Page 21 of Outlaw Witch

But I make sure to keep my expression blank. Don’t want to let this guy know how I’m feeling or how big a deal the paycheck would be for us.

“Any other details I need to know?” I ask, leaning back in my chair.

“All the information you need is provided for you. You’re expected over at the site immediately, if you decide to take on the job.”

“Okay.” I nod and lean forward to shake his hand. “And the pay? Is it a weekly deal or a deposit upfront and then the rest at the end of the job?” I don’t want to get stung if they decide to end the gig early.

“You’ll get the first week upfront and then the rest weekly. You’ll be paid in full, regardless of whether anyone appears at the location.” He sneers at me, like he’s judging me for caring about something as basic as getting paid for working.

Sounds pretty cushy to me. Possiblytoocushy. But I never turn down a job if I can help it, and unless I’ll be stepping into a snakepit, this sounds easy enough.

I lean forward and hold my hand out for him to shake. His grip is weak and a little clammy in mine, so I quickly drop it and wait as he counts out the cash for the first week. I shove this along with the file into my jacket pockets and salute him as I turn to leave.

It takes twenty minutes to get over to the location on the city bus. My shitty mood has evaporated and I’m pretty buoyed up by the cash in my pocket and the easy gig. I’m half expecting it to be some seedy gambling den where I’ll be spending the next few weeks, but the building I”m sent to seems to be deserted. It’s old and dusty as hell, but at least it’s quiet.

I find the room they want me to use is a pretty bare bones affair. There’s a big stone window with a cushioned window seat, a bright red rug covering the stone floor and an uncomfortable-looking couch, and that’s it.

Plopping myself down on the window seat, I unpack my crappy camera, which cost me three job’s pay a few years back. Peering out the window, I can see that the building I’m supposed to be watching is a standard apartment building with just three floors. Right now, it looks pretty dead. I settle myself back and lift my aching ankle, ready to get to work.

An hour or so later, and literally nothing has happened. There’s zero movement outside. I’ve only moved to take a quick pee break and found that this building seems to have more spider inhabitants than people.

I settle back down and continue to wait. Another couple of hours later, my stomach rumbles and I decide that I’ve bodged this pretty badly. It’s been a long while since I last did a surveillance job and I’ve never done one lasting as long as this. I can’t risk leaving to get some food in case there’s movement outside. I also realize that I’m probably going to have to keep watch overnight. I spend another ten minutes poring back over the contract I signed, keeping one eye on the building in front of me.

It’s at that point I decide I need a little backup. The money’s good and I’ll be splitting it anyway, so I contact Ember and ask him to get over here with Rook and Hanna. I figure Rook’s got nothing better to do at the moment. And I can’t deal with Ember moaning at me all on my own. Hanna could probably do with the distraction right now, too.

An hour later and it’s a party. They all show up together, clutching bags of takeout from one of the less shitty joints on the cheaper side of town. I swallow down my noodles greedily almost as soon as the carton is out of the bag. I also down a cool bottle of water since I didn’t think ahead enough to bring any with me.

Need to do better. No more half-assing the preparations before a job, even if I didn’t get much notice with this one.

“So we just sit here?” Hanna asks through a mouthful of crunchy bean salad.

I nod. “Just have to see if anyone goes in or out of that building.”

She hums softly and looks around like she’s unimpressed with the accommodations.

“We get paid three thousand at the end of the job.”

That catches her attention along with Rook’s. He knows how hard we’ve been finding it to make ends meet when the jobs are so sporadic and our little family keeps on growing. It’s like we can’t stop ourselves from taking in fresh strays.

“Holy shit, that’s more than I get in three months,” Hanna says. “Do you need to murder someone or something? How did you get the gig?”

I shrug. “I dunno. I’ve not done a job like this in a while. Maybe word’ll spread and we’ll get more good jobs like this, low-key, easy, good pay. The full trifecta.”

All I need to do is pump out a little of my glamor magic to stop any prying eyes from reflecting on us as we peer out the window.

It really is a pretty perfect job. Better now that I can go take a pee without it turning out to be a new sporting achievement too—the hundred meter pee sprint. Although that makes it sound like I’m pissing as I run, which is not how things went down.

We relax a little after the food’s all gone. Ember takes my position by the window and I sit at his feet so that my magic still works on him. Hanna’s on the floor opposite me and Rook flops down on the uncomfy couch, staring at the ceiling.

“So, what was all that stuff down at the waterfront?” Hanna asks, resting her head against the cold stone wall and then looking affronted that it’s not more comfortable.

“What stuff?” I ask.

We haven’t talked about any of it, even though it’s been a few days since everything went down, but I knew I wouldn’t get away with avoiding questions forever.

“You mean Silver’s two new admirers springing to the rescue? Real white knights, they were.” Ember snorts.

I shake my head and chuckle softly. “Like I said before, they’re just trying to show how good things could be if we let them intermix their shit with ours.”

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