LITMIR.BIZ

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you do,” she beamed back.

      “Come with me back to the Tower and I’ll get people to your place,” he said whipping out his cell, “Any instructions for them?”

      “Yeah, be careful of the plates. How are they going to get in?”

      “Easy. Your landlord will let them in.”

      She had no more questions, so she just nodded and kept quiet while he called his people.

      ****

      One was out of the cafe now. The decision had been made. There was no going back now. This was the only way that made sense. The master plan could not be derailed. It was inevitable. One shimmied through the nose-to-butt cars and headed for the pink shop. One took the stairs slowly. It needed to be slow for it to be believable. Inside it was dark, apart from one room just off to the right. One knocked politely. One. Two. Three knocks. Then the sound of hurried footsteps on vinyl flooring. A small man peered out. Not more than 5’4. His hair was bright pink. He opened the door just enough.

      “I’m sorry we’re closed. You can book an appointment tomorrow,” he said rudely.

      He began to close the door but One caught it easily. “I’m not here for an appointment. I’m here for you.”

       Chapter 9

      Lex opened the door of Bella’s new place. She rushed inside excitedly. Her mouth hit the floor the moment she saw the view. She was high enough up that she could see most of New York but not high enough to feel any vertigo as she looked out. It was beautiful. With the sun shining in, the walls were an almost blinding white. On each wall was a different painting. She assumed none would be valuable but it did give the place a little more character than most modern apartments in this style. The floor matched the kitchen countertops. Both were made of black marble. Warm in the summer as it absorbed sunlight and cold in the winter. She shuddered as she pictured herself walking barefoot across the floor on a snowy winter evening. The apartment was open plan with the bedroom on the left and the lounge and kitchen area to the right.

      She veered off to the right to see the main lounge area. Against one wall was a long L-shaped black leather sofa. It didn’t look very comfortable but she was sure it was. An apartment this nice wouldn’t skimp on an essential item. The sofa was her work station. Many a drunken case had been solved on hers. Next to the sofa was a fragile looking table predominantly made of glass. The legs were a similar shimmering black marble to the floors. It had clearly been carefully picked out. Just off the right was an empty bookshelf that had been cleared for her library. It was just about big enough.

      The kitchen wasn’t big but it was more than adequate seeing as her kitchen had been roommates with her bathroom. She checked the cupboards. They were stocked with brand new pans, chopping knives and cutlery. Now she didn’t have any reason to bring her old worn-out kitchen equipment. Everything was electrical, no gas. She preferred it that way. Much easier to clean. There were a few things she needed to change about the place but they were mainly stylistic qualms. Nothing to do with the functionality of the place.

      She turned back and slowly stepped towards the windows admiring the view. She was now living a buzzing, lively metropolitan dream. She had always wanted to live in a place like this. Modern, spacious and exquisite. It felt like this was the apartment she had visualized since she was a little kid. For her, it was perfect.

      She ran from room to room admiring her dream home. She felt like a teenage girl at her favorite boy band’s concert. There was a giant king bed in the bedroom. She wasted no time jumping head first into the sheets. The bed caught her comfortably. She could have stayed there all day long. But she had to check out everything else.

      She had saved the best until last. The bathroom. She paced over and heard the squeak of her shoes on the marble as she turned into the only closed area in the apartment. She was not disappointed by what she found. It had a giant hot tub. A hot tub so big it could comfortably fit two or three normal sized hot tubs. She couldn’t wait to use this. In fact, she would kick Lex out now so she could.

      The whole time Lex followed her laughing at the look on her face. She stared at him with immense gratitude in her eyes. “I don’t know how to thank you for this Lex. This...this is my dream home,” she stuttered. She very nearly began crying right there but managed to choke back the tears.

      Lex spoke softly. “I need your help Belle. I want to find who really killed this girl. She wasn’t exactly my favorite person in the world but whoever killed her has something against me and I want to find out what. Will you help me?”

      “How can I say no after what you’ve done for me? Of course I will help.”

      “Great. I can tell you want to test-drive the hot tub so I’ll get out of your way. Dinner at eight?” he asked hopefully.

      “That would be lovely.”

      “I’ll come and pick you up about ten to then, OK?”

      “Sounds great.” It did sound great. As he closed the door she let out one long sigh. This was her new home. She couldn’t be happier.

      She bolted the door. Returned to the bathroom and turned the tub on. She wondered, just wondered if....Yes! They had stocked the fridge. She was set for a week. More importantly there was a bottle of champagne. Very fitting given the day she had just been through. By then the tub was half full, so she undressed quickly and hopped in with her glass and bottle of champagne. She got comfortable and breathed a hefty sigh. She took a large gulp of her drink and eased deeper into the bubbles. She hadn’t thought she’d be here when she got out of her tiny bed this morning to make breakfast in her kitchthroom. There was only one thought in her mind as she sunk under the warm water. An eventful day and hopefully an equally eventful night.

       Chapter 10

      One’s day had been equally as eventful but a lot less pleasurable. But things were looking up. He had cleaned up the mess. Literally and figuratively. The pink haired manicurist was in very bad shape. In fact he wasn’t in any kind of shape at all. He was in ten pieces in a car traveling out of Manhattan right now. The driver was taking him far away then dumping him somewhere in the Hudson never to be found.

      One had done the killing this time. Two movements, that was all it had taken. A push through the door and a snap of the neck from left to right. Easy for a pro like One. Breaking the neck was One’s preferred move. It was quick and there was very rarely any mess, which meant less evidence. Always a good thing. Not that it mattered. One’s guy inside was pretty high up in the New York Police Department. He could have the evidence buried pretty easy. One had been very careful. One was disguised. One couldn’t risk someone recognizing One in the street.

      The disguise was genius even for One.

      ****

      It was ten to eight. Bella was bathed and dressed in a beautiful dress that Lex must have left for her in the closet. How he had managed to get it in there was beyond her. But she appreciated it. She sat, ready and waiting. Then she realized that she looked way too eager. She needed to make it seem like he had caught her off guard. She practiced opening the bathroom door casually. Each time saying “Oh hey Lex, I wasn’t expecting you so soon” or variations of that.

      Then there was a knock at the door. She sprung into action. Just before opening the door she fluffed up her hair and smoothed down her dress. Time to shine.

      She opened to door a positively glorious sight. Lex was there, but behind a gigantic bouquet of flowers. The smell hit her even before the colors.

      “Wow. These are incredible.” She took them gratefully. Behind them was an equally lovely sight. Lex was shaved, his hair was brushed back and he was smiling at her with the special kind of smile he saved just for her. For tonight at least they were right back in those halls at university. Except Lex was in a three thousand dollar suit, she was in a multi-million dollar apartment and they were going to a Michelin Star restaurant not the local

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