Never Go Home Read Online Free PDF Page A

showed. She’d moved on. I did the same.
    A rap at the
door interrupted my thoughts. I swung around in the chair. Sasha had already
opened the door and entered the office.
    “What’s going
on, Jack?”
    “Just got some
news from back home.”
    “Another job
offer?”
    “No. I mean
back home as in where I’m from.”
    “Oh.” Her gaze
drifted to my right. I pictured another scull racing by, this one a single or a
double.
    “There’s been a
death. Someone close to me. I know the timing’s not right, but I think I should
go back for her funeral.”
    I expected her
to protest, throw a fit, and demand that I stay.
    Instead, she
said, “Let’s go get a drink.”
    I placed my
hands on the desk and stood. “What about Marcia?”
    “I sent her
home with a couple of our guys. Told her you needed a day to think it over.”
    “What’s to
think over? I’m not doing it.”
    “Don’t rush to
a decision like that yet, Jack. That’s a lot of money.”
    I shrugged.
“It’s not always about the money.”
    “She’s a good
woman. She deserves the best protection out there.”
    I rounded the
desk and came to a stop in front of Sasha. She stood a few inches shorter than
me and had to look up to make eye contact. She inched forward until we were
almost touching. Her perfume mixed with her natural scent. The combination was
intoxicating.
    “She does,” I
said. “And we should arrange it for her. It just can’t be me.”
    Sasha sighed
and shook her head and put her hands on her hips. She took a step back,
brushing against a fake ficus. “Come on, Jack. I’ll drive.”
    We exited the
office. The artificial fluorescent light did little to enhance my mood. Sasha
led the way to the main cubicle corridor and into the elevator lobby. I winked
at the first security guard, ignored the second. Sasha swiped for the elevator.
We got off at the parking garage.
    “Nurse
whatever-her-name-is wanted me to come back for the night,” I said as we
stepped into the muggy garage.
    “You can come
back if you’re still feeling bad after we get some food.”
    “I’d prefer not
to. And when did this turn into dinner?”
    Sasha said
nothing. She pulled out her keys and hit a button. An Audi beeped twice. Its
brake lights and turn signals flashed three times each. The red and orange
lights splashed across the concrete floor and ceiling. Sasha walked toward it.
I followed her. Our footsteps echoed through the deserted garage.
    “Borrowing from
the fleet?” I asked.
    She shook her
head, and said, “Bought it last week.”
    “Not bad.” I
slid into the leather bucket seat. It smelled new inside. I couldn’t find a
smudge or a trace of dirt anywhere. “I’m starting to think you aren’t paying me
enough.”
    “Who says
you’re getting paid anything?” She pushed the ignition button. A hefty
eight-cylinder engine roared approvingly. Sasha released the emergency brake
and shifted into reverse. A minute later the car was in third gear and we were
going fifty down the middle of the road.
    The sky in
front was seven shades of red and orange. Behind us, storm clouds loomed.
Around us, commercial buildings gave way to row homes. Everything seemed so
compact. I thought of the thousands of people who spent their days working away
inside of a cramped building, only to go home and spend their nights inside a
house sandwiched between two others.
    This was no
place for the claustrophobic to live.
    Fortunately for
them there were sunsets like the one tonight, and plenty of places to grab a
pint.
    Ten minutes
passed without a word between Sasha and me. I broke the silence.
    “Where are we
headed?” I said.
    “Just a place I
know,” she said.
    “Why do I feel
like I’m being set up?”
    She laughed,
didn’t make eye contact. It didn’t comfort me. Ten minutes later she pointed
toward a pub. I didn’t catch the name. We parked in back between two cars half
the size of the Audi. The sleek new car made the other two look like garbage cans.
    I