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Prologue
Boston, Massachusetts
July 10, 2013
A flashing of colorful light illuminated the room as the young woman laid across a bed that had seen better days. The sheets on the bed were ripped from its previous owner and the springs were digging into her back. She shifted as she focused on the ceiling. Colorful lights flashed from the television across the room creating a light show. It wasn’t much to be happy about considering how things had been lately—or considering the places she had to take shelter in, but she had learned early on it was best not to complain.
Something cool and wet hit her forehead awakening her from her thoughts. Her hand went across her forehead as she frowned at the muddy brown liquid that had been wiped off. Great. The ceiling had a leak. She sat up on her elbows and turned to her left. Her eyes stared at the hunched over figure that sat perched at the metal desk in the center of the room. It had been an hour since they’d last spoke, since they were last given the order to work together on this particular assignment. Being together again made her felt giddy. It was like old times again. Another drop of water tapped her on the forehead. She really needed to say something about this. Her mouth opened to inform them of the leak, but immediately closed. Years of living with this person had taught her never to bother them with annoying things of this nature. Besides, they wouldn’t be here for long anyhow. Her stomach gave a rumble as she placed a hand on it. She needed food, particularly something sugary.
The young woman sat up from the bed and shoved her feet into a pair of boots that were two sizes too big for her. As she bent over to tie the strings to the shoes, she watched the hunched over figure sit up.
“What is it?” The rough voice floated across the room to her. It was a voice she loved and cherished. It was a voice that she could identify in her dreams.
“It’s nothing. I didn’t mean to bother you.” The young woman cursed the noisy worn down twin bed. “I’m going out.”
The figure gave no reply to this and she didn’t expect it to. She walked over to the nightstand, grabbed the room key and her pocketknife before stepping out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. She headed down the sidewalk towards the convenient store next to the hole in the wall motel they’d chosen tonight. It was always the same—the same hole in the wall motel in the same hole in the wall town with the same overcooked food. Unlike any other teen her age, she had her fill of microwavable and greasy foods. She was ready to finally sit down and call a place home. But it was never going to happen. Shabby motels and rubbery food would be their way of life until they completed this mission.
She walked into the convenient store ignoring the young man behind the counter dressed in Goth. She headed towards the back where the freezer case were located and grabbed a soda. Walking down every isle, she filled her hands with junk food and a magazine broadcasting something about glamour. Walking up to the counter, she placed all her items down and waited for the clerk to ring her up.
“This is a lot of junk food.” He said thumbing through her items, his fingernails covered in chipped black polish. “Someone must have the munchies.”
Her eyes lifted from the counter as she stared at the clerk. He wasn’t bad looking despite all the eye liner and piercings he wore. Seeing her eyes on his, he gave her a smile showcasing his straightened white teeth. She knew it. This wasn’t the true him. It was a ploy, probably to get mommy and daddy’s attention.
“Where are you from?” He asked. “I’ve never seen you around here before?”
“Just ring up my items.”
The guys stared at her for a moment before scoffing. He shoved the rest of her things in her bag. “10.44.”
She smirked at his attitude and handed over the money which he roughly snatched out of her hand. The cash drawer open as the clerk went to put the change in and then froze. He stared across the counter at her. Their eyes connected as the music that had been playing loudly, suddenly started to fade into the background.
He knew.
The young woman stepped into the room shutting the door and locking it behind her. The figure at the table was no longer there. A sense of fear went through her of being abandoned until the bathroom door opened and they stepped out.
“The time has finally come. Today is the day you get to reap the rewards of all your hard training.”
The young woman smiled stepping further into the room. She tossed the bag full of snacks on the bed. Already she’d forgotten her sugar rush, and the memory of the clerk who now lay stuffed in an air vent inside the store. Nothing else mattered. The mission was here. It was about to start.
Manhattan, New York
The sounds of the latest hip hop tunes boomed through the speakers as the circle clock on the wall struck two. Shoppers shuffled through the building, hands filled with bags and food from the food court. To the left, a child dropped his sippy cup as the mother bent down to retrieve it. Behind her stood a red head flipping through a catalog, her nails tapping the glass counter. She was aware of this. She was aware of all of it, even though her eyes were focused on the cream faced clerk in front of her. It was her awareness that led them to always pull off successful missions, and it would be the clerk’s lack of awareness that would allow them to do the same to him.
Smiling in way that most would compare to a siren, she leaned more across the counter, pretending to give the clerk her full attention. Had the clerk not been too interested in her assets, he would have noticed her mouth moving, counting. At that exact time, he would have noticed the homeless man enter and the red head exchange looks with her before causing their scene.
Raised voices elevated behind her, as the clerk finally realized that they weren’t the only two people in the store. Mumbling an apology, he made his way towards the redhead and the homeless guy to contain the situation. But it was way too late for that.
The clerk who was several feet away assuming he was doing his job, never noticed the girl removing the glass cutter from her purse. He didn’t hear it cut across the glass counter, or when she reached in and remove the diamonds and ruby jewelry from their collection. No, he like the rest of the shoppers in the store that day, were too enthralled with the scene that they never noticed her walk past them giving the arguing couple a slight glance. They didn’t notice the couple who suddenly ended their argument heading their separate ways, only to meet up with her at the exit.
No, it was only when the clerk turned to look for her that he would noticed the missing jewelry. It is then that he would call the police and they would search the building, just missing the three thieves entering the limo pulling off.