Page 35 of The Hard Way

“Insurance investigation is a boring business,” Thor said.

Odin gazed out the window. “I still feel like people are watching us.”

“It’s the cupids. The deer. And now Margie,” I said.

“No. It’s more,” Odin said. “The car back there. The black Saturn. Have we seen it before?”

“It’s new to me,” Zeus said. “There was one like it before, but it had an air freshener hanging from its windshield.”

“I think it’s the same car.”

The jovial atmosphere in the car turned chilly.

“Nobody could know,” Zeus said.

“We talked to her sisters, we’ve talked to Andy…”

Just then the car turned off.

“Pull over,” Odin said.

Zeus pulled over. This was some sort of anti-following maneuver, no doubt. We sat there for a while, watching the street.

“Probably nothing,” Odin said. “Maybe. It’s a feeling.”

I leaned up and put my chin on his seat back. He looked tired. “You should take a nap later.”

“I don’t need afucking-gnap.”

“I don’t mean that this following thing was bullshit. I mean, we count on your spidey sense, and did you get any sleep under that giant cupid face in your room?”

He said nothing, which meantno. No sleep.

“I could sit with you and read.”

“It’s not happening,” he said. “I won’t sleep with you there. I won’t hurt you again.”

“You can’t hurt me if I’m awake and sitting in the chair by the bed.”

He shook his head. It was frustrating.

“I’m really glad we have somebody answering the phone for us,” Thor said, changing the subject. “Margie might really might call.”

“She’s not going tofucking-gcall,” Odin said. “Her first thought would not be, ‘These people aren’t who they say they are.’ Her first thought would be, ‘I can’t wait to tell my friends about this. Who knew insurance investigators were such sexual heathens? A female boss using her underlings for her every dark pleasure.’”

I groaned.

Chapter 7

“What kindof name is Piggly Wiggly?” Odin asked as we headed through the automatic doors.

“Good question,” I said, though I kind of didn’t care. Being back in this place conjured up so many memories of shopping with my parents and sisters. Even the smell was unique—a crisp, slightly fruity pastry aroma.

We went to the front, and Odin talked to the store manager, using his best American accent. My guys joked around and fucked around so much, it was so easy to forget who they were—stealthy, dangerous, lethal agents. Totally in control of this situation. He explained that we were doing this for our report. “Verifying the chain of custody,” he said. “Very routine, very boring. We just need to verify your system.”

The manager was a nice guy named Warren. He made the call to his superior, and then he actually placed a call to the Allied office number from our card to ensure we were who we were. “Company policy,” he said.

We all nodded knowingly, though I don’t think any of us expected the grocer to be so security conscious. He strolled off, talking to our friend from Guvvey’s, who was hopefully sounding like a man at an insurance investigations contractor. Odin had put up a quick website too—would he check that out, as well?

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