I was about to sit down and sulk about it – because really, what else could I do now that my evening was ruined – when I remembered Angie. She had wanted to go out and party with me – so what better time than now, when I was all dressed up? I'd show that jerk Everett that I could have a great time in spite of his standing me up. Well, as long as Angie wasn't busy, of course. I prayed that she wasn't, because I didn't think I could handle being stuck in my house now.
I found her number and called her up. She picked up right away.
“Hi, Angie, it's Vivienne.”
“Vivienne? Uh, sorry, I don't remember a Vivienne...”
“Alicia. Remember, I bumped into you at the bar the other night? I told you, I've changed my name to Vivienne.”
“Oh, right! Sorry, guess I had a brain fart, totally forgot about that. How are you? What are you up to on this awesome Friday evening?”
“Not much, Angie, not much. Actually, I've just been stood up.”
“Oh no! You poor thing. That's just the worst. What sort of jerk would stand a girl like you up?”
“I don't know, Angie, I really don't know. I'm all dressed up, and now I have nowhere to go as the saying goes.”
“Well, hey, why don't you come out with me? I was thinking of heading out to a cocktail bar and having a few drinks. You wanna go with me? Have a drink or two, see where the night takes us... and forget about the idiot who just stood you up?”
I smiled.
“Yeah... that would be great, Angie, that would be really great. I need to get out of the house. I can't just sit here like this, all dressed up and made up, and think about how miserable I am that this guy did this to me.”
“No, you certainly can't. Well, can you give me say an hour to get ready? I also need to get my makeup on and do my hair and all that. Then I'll come by your place in a taxi and pick you up. How does that sound?”
“That sounds just great. Perfect, actually!”
I gave her my address and made plans to meet in around an hour, and when I cut off the call, I was smiling.
“There you go, Everett James,” I said. “I don't need you to have a good time on a Friday night. And I hope you know I don't give second chances, so you better know that you blew it tonight with me; you blew it tonight...”
Chapter Eight
Everett
A blast of frustration and anger shot through me as I realized I'd left my phone at home. This was great – this was just great. Two minutes before our date, and I had no way of telling Vivienne that I would be late.
Still, if things went well here, I could catch this Mr. Mask scumbag, throw him in the back of my truck in cuffs – I had a pair in there – and be back in half an hour. With enough apologizing, perhaps Vivienne would forgive me for being half an hour late.
But the lack of a phone also meant that there were other issues I had to deal with. I didn't know if Panetti had also sent a message to Ben, so I had no idea if he was going to be showing up. I knew I might be here all alone, without any backup. It wouldn’t be the first time I had found myself in circumstances like this, and I was confident about my ability to handle things due to what I had been in my past – and I sure as hell might need those skills right now.
I suddenly wished that I'd brought my shotgun with me, but as things stood, I had been in too much of a rush to even think of grabbing it. My instincts in that regard were somewhat rusty. I hoped that other instincts in that skillset were still sharp, as my life might very well depend on them.
Also, not having a phone meant that if things went badly and I got in over my head, I wouldn't be able to call for help.
A part of me briefly considered leaving quietly. I'd be able to get back to Vivienne's place just 10 or 15 minutes late, which wouldn't be great, but it'd still be acceptable, and we could have the awesome evening together I'd been envisioning and looking forward to.
No. A much bigger part of me shoved that thought right out of my head. That wasn't the kind of man I was. This bastard who was about to arrive here was destroying the lives of way too many kids, kids whose lives I had been hired to change. I had the opportunity to get him after he managed to slip through my fingers before, there wasn't any way I was going to let him get away again.
“You're on your own out here, pal,” I muttered to myself under my breath. “Just do like you were trained to do, and you'll be able to handle it.”
I breathed in deeply and got out of the truck, and then walked briskly but quietly into the alley and took cover behind a dumpster near the door where I would be hidden from view, but would be able to hear everything the dealers were saying with clarity.
Damn it! That's something else I could have used my phone for: I would have been able to record their conversation, which could then be used as evidence against them in court. I shook my head – how had I been so damn careless? I was getting rusty.
I didn't have time to stew on my regrets much longer because a black Mercedes with dark tinted windows pulled up outside the building. I crouched down lower behind the dumpster, making sure that I really was hidden and couldn't be seen.
I peeped out from the side where I could see the back door of the building through a crack between the dumpster and the wall, and saw the same drug dealer Ben and I had seen from up on the fire escape come out of the back door and walked across the alley to the car. He had a briefcase in his hand.