Alliance – Chapter 3

Just as I expected, the café was quiet and I was able to get a booth in the back corner.  Parker joined me as I was placing my order with the waitress.  After he ordered his coffee and the waitress retreated into the kitchen, I said, “Your time starts now.”

He nodded, all business. I liked that, even if I didn’t like him.

“I understand your hesitation to work with me.  In your shoes, I imagine I would feel much the same way, but you will get yourself killed without my help.  Raptor is a very dangerous man.”

“You don’t think I’m aware of that?”

“Clearly you’re not,” Parker paused as the waitress deposited our cups on the table and left.  “I’ve worked with him and I know how he thinks.  What you have to understand is that Raptor is a pro at what he does.  He could be talking to you and you would have no idea you were talking to a murderer unless he wanted you to know it.”

I considered his statement as I took the first sip of my coffee, grateful to have something to do with my hands besides fidget.  I didn’t want him to have the satisfaction of seeing how uncomfortable I really was.  With all of this. “That seems like an odd thing for someone who knows his face to say.”

Parker shrugged.  “I don’t know his face.  Criminals of Raptor’s caliber are extremely cautious.  He wore a mask every time we met in person.  The only thing I ever got a good look at were his eyes, but I’d wager all of the gold in Fort Knox that he was wearing contacts to change their color.  His voice was very distinctive, very cultured and European, but there’s no guarantee that wasn’t just for my benefit.”

I frowned.  “So, what you’re really telling me is that you’re useless to me.”

An inviting smile played at the corner of Parker’s mouth.  “Raptor killed everyone who worked with us on that job and he tried to kill me, too.  I had to fake my own death and go into hiding to get away from him.  Do you honestly think I would choose now to surface if I had nothing to offer?”

“Go on,” I said.

“I have confirmation from my sources that Raptor is in Dallas and ready to pull another job.  He thinks I’m in the ground, so seeing my face again should be just enough to draw him out.  The man is incapable of pulling a job when there are loose ends. I happen to be the biggest loose end he has. We just have to find out who he is by day before I surface.”

“I’m sure you understand that ‘we’ implies I’ll be helping you.”

Parker shook his head, smiling slightly. No response. I posed my next question.

“You seem very confident that Raptor won’t just kill you.”

“He won’t,” he replied with an air of authority.  “He’ll know I’m up to something big if I’m willing to show my face to him. He won’t be able to resist finding out what it is first.”  Parker eyed the empty cup I set on the table.  “You’ve finished your coffee.  Have I just been wasting valuable planning time or are you in?”

It wasn’t hard to see why Parker was such a good con artist.  With his easy smile and lean build I would have willingly believed any lie he wanted to tell me, that is, if I didn’t know who he really was.  Everything he made appear so casual – his tousled dirty blonde hair, his expressions, even the tone of his voice – were no doubt very carefully practiced and polished.

Working with Parker made absolutely no sense to me.  Despite my quest for revenge, I considered myself a rational woman.  Mainly. Still, there just might be something to what he said about drawing Raptor out.  Unless someone else could corroborate Songbird’s credentials as a thief, Raptor would probably never waste his time on her.

“Tick tock.”

“I’m in,” I answered finally.

Parker stood up and nodded.  “Good.  I’ll be in touch.”

I turned around in the booth and called after him, “How will I contact you?”

“You won’t,” he called back as he left the café.

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