “Yeah, I need a car. I’ll pay you when I come back. Go check on my mom for me in three hours. And make a note to send an e-mail to my instructors letting them know I’ll be out of class tomorrow.”

  “I’ll have a Challenger waiting for you at Buns in forty-five minutes. I talked to your mom about an hour ago. I’ll spend the night at her house tonight. Yes, I’ll be there in three hours, I know you’re going to repeat it. I’m creating the e-mail now, sending it from your e-mail address. Who?”

  “I’m not telling you.”

  “Please?”

  “No.” Not like she’d know them anyway.

  “Kyle, we’re almost like partners.”

  I juggled my keys, running up the stairs to my floor. “Almost is never enough.”

  “When you die, I’m going to put that on your tombstone. Because that has to be your favorite line for life. Almost is never enough,” she mocked.

  “Alright, Arch, I’ll see you later.”

  “I don’t like it when you call me Arch. It’s not cute.”

  “It fits.” My door whined as I pushed it open.

  “Nothing about me says Arch. Are you making it home?”

  I smirked. “It’s not something about you, it’s what you do. Yes, I’m home.”

  “Let me come by.”

  “Nope.” I hung up.

  Janet, Janet, Janet… I shook my head, thinking about her. I liked that no matter the request, she’d look out for me. We’d been best friends for eighteen years. Thick as thieves she and I were. With my mom being sick, she helped take care of her. My mom was like a mom to her, and Janet went out of her way to check on her or sleep over. Since I got back, Janet had been hot for me, flirting, trying to look sexy—her body arched just from my being next to her. It was cute and I liked teasing her about it. But Janet was like a sister. I looked at her like a sister but it seemed she’d had a change of heart.

  Grimmer: Someone is watching you, Shultz. Watch your back.

  A text from my ex-partner at Purcell. He was my inside man. He kept his eyes and ears open for my name if I happened to come up on another hit list, letting me know who sent the name and who got the request for the hit.

  Me: From who?

  Grimmer: Unknown, I’m on it. I’ll update you when I’m updated.

  I made a note to check with Grimmer in a couple days to see if he’d come up with anything. Two shit lists were enough; this meant now I was on three.

  Yes, a chance at one point four million was just what I needed.

  It’d been six months since I’d gotten a name. I had requested one four months ago. The job paid well. Who couldn’t live off a few hundred thousand, let alone a mil? But it wasn’t mine to keep; I owed Purcell over a mil for the shit I wrecked when I worked for them. My mom needed money to survive, I had to pay for school, the cost of living was far from cheap, and my little sister was a handful. She left at sixteen and I only heard from her when she needed something. I hadn’t the slightest idea how she was doing or what she was into because she wouldn’t allow us to check on her. She never kept a phone, knowing I could track it; never kept any electronics or e-mail. She’d always call from private numbers and they were different each time. Therefore, I always kept some money set aside for her.

  Every name counted, despite the individual, because they each put money in my pocket. That’s what mattered.

  I showered and headed out for Buns to pick up the car. Buns was a local burger spot not far from campus. Their burgers sucked but their fries and onion rings were pretty good. I walked there and spotted the Challenger in the parking lot.

  Janet knew I needed something dark and fast. I sat in the car, examining it before I swung my left leg in and closed the door. The navigation system was ripped out, just as I had requested. The seats were leather and I could swear a bottle of Janet’s perfume had died in here. The keys dropped from the visor and I cranked the ignition, falling in love with the sound of the car’s purr. Challengers were my favorite, and I would’ve been looking forward to the long ride in it had I not been reminded of Janet every time I inhaled.

  I left Buns to head to the school library, where I did my research on my targets.

  Besides Janet and Grimmer, I had one more person on my team I relied on.

  Reagan Skye.

  I hated her and I loved her. I hated her because she broke my heart, and when I dropped her, she was the sexiest broken girl I’d ever witnessed walking away from me. She had strawberry-blond hair, perfect amber eyes, perfectly petite, and a brain smarter than Albert Einstein. I g
uess I wanted her to turn ugly after I dropped her.

  Like all hot girls, she used that damn beauty to get what she wanted, played me, and then made me feel bad about leaving her. I loved the heartbreaker because she was the best damn PI I knew. She could find any person, except maybe my sister, at the drop of a dime. I needed her for that purpose and she needed me for the money. We used each other. And we were both okay with that because we knew a rekindling would never happen.

  I sat at an open computer terminal in the library. Reagan’s phone rang four times before she picked up.

  “Hi Shultz, who do you need?”

  “Hey Tulip, check your e-mail.”

  “Logging on now. Haven’t heard from you, Kit Kat. What have you been up to?” she asked sweetly, putting on her flirtatious voice… like she always does when I get her on the phone.

  I flirted back. “Tryna make us some money.”

  I could hear the smile as she said, “I got one, waiting on two. When can I see you?”

  “You can’t. Where’s one?”

  “How long do you have?”

  “One day.”

  I heard her keyboard and mouse clicking in the background. “Well I have some good news, but I need some heavy cash.”

  “Name a number.”

  “Six-fifty…”

  What? “Absolutely not! For what?” I asked, disgusted.

  “Shh!” Someone angrily hushed me from a couple computers down. Some guy with headphones and a baseball cap on, typing louder than I questioned Reagan.

  “Guy, you have headphones on and are working on breaking the keys off your keyboard. Shush yourself.” He rolled his eyes and looked back at his computer screen.

  Reagan grabbed back my attention. “Please, Kit Kat, I need it.”

  “No, Reagan. If you need that kind of cash, ask the guy you fucked while you were with me. He’s got it, I’m sure. Jeff, wasn’t it? The Yale graduate, mommy and daddy million-dollar-account trustee.”

  “Kit Kat. I’ve apologized. Forgive and forget.”