A Guardian Angel by Phoenix Williams Page A

of the turns along the way. He picked Andy up an
hour and a half later.
    “How did it
go?” was the the first thing Steven said to the assassin when
he climbed into his car.
    “The plan is
the same,” Andy replied, showing more of his anguish than he
intended to. Steven picked up on it.
    “What did he
say?” he asked.
    “That the
plan is the same,” Andy said, and with that Steven asked
nothing more of him and they drove back to the house in silence.
    “I want to
join you on surveillance,” Andy said once he had taken his coat
off and hung it by the door. There was a desperate tone in his voice.
    “Andy, you
know she's already seen you,” Steven replied. “It's
risky. If she were to see you – ”
    “Please,”
Andy interrupted. Steven was silenced by the look on Andy's face.
“Steven, please.”
    The data collector
sighed as he peered into his new friend's eyes. “Okay,”
Steven said. Then he gave a warm smile, something that Andy didn't
expect due to his own rotten mood. “I'll be glad to have you.”

    Andy didn't hear
Steven when he spoke. Or rather, he didn't listen. Every word was
loud enough but none of them made it to his brain because he was too
busy staring out of the window, through the apartment's glass door,
at Haley Flynn.
    “Andy!”
Steven said, raising his volume to a level that he felt uncomfortable
with. Andy looked over at him. The data collector waited for
recognition in Andy's eyes. “What kind of dirt do you even
imagine we'll ever find on her?” he repeated.
    He forgot that this
was what Steven thought the two of them were doing in the first
place. “Probably nothing,” he answered. He was being
honest. There was nothing he could ever imagine them finding out
about her that would do anything to put a dent into her perfect
reputation. “Graves will probably end up having me make up some
bullshit that could be confirmed by our vague details. Like that man
there,” he pointed out the man Haley now hugged in front of the
glass. “At first glance, it looks like there might be some sort
of scandalous relationship going on here, if you knew nothing about
her. That's the kind of stories writers like me go off on.”
    “Yeah, but
like I said, that's her brother,” Steven said.
    “Exactly. We
know that because we've gone the extra mile and investigated. But if
you were to capture this scene and omit that information, what else
would you see?” Andy explained. “Assumptions are always
wrong,” he looked to his friend. “One way or another.”
    “We need
something much more substantial to give Graves,” Steven was
quick to answer. “Come on, don't you care?” He didn't
like his task simplified so much.
    An idea hit Andy as
a memory returned to him at the moment. “She gave me her
number,” he started. “She asked me for a date.”
    Steven was
skeptical. “She what?” he mumbled.
    Andy retrieved the
indicated note and showed Steven. “Number. Date. I'm going to
call her,” Andy decided.
    “Why didn't
you mention this before?” Steven sat up in his car seat,
staring at his new friend. He seemed to consider him, pondering
something about him that he seemed to like as he started the car.
“Okay,” he broke the silence with a little sparkle in his
eyes. “Have her tell you everything herself.”

-Chapter Seven-
    Dinner

    Haley Flynn was
beautiful. She had slipped into an exquisite ruby dress that hugged
at her curves but left most of her more intimate features a mystery.
Small silver flames dangled from her ears, a unique earring Andy had
never seen before. She was dressed up in a gorgeous outfit, which
Andy used as an icebreaker.
    “I was
beginning to think you would never call,” she said in response.
She grabbed her bag from behind the door and then stepped out into
the brisk air, closing it behind her. “I'm glad you did.”
    “Me too,”
Andy said, leading her over to Steven's car. It had to be cleaned
out, a grueling task that he was more than glad he