So that’s what it feels like.
Shay rolled into the building, stifling a yawn. It’d taken her ten minutes to grab what she needed, secure the secret panel and escape in her Fiat, and she assumed that Purity staff were already at her place cleaning up her mess in every sense of the word.
If I’m gonna have any sort of real plan for the future, I need to stop ending up in situations where I have to run from my house and disappear at a moment’s notice after killing someone.
She let out a quiet laugh at the thought. What a fucked-up life she led. Even when she was trying to be normal, it still ended in bloodshed.
Peyton emerged from the cubicle maze, confusion on his tired face and red reindeer pajamas on his body. “Oh, good. I half-wondered if someone had shown up to kill me. It’s just you.”
“Not exactly moving like you were trying to stay alive?”
“If someone’s going to kill me this early, then they’ll probably have an easy time of it.” He let out a long infectious yawn. “Seriously, what are you doing here so early?”
Shay shrugged. “I had to kill five people at my condo earlier. Don’t worry, though. They all had it coming.”
Peyton blinked several times, his eyes widening. “A mention of a quintuple homicide worked better than an IV drip of coffee.” He swallowed. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Like I said, I’m the one who killed them. They didn’t even hit me.”
“Were they… I mean did they come there for you? For your contract?” Peyton furrowed his brow. “I haven’t seen anything to even suggest that the people who wanted you dead know you’re still alive.” He rubbed a hand over his face. “Damn it. Did I miss something? I’m sorry. Fuck, is that a firing offense, literally…”
Shay shook her head. “You did your job. They weren’t there for me, not originally. The whole thing was kind of incidental. They picked the wrong house.”
“Incidental? How does that happen? I mean some guys just stopped by your house, and the next thing you know five people are dead?”
“Yeah, pretty much. Men from the Nuevo Gulf Cartel raided a nearby stash house. They botched the job, and some of them tried to run. Five of them were gonna hide in my house and kill me. I objected to that. A few minutes later I had a bunch of dead bodies in my house and figured I’d better vacate the property.”
Peyton groaned. “Shit. We need to get out in front of this. The cops are eventually going to investigate the raid, if they aren’t already. Their cyber guys can barely catch a cold, but because the cartel’s involved, they’ll get the feds involved, and they might find something we don’t want them to find.”
He’s got good instincts. Glad to see him realizing all the implications.
Shay waved a hand. “Don’t worry. Purity is cleaning up the place.” She blew out a long breath. “But still double-check at the end of the day that the utilities and other accounts are linked to some other fake name. Arrange a pickup of all the weapons in my place and seal up the stash room permanently. It doesn’t hurt to be careful. Other than me getting a new place, this isn’t a huge deal. Fucking assholes inconvenienced me is all.”
“Will do.” A thoughtful expression crossed Peyton’s face. “People actually do use Purity?”
“What you thought the whole thing was some kind of urban legend or something?”
“No. More a scam. I mean they have a good reputation in the dark web, but the whole idea always seemed weird. If there’s a need, someone will fill it.”
Shay laughed. “You think a company that specialized in scamming people like me would last long? I don’t exactly take my complaints to the Better Business Bureau.”
“I suppose not.” Peyton’s eyes lit up. “Does this mean we’re going to be roomies, then? It’ll be like a violent summer camp or as I call it, middle school.”
“I’d sooner shoot you. I was planning to move to the new place. This just gives me a reason to expedite the process.” Shay yawned. “Mostly I wanted to let you know what was up. Plus, this is a little reminder of the danger of living out there, instead of here.”
Peyton shrugged. “I’d still rather have my own place. I’ll just avoid killing a bunch of guys in it.”
Shay snickered. “You make it sound so easy. It actually wasn’t my fault this time.”
“I’ve managed to go my entire life without killing anyone. It’s surprisingly easy.” Peyton winked.
Shay smirked back at him, even as his words burrowed deeper than she would have liked.
Her first ever kill had been in self-defense, but she didn’t continue on the path of killing because she had to, but because she liked the sense of control. Not only that, she was damned good at the job.
Killing made her feel strong. It was addictive.
Shay dug a dark and deep hole inside of herself, and if she wanted to claim a new life not steeped in blood and suffering, she’d have to spend some time climbing back out of that hole.
She leaned back in her chair and stared up at the light fixtures on the high ceiling.
Don’t know if I deserve a second chance. Don’t care, really, but the least I can do is try.
Shay wiped some sweat from her brow as she jumped from the top of her climbing wall onto the waiting bar in the salmon ladder. She pushed and jumped with the bar, the metal slamming against metal as she ascended the obstacle with ease.
An earlier confirmation message from Purity indicated her old place had been cleared out, and the utilities transferred to a fake name. Peyton also confirmed that there was nothing, at least electronically, linking Shay to the condo and the weapons were secure.
Free and clear. It was like she’d never lived at the place. Never existed.
It’s a
