Free as a Jailbird

Chapter 50

The door of the Garcia mansion swings inward only seconds after I knock and to my surprise, it's Garcia. He's dressed in a gray suit and red tie. He looks me up and down and his head twitches to the side. He recognizes me.

"Hello," he says. "Can I help you?"

Yes, I think immediately, you can suddenly pass away from a fatal heart attack and let me leave this place not in handcuffs.

I feel as if he can hear my thoughts because his eyes narrow while I stutter out, "Hi, I'm uh ... I'm a friend of Lizzie's. I'm Jess."

"Yes, I remember you from Lizzie's school. But you don't go to her school, do you?"

I wring my fingers out and hope he sees that as social nerves. "No, we just fence together sometimes. I actually came over to see if I could borrow her foil? She said I could use it for my lesson tomorrow. Mine snapped the other day."

Garcia hesitates. Maybe it's because I've interrupted their family dinner. Or maybe he can see right through me and my cover is already blown.

Then he steps aside and gives me a gleaming smile. "Of course. Come on in."

I step into the mansion and he closes the door behind me. I'm in.

The place is so neat and modern and wide and spacious compared to the party. I take a second to appreciate the artwork on the walls and the boxy, color-coordinated furniture. Then I slip into assassin mode.

There are cameras everywhere. I can see them mounted on the walls. There goes my chances of escaping the police if I ever do get away with this. I'll have to try and find the recordings if I get that far.

I see Lurker sitting on a sofa in the living room with another guy dressed in the same Men in Black suit. They look comfortable with a glass of scotch and a newspaper between them. Garcia quickly closes the shutter doors, sealing off the living area. Aside from the two of them, there are no other security guards that I can see. I've taken out half his men.

"We're having a family dinner but my work colleagues will be staying afterwards."

Unsure why he's telling me this, I nod. "Sure. I'll just ... pop upstairs and grab the foil."

"Go ahead, Jess," he says.

I turn right to head up the plush staircase. Garcia disappears into the living room with his colleagues and I immediately backtrack and sneak across the marble entryway, leaning close against the shutters to listen.

"... at the docklands. It won't be covert, but we have no choice." The voice could be Lurkers, but I'm not sure.

"Bring extra protection. I'll arrive at exactly eight pm. I want it done by eight thirty."

"Yes sir. I'll have the car drop you off in the west parking lot and a full security detail escort you to the cargo ship in docking bay 3."

"No, I want bay 5. It's easier to get to and will make the transportation smoother."

"Understood."

I back away as soon as they pause, fearing Garcia will open the doors. So a deal is going down, but when? Not that it matters. Garcia will be dead by tonight.

There's a red stain in the corner of one of the steps I pass that I presume was from the party but just hasn't been cleaned up yet. I smile and climb the last few onto the landing.

I can hear some kind of punk-rock music playing in the room that must be Danny's. As I walk quickly toward Lizzie's room, I swear I can see smoke coming out from under Danny's door.

I walk straight into Lizzie's room and my heart practically leaps out of my chest when I see her lying on the bed reading a book. She looks up at me and frowns.

"Jess? What are you doing here?"

Oh no.

Oh shit.

Oh fuck.

This changes everything.

"What am I doing here, what are you doing here?"

"This is my bedroom."

"Yeah but ... you were supposed to be at the shack!"

"Well I was ready to go when Dad – wait a minute, what are doing in my room if you knew I wasn't going to be here?"

I have to think fast.

I collapse on her dresser chair and put my head in my hands. "Oh my God, you're gonna think I'm such a horrible person."

"Why?"

"Okay, so I have a tournament tomorrow and ... I was practicing with my foil this afternoon and it completely snapped! I had no idea what to do, and you're the only person I know who has a really good foil – because, like, I've seen it – and I thought I could borrow it just for tomorrow, but ... I knew you wouldn't be home so I told your dad you said I could and ... please don't hate me."

Lizzie, in her perfectly forgiving nature, shrugs and says "okay, well I guess you can borrow it."

Geez. This girl does go to church.