Page 54 of Himbo Hitman
“No.”
“But I have to.”
“No, you have to do exactly what you wanted me to do and stay hidden.”
He thinks that over for a moment. “I see your point?—”
“Good—”
“But no one saw us come here, so they also won’t see us leave,and if I really am now being targeted like you say I am, I should probably give my sister the heads-up.”
“Use the phone.”
When it comes down to it, we still know a whole lot of nothing, and the best thing we can do with today is make a plan and then get straight into it. Visiting sisters doesn’t make the list.
“I … well, we don’t really know how long this is going to take, and I have a lot of unfinished business …” Perry starts. “It’s not like I can totally disappear on my job, and I need to get home to Sir Squeakerton?—”
“Whois Sir Squeakerton?” I ask.
“A mouse.”
“You have a pet mouse?”
“Well, no.” He scratches his head. “There are a bunch of mice that live in the wall of my apartment. I’m friends with one of them.”
“Friends. With your rodent infestation?”
“They prefer to be called little squeakers.”
“I don’t care what they prefer,” I say, trying to imagine mice inmyapartment. “They’re wild animals. They’ll be fine.”
It’s almost endearing the way he looks so torn until I remember that we’re talking about disease-carrying mice.
“Okay, let’s make a deal.”
I give him a pointed look. “Because those have always gone so well for us before.”
“We’re working together now though. Our powers combined and whatever.”
“Sure. You know Captain Planet and not Austin Powers.”
“Who?”
I give up. At the risk of taking another verbal detour, I get us back on track. “What’s this deal?”
“We go and deliver Margot and Elle dinner, but we won’t stay. I’ll tell them that I’m going out of town for a few days and that maybe they should also have a super-romantic lovers’ week in Elle’s apartment and not leave it for anything.”
Right, because that won’t make them suspicious. “You think your sister could be a target?”
Perry shrugs. “I’m still not convinced I’m a target, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to take any risks with her.”
“You guys are super close?”
“She is literally all I have left.” The vulnerability in his tone is something I latch onto. Like his human side makes it easier to forgive myself for not being able to hate him.
If our roles were reversed and Colin could potentially be in danger because of me, I’d want to warn him too. It doesn’t feel smart, but when it comes to protecting people you care about, emotion is what leads the way.
At least that’s something we have in common.
