Vanishing Point (Circle of Spies Novella) by Laura Pauling Read Free Book Online Page B

thirty minutes or so, Marisa spent time studying the man’s photo. Older. Silver hair. Tall. A bit overweight. Blueish greenish eyes. A bit of a five o’clock shadow by evening. It would help if the picture weren’t grainy and the man’s face a little blurred.
    She was ready.
    Kinda.
    ***
    Even though, she had her doubts about pulling this off, Marisa had fooled herself into thinking it was possible. She wasn’t prepared to locate the Normandy Hotel. Sure it was close to the Louvre but finding a taxi, managing the language with just a dictionary, and convincing herself to walk through the door was a different matter entirely.
    Marisa arrived at the hotel. All it took was the night breeze blowing a clump of her hair out of her clip for the tears to form. The three-story yellowish building reminded her of a house from a child’s storybook: an air of charm and antiquity and possible secrets lurking in hidden corners. But with the traffic fumes and honking, any romance was absent. She’d never felt so alone.  
    Marisa closed her eyes and pretended she was at home, in the backyard, grilling with Stephen and listening to the quiet clicking of Savvy texting her friends. It was these images, the memories of her family that convinced Marisa to walk through the doors and into hotel lounge.
    She went to the bar and asked for seltzer water with a twist of lemon. She’d spent almost the entire ride over memorizing that one. Peering over her glass as she sipped, she scanned the customers. Businessmen. Older couples. Families walking through to see Paris at night. None of the older men fit the description. As the minutes passed, she fidgeted. Had she missed him?
    A man walked through the door.
    It had to be him.
    Older. Tall. Silver hair. And a five o’clock shadow.
    He was moving toward her.
    Marisa gulped down the rest of her drink as if she were a drunken sailor. The man sat next to her. The smell of aftershave floated off him. What luck. What were the chances he’d make this easy on her? He ordered a drink and sipped it casually, not even noticing the middle-aged mom next to him, which, of course, was part of the plan.
    The two pills burned a hole in the tiny side pockets of her black dress pants, which she’d found on sale, and with her twenty percent off coupon had saved quite a bundle.
    The man turned his back and chatted amiably with someone on his other side. This was her chance. With shaky fingers, she fumbled for the pills. She didn’t even know what pills they were. What if two was too much? Or what if two killed him? She pulled out one. That should be enough.  
    With it tucked in her fist, Marisa stretched our her arms and faked a bit of a yawn until her right hand was directly over the man’s glass.
    All she had to do was let go. Should she? Was this going too far? Then she thought of Stephen and Savvy. Her fingers opened inch by inch. The man laughed and turned back to get his drink right as Marisa let go. After looking at her like she was a bit strange, the man went back to chatting.
    The pill hit the counter, dropped to the floor and rolled under the stools.
    Marisa’s throat tightened. Blood rushed in her ears. While fussing with the buttons on her grey silk shirt, she shot glances at the rest of the room to see if someone had noticed.  
    In the opposite corner, a couple entwined their arms and sipped each other’s wine. They wouldn’t notice a gunshot going off. An older guy, a bit on the sleazy side, seemed to be making his rounds with every single lady in the room.  
    Everyone else seemed absorbed in conversations and drinks.  
    Marisa let out a breath. She had one pill left.  
    She waited. And waited some more. She ordered a second round of seltzer but with lime this time. And she waited.
    Finally, the man ordered a second drink, walked to a plush leather seat, and pulled out his phone. Desperate measures were needed. She’d have to upgrade from wallflower status to get this job done and get back