Before she leaves, she pushes and shoves the sofa until Evan’s paralyzed body is positioned in front of the living room window. Then she touches the button to withdraw the curtains. She turns and leaves, exits the building, and gets into the car that has been parked across the street from Evan’s apartment since before he left the office. She walks with a spring in her step, tingling and happy from the mingled contact high of sex and death.

Shortly after she drives away, her phone rings. She pushes the button to accept the call. “Yay?”

“How did it go?” The voice at the other end of the connection is male, unaccented.

“It went just fine.” A smile, very different from the one she treated Evan to, tugs at the edges of her lips. “Just fine, thank you for asking.” An involuntary shiver tightens her grip on the steering wheel.

“You took care of the mop-up?”

“Yes, and as long as you took care of the cameras we should be clear.”

“The cameras are in hand.”

“You’ll be mine, one day,” she assures the voice at the other end of the phone.

“I look forward to it.” He sounds amused. “But first, I have more work for you.”

“Good.” She pauses, biting her lip, then looks both ways before driving onto a feeder road to the Blackwall Tunnel.

“I told you I would be a more dynamic patron than your creator.”

The woman shudders. “That’s good, too.”

“Are you up to the next job?” asks her caller. “It’s a little soon, I know, but it needs doing soon.”

“I’ll be fine,” she reassures him. “This one was charmingly naive, if a little pushy. But he was basically lightweight: an appetizer. From your briefing, this next one sounds slightly more substantial.”

“Yes, so don’t underestimate him. I’ll check in with you tomorrow. I have a joint operation I’d like to bring you in on, if that’s of interest.”

“More baby vamps?”

“Yes.”

“I haven’t had this much fun in years!”

“If you can refrain from killing me on sight, I can promise you many more.”

“I think I like working with you.” She pauses. “You don’t have to worry about me. Just keep them coming and I’m all yours.”

“Talk to me tomorrow and we’ll discuss it. Meanwhile, I’ve got a few loose ends of my own to tie up first.”

“I look forward to hearing from you,” she says. “This burner is now going away.” And she ends the call.