“Yeah, fine, fair enough.” Chuck sips his beer again. “Still, the Tillman daughter. It’s pretty ballsy.”
“Yeah, well, I’m not sure it’s going to happen again.”
“Why? She get to know you?” He grins at me.
I just ignore his lame joke. “Her butler, or maybe her driver, I’m not sure, but anyway, he came and found us.”
Chuck raises an eyebrow. “You for real?”
I nod. “He didn’t look happy.”
Chuck watches me for a second then bursts out laughing. I sigh, sipping my beer. “Holy fuck,” Chuck says between breaths. “You got fucking caught! With the Tillman daughter!” He cracks up, shaking his head.
“Glad you enjoy it,” I mutter.
Chuck laughs a little more and gets himself under control. I flip a peanut shell into the basket, not bothering to eat the peanut. I can only imagine how many hands have been in that peanut bowl before mine, but I’m just trying to distract myself and I know it.
“So what happened?” he asks me.
“Nothing,” I say. “She went home and I haven’t heard from her.”
“They probably shipped her off to a convent.”
“This isn’t the dark ages.”
He grins at me. “It basically is with a family like that.”
I sigh and look at the bar. “I’m afraid I fucked up.”
“How?” he asks softly.
I look up at him. “What do you mean?”
“Are you afraid you fucked up because you got her in trouble, or because you got yourself in trouble?”
I blink. “Because I got her in trouble,” I say. “Shit, it didn’t even occur to me that they might be unhappy with me.”
“Good,” he says, smiling a little.
“Why?”
“Means you actually like this girl.”
I nod slowly. “Guess I do.”
“Come on,” he says, “last drink is on me.”
I grin and we start talking about business, but I still have Sadie on my mind as we finish that last drink.
It’s around one in the morning when we finally leave. Chuck gets in his car and heads home, and I have my driver take me back to my apartment. I could just go into the office and sleep there, but I want to shower in the morning and we’re not far from my place.
The driver drops me off and I tip him before heading upstairs. My apartment is like my second home. I spend a lot of time in the office, mostly because I have everything there that I could need. But it’s still nice to have a home that isn’t in the middle of my job.
I take the elevator to the top and step off. I pause outside of my door, cocking my head.
It’s slightly ajar. I don’t remember leaving it open. I frown a little bit and push it open. Maybe one of the people that I hire stopped by, maybe the cook is here or one of the cleaning people. They know I keep weird hours and maybe they figured they’d get an early start or something.
But of course that’s a stupid thought, and it hits me as soon as I’m in my apartment. All of the lights are on, which I know I definitely didn’t do. Who the hell would go to their job at one in the morning, unless they were up to no good?
I pause in my hallway. “Hello?” I call out.
The answer comes back instantly. “In the living room.”
A chill runs down my spine. I don’t recognize that voice. I step toward the table in my entrance way and reach for the drawer. I keep a small gun in there, just a little .22 caliber thing, but it’ll be enough.
“Don’t bother with the gun,” the voice calls out. “I checked already. It’s empty.”
I reach into the drawer, heart hammering, and pick it up. I pull out the magazine and sure enough, it’s empty. Cursing under my breath, I put it back into the drawer and walk slowly toward my living room.
“Who are you?” I call out. “And what do you want?”
“No need to be nervous, Mr. Waller,” the man says. “I’m not here to rob you.”
I relax slightly at the way he speaks to me. I step into the living room and spot the man standing near the wall-sized windows, looking out over the city. He turns toward me, a smile on his face.
He’s in his late forties, maybe ten years older than me. He wears a dark suit, a dark tie, and a white shirt. His hair is thinning and balding in the back, but his eyes are sharp, and he looks like he’s in good shape. He has a square jaw and he clearly works out, though he’s a couple inches shorter than me. If I didn’t now any better, I’d think I could take him. But he doesn’t look like a normal person. I can see it in the way he looks at me.
Plus, normal people don’t break into apartments in the middle of the night just for a chat.