Panic Attack

He arrived at the house- what did rich people say?- fashionably late, at ten after seven. As he expected, there was no sign of any cops. The robbery had been over a week ago, and it probably wasn’t even a hot case anymore. He checked to make sure his.38 Special and his four- inch retractable switchblade were safely inside the i

Several seconds later the door opened, and Marissa was there in a red dress, with a big scoop neck giving a nice view of her cleavage, and black leggings and black boots with heels that made her at least two inches taller. She was wearing more makeup than usual, including a bright red lipstick that she must’ve picked to match her dress.

She kissed him hello, lightly on the lips, and said, “It’s so good to see you,” and he said, “Yeah, you too.”

“Can I take your coat?” she asked.

“Sure,” he said, and he took it off, watching her put it away in the hallway closet.

“Come on, I’ll give you the tour,” she said.

She led him straight ahead, saying, “Back here’s the kitchen…,” but Joh

Joh

Well, it didn’t matter because she was going to be dead soon anyway. After di

As she went on, saying in that bored tone, “And this is the living room…,” Joh

When they got back to the foyer, Adam Bloom was coming down the stairs. He looked even more stuck- up and into himself than the last time Joh

“Hello,” Adam said, smiling widely when he reached the bottom of the stairs. “You must be Xan.”

He sounded all uppity, like he thought he was so much better than the rest of the world just because he lived in this big house in Forest Hills and had Dr. in front of his name. Did he think those letters made him better than everybody else? Did he think they protected him?

Yeah, probably.

Joh

“Adam Bloom.” He held out his hand for Joh

Joh

Sir. Man, Joh

“You too,” Adam said. “You too.” Was he going to let go of his hand already? Finally he did and added, “I’ve heard a lot of great things about you.”

Joh

Remembering how Marissa had bad- mouthed Adam yesterday, basically calling him a cold- blooded killer, Joh

Then Joh

She continued downstairs, and Joh

He could tell that Mrs. Bloom was into him in a big way. If he was in a bar, looking for a pickup, she would’ve been the first woman he’d zero in on. The attraction was there, yeah, but there was more to it than that. A lot of women were attracted to Joh

“Wow, Marissa,” Joh

This was the perfect opening because it made Mrs. Bloom blush bright pink, and Joh

“I like him already,” Mrs. Bloom said, totally flattered.

“It’s a real plea sure to meet you, Mrs. Bloom.” Joh

“It’s nice to meet you,” she said, smiling, looking into his eyes. “You can call me Dana.”

Oh, yeah, she was definitely into him, there was no doubt about it. Maybe he’d bang her later just for the hell of it- tie Adam up, make him watch.

“Come on,” Adam said to Joh

Joh