The Assassin's Assistant

Chapter Ten

Chapter 10

No comment.

While we were in the car, Jason filled me in on the mission. He sounded dazed while he went through the entire thing, like he couldn’t believe what he was saying. I wondered if he would ever get over it. If he didn’t, he would be dangerous, and I knew it. Bexx expected me to be fragile and easy to pry, and Jason is exactly who they thought I was. Weak. Delicate. Desperate. I couldn’t help but feel like I was watching a car crash in slow motion. As unaccustomed as Jason was, he was brilliant.

I never would have been able to create such a great plan. There were a lot of details that flew right through me, like the set up that Brittany was doing now, a lot of detailed measures that were made to avoid being caught, and little bits and pieces, but I got the bulk of it. In much less intelligent terms than Jason put it, Britt and I are going to get in with fake invitations. Brittany does some of her magic, I wait on a balcony with one of our special guns that are near impossible to trace, talking to her over Bluetooth. Britt positions the target, I run to the designated spot, pull the trigger, and we make our get away. It would take me forever to explain his entire scheme, but my part is simple enough, Brittany takes most of the hard stuff.

Jason dropped me off at the museum. “You’re not coming?” I asked.

He shook his head. “No, Britt has me doing some papers, that sort of thing. And, you know, the coffee. Good luck, okay?” He handed me an ear piece, waved goodbye, and drove off.

I put in the ear bud and walked nervously up to the museum. People flooded through the doors. Jason and I had barely arrived through all of the traffic on time.  I walked up the stairs and flashed my false invite to the guard. I was let in without a raise of a brow.

The lobby of the Museum of Modern Art was sleek and, well, modern. It was pure white with a ring of a second floor, visible through glass, above it. It was decorated with purple banners and balloons, going against the steely elegant look of the lobby. Judging by what the banners said, this “charity” was called “Home for the Homeless”. Now that’s just cruel.

 I was surrounded by people in tuxedoes and ball gowns. Most of the gowns were purple or red, so my green dress made me pop. I wasn’t quite comfortable with that, though it would make Brittany easier to spot in her blue dress.

I stumbled blindly through the mob of bodies, trying to look natural, which was very hard. I was 18, and the next youngest person seemed to be 27, like I didn’t jump out enough. I could be wearing a neon sign and I wouldn’t stick out more.

I found my way over to the snacks table. My stomach groaned with hunger. The few sips of coffee had not been close to enough to hold me over, after I starved myself at Bexx. I greedily grabbed anything I could find; Baked brie, shrimp, crackers and cheese – I wasn’t picky. When I finally looked up from my food, across from me, on the other side of the table, was the woman who questioned me when I was in Bexx.

I choked on a piece of shrimp. ‘What is she doing here?’ I told myself to stay calm. Obviously she was more interested in the snacks than me. Of course she was. Brittany had changed my looks for a reason. I had long, ice blonde hair now. You couldn’t even compare me to how I used to look. So instead of sprinting away, I politely smiled at her when she looked up and walked away from the table. I casually made my way over to one of the many halls sprouting out from the walls.

Obviously another member of the Underground had their eye on this party. When I was separated from all other guests I tapped on my ear bud and heard a gentle hum start as I joined the line.

“Lux?” Brittany answered instantly.

“I recognized a member of Bexx here, and I’m sure there’s more that I don’t know here too.”