Page 13 of Broken

My phone said that Max should be arriving at any moment. Just like clockwork, I saw his Porsche pull up outside. He exited the vehicle, black sunglasses on his face and sporting a fresh haircut. I marveled at how I viewed something as simple as a haircut as a luxury somedays. Des was going to need another one at the end of the month, I thought, making a mental note.

My hands were clasped on the table when Max walked in and came to our usual booth. He sat down across from removing the sunglasses from his face. This man never smiled or showed emotion. I wondered how that worked for him because he wore a wedding ring on his left finger.

"Do you have it?" His voice was calm and emotionless.

"Yes, where is my money?"

With ease, he pulled out three white envelopes and shoved them towards me. They made a hissing sound as they slid across the table and into my waiting hands.

"The object," he said pointedly.

I took a deep breath and spoke, keeping my voice as low as possible. "Before I hand it over, did you know that who I was....who I was acquiring from was the Russian mob."

Max leaned forward, still stoic. "Does that matter? Your job is to retrieve and get paid for it."

"He was home, and he caught me," I replied.

Max's head cocked much in the way a dog's head would when confused. "So, you didn't retrieve it?"

I huffed annoyed. Clearly, they had known who the target was. Max never shared any sort of information other than what was on the scraps of paper he gave me. It was in my best interest to get rid of this stupid rock and get on with my life.

"I didn't say that." I dug the jewel out of my hoodie and dropped it into Max's now waiting hand. "I'm the best there is. Just wondered if you all knew. Anyway, thanks. Let me know when the next mission is. And from now on...I'm taking jobs that offer no less than fifteen thousand...I have a family to feed."

Max's eyes glinted. He would hurt me if he had the chance. I got on his nerves just that much. He was definitely the type to beat women, if you asked me. Collecting all three envelopes, I stood up and left the diner.

I still had a good three hours before school let out and before I needed to meet the twins. I was going to utilize that time and start looking for an affordable two bedroom apartment. I had a friend who could forge any document you needed and could create credit privacy numbers, but of course that was all for a fee, which I hadn't been able to afford for quite a while.

I also needed to start searching for a nice dress to wear to this parent teacher conference dance that the twin's school had decided to throw. They had to do everything different. Gone were regular parent-teacher conferences where you showed up and saw what your child was doing in school. I was getting a headache just thinking about it. The first thing I did when I got back to the motel was to count the money. All fifteen thousand dollars was there, not a dime shy. The next thing I did was put it into the safe, except for five hundred. There was no way in hell, I was going to be caught with that much money on me in Chicago. You were simply asking to be robbed if you were dumb enough to do that.

Lastly, I got in touch with the only friend I had, Astrid. We'd been best friends in high school and much like myself, she ran in the shadier circles. Her forte was creating social security numbers to help get you into a car or apartment.

"Yo, Astrid," I said when the phone stopped ringing.

"Who is this?" a male voice asked.

"Mmm, is Astrid there?"

"She might be, who is this?"

"It's Nov," I said as I heard Astrid in the background yelling at whoever it was to give her the phone.

"Hello," she said.

"Hey girl, its Nova," I replied.

"Nova, who?" she asked.

Okay, I deserved that,I thought. I hadn't talked to her in almost six months.

"I knowwww, I'm the worst," I exaggerated.

"I've been worried," Astrid said. "I've texted you a ton."

"I know, but look, I need your help and before you say anything, I can pay you," I said.

"You know I'd never..." I rolled my eyes at her.

"I want to pay. I need to get us into somewhere nice and in our district...."