’ ‘Don’t worry. It’s the end of a long work week.’ ‘We need to talk,’ she said. ‘Follow me to my house after work. It’s not far.’ ...I had no idea what was going to happen as I drove behind her and parked on the street in front of her darkened house. She unlocked the door, turned on a single light, and invited me into the living room where we sat on the sofa. ‘I’m not sure what you think of me,’ she began. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘That business in the warehouse. Let me explain. I never had much. Christ, I'm so hungry I could eat that liver raw."I was some worried. I had come up on Ronnie and Jimbo early this morning and now if Ronnie hadn't showed when he did, I might have been on my way to prison. That damned yearling had crossed right in front of us and we had been discussing how hungry we were. Jimbo shot him and we went to work planning on getting some meat into us. Well maybe we still would.I wasn't much into knowing about women. Hell, no one would consider me much anyway. I was. He was happy to let the police take the credit, and they were happy to get the help. His clients were glad to have their problems resolved.It was the following Tuesday that I had decided to stay a little later and talk to a couple of the operatives in the industrial espionage group. I phoned Natasha's apartment and left a message that I might be a little later getting back there. She usually got home just before five, and I didn't want her to worry if I wasn't there when she arrived.It was not. .. laughter? All four of them. Not cruel laughter either, something was funny. She suddenly realized her face didn't hurt.She opened her eyes. She watched as he stabbed the knife into her breast. It squished down beneath the blade, which itself bent sideways. A rubber stage prop knife. She was absolutely unharmed. "You shoulda seen your face," said the faux slasher, and burst into laughter again. He stood up and tossed the knife down onto the mattress beside her. She lost sight of them as they.