Page 8 of Heart Stopping
"This guy is—" Boner started.
He stopped when the door rattled.
Shit.
We both ducked down on the other side of the bed as the door opened. The light came on once again and Carl walked past us, carrying a pizza. He must have gone out to pick it up.
Of course, he wouldn't have food delivered here. Someone would see him. If he was recognized in a place like this, people would wonder at his presence. Someone would film him and the Internet would do the rest. He'd be busted faster than a CEO at a Coldplay concert.
Although, what this guy was doing was far worse than cheating.
"Won't be long now." He seemed to be talking to the pizza as he set it down on the small table, just in view.
It didn't take a genius to figure out what he was waiting for. I swallowed before I lost the contents of my stomach.
Plates clinked together as he took them out of the kitchen cabinet and placed them beside the pizza. Only an arm and part of his leg in view, he froze.
"What the hell?" He noticed the open window.
Fuck, everything was going sideways. This operation was starting to feel like amateur hour, which wasn't like me at all. Iknewthere was a reason I didn't work with anyone else. Other people made messes, and I didn't like messes.
"Hey." Boner spoke loudly as he rose to his feet and stepped out of the bedroom. "Carl, right?"
What the hell was he doing? He was going to get both of us killed.
Or worse.
CHAPTER 4
BONER
"Great, you brought the food." I stepped over to open the pizza box and pulled out a slice. "Really, anchovies? What are you, evil or something?" Grinning, I took a big bite.
Okay, this was good pizza, anchovies aside.
"Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?" Carl stared at me. He inched toward the kitchen as though he was going to grab out a knife and use it on me. That wasn't going to happen. Not successfully anyway. Let him try. It'd be good for a laugh.
"Think of me as your unfriendly neighborhood vigilante," I said. "You see, Carl, I don't like people who do bad things to innocent people. They make humanity look bad. Do you want the aliens to keep flying past?" I took another bite of pizza and chewed.
"You're out of your mind." Carl backed away a few more steps.
"Actually, I'm very muchinmy mind," I told him. "Okay, I admit, I'm a bit flamboyant once in a while, but believe me, I'm all there."
Mostly.
I got a certain amount of pleasure from ending the lives of people like him, so maybe there was an element of unhinged going on here. Whatever, I was what I was.
"Whoever sent you, I'll pay you double," Carl said, his eyes wide. Pretending not to be scared but failing miserably, if you ask me.
"Here's the thing, Carl," I said slowly. I finished off the slice of pizza and wiped my hands on my jeans. "I don't get paid to do this. It's a free service I offer to the world. Generous of me, isn't it?"
"What do you want?" He backed up to the edge of the counter top. "Name your price and it's yours. A million dollars? Two million?"
I clicked my tongue. "Carl, Carl, Carl. I don't want your money." I paused for a moment. "No, that's not quite true. I'd happily take a couple million dollars. But not from you. Not while you're alive."
I snagged the pizza box from the table and held it out to him. "Hungry? This is pretty good. I mean, of course it is, this is New York City. Bad pizza would be sacrilege, wouldn't it now?"
I shook the box at him, but he looked back at me and didn't take a slice.
