02

« This coming from a man who can spend up to an hour getting dressed to go to the grocery store, » she teased as she reached around him to grab a clementine out of the fruit bowl on the counter behind him. She started to peel it and looked at him imploringly. « All of this doesn’t just happen you know. It takes work, » she said with a grin and was rewarded with a laugh.

« Touche. »

« You needed a favor ? » she prompted as she finished peeling the clementine, smiling when she managed to do it in one long peel.

« I do. » He nodded as he took the peel from her and tossed it in the compost bin on the counter.

« And you do remember that this is the first day that I’ve had off in eight days, and I had planned to spend it reading the book Ben gave me three months ago ? The very highly recommended book that I’ve been wanting to read. The very same book I haven’t even gotten a chance to start yet ? »

« I remember, but I really need you to do me a favor. I need you to go to the cleaners and pick up our suits. » He reached into his pocket and then held out a dry cleaning ticket to her.

« It’s Saturday, why do you need a suit ? » she asked as she tossed the few seeds that she’d squeezed out of the clementine into the composting container. « Someone really needs to dump that out. » She wrinkled her nose at the rotten smell coming out of the container. « And why can’t you do it ? »

« I have work that needs to be finished. » He grabbed half of the clementine out of her hand. He dropped his voice to a whisper. « I don’t want Ben to get wind of this. »

« Oh, yeah. » She nodded as she dropped her voice as well. « You’re taking him out to the benefit dinner tonight. »

The local theater house was having a black tie benefit dinner and show. All three of them had been season ticket holders for years, and every year they’d been invited to attend the annual gala. The tickets had always been too expensive for them to justify the expense so they’d never gotten a chance to go even though Ben had been very vocal in his desire to attend. This year Kevin had gotten the two of them tickets as a surprise.

« Exactly, I’ve managed to keep this a surprise for this long, I don’t want to ruin it now, » he said as he popped a clementine wedge in his mouth.

She looked at him as she chewed on several of the citrus wedges at the same time. She really, really wanted to curl up on the big comfortable chair in the living room and start the book that had been sitting on her night table for the last three months , but Kevin and Ben deserved this.

« You owe me. » She sighed as she tossed the last of the clementine in her mouth and took the ticket from him. « Big time. »

He broke into a wide grin and tossed the rest of his clementine half in his mouth. « Put it on my tab. »

« You ever going to pay that ? Because you owe me a lot. »

« Probably not. »

« You’re lucky I love you. »

« Yes, I am, » he agreed. « Thanks. »

« No problem. » She smiled in spite of herself. It was nice that Kevin and Ben were doing something just for them. She liked to see them happy and it really wasn’t that big of an inconvenience. She could be at the dry cleaners and back with the suits in well under an hour.

« Take my car, » he offered. « It’s behind yours in the drive and I don’t feel like moving them around. » He pulled his keys out of his pocket and tossed them to her.

« Thanks. » She grabbed the keys out of the air. « See you in about half an hour. After that the only thing getting my ass off that chair is fire or a natural disaster. »

« Deal, » he said as he kissed her cheek.

She smiled at him and then went to the hall closet. She slipped on her shoes and grabbed her purse.

« Later, Ben, » she shouted as she jingled Kevin’s keys absentmindedly in her hand.

« Where you going ? » he shouted back from the living room.

« Store, need anything ? » she asked catching Kevin’s eye and giving him a look.

« No, thanks. »

She stepped out of the house and shivered. It was autumn and the air was cold outside. The wind whipped her still damp hair around her face as she zipped her sweater up to her chin, contemplating going back for a coat. She would just be going in and out of the car, it wasn’t worth the hassle.

Using the remote on the key ring she unlocked the door and smiled at the electronic sound of the doors unlocking. Kevin’s car was silver, less than a year old and the almost fully loaded luxury model. The only thing his car lacked that had also been available with this model was remote keyless ignition and a navigational system.

Kevin didn’t trust any car that could be started without a key and he hated GPS. He would rather read a map than trust a disembodied voice telling him where to go so he hadn’t bothered with the upgrade. He did use the GPS on his phone, as long as there was no voice telling him what to do. He still hadn’t fully accepted the fact that the voice was just interpreting the map and wasn’t going to try to get him to drive into a lake or turn down a one way street.

Her car was second hand, almost ten years old and the base factory model. She loved her car. She’d had it for almost three years now and it ran perfectly, was fuel efficient and was relatively cheap to upkeep. As much as she loved her car she had to admit that Kevin’s car was nice to drive every now and then, it was a grown-up car.

She got in, adjusted the seat and mirrors and set the radio to the local rock station. Kevin was a great guy, but his taste in music was terrible and none of his preset radio stations were even remotely bearable. He loved country and techno, she preferred rock and alternative.

She backed out of the driveway and headed down their modest and quiet street.

She drove toward the dry cleaners almost on autopilot. The streets weren’t busy, but there were other cars on the road and people walking around the streets. It was a typical Saturday morning in the fall.

She stopped at a red light about a two minutes from the cleaners and looked around as she waited for the light to change. It was pretty outside. The leaves had just started to change and the sun was out despite the chill in the air. There weren’t many people around and it was looking as though it would be a gorgeous day, maybe she could get Ben to go for a walk with her before dinner.

She was just watching the crosswalk for an indication of when the light would change when someone suddenly jumped into the passenger seat of the car.

Before she could do anything the door was slammed shut and something cold and metallic was being pressed against her temple.

« Drive, » a voice growled next to her.

She glanced over at the man who had jumped into her car but it was the sleek, black semi-automatic handgun that caught her attention. That’s what was being pressed against her temple. A gun.

« Drive ! » he barked at her, and out of pure instinct she put her foot on the gas and drove.

She could barely process what was happening and she drove without seeing where she was going or paying attention to traffic laws. All she could think about was that a man had jumped into her brother’s car and he had a gun pointed at her head.