She sat in the parking lot of the mall, just letting the world move around her. Watching nothing, seeing everything. She watched the cars that drove into the lot, then she watched for people not getting out of them. She watched the people walking in to the mall, and she watched for people looking around. Most people where in a hurry. They had money to spend, or credit to diminish. They were quick to get out of their cars and make their way out of the cold.
She was good at what she did and part of the reason she had been in the game for so long was because she was suspicious of everyone, well, almost everyone. She could never understand the connection they had to California. It was a thin string and it had become taut at times but one that had to this day, yet to be broken, no matter how many years passed.
If she was being honest with herself, this move did make her nervous, it was big. To go after this caliber of people was huge and almost unthinkable, it was the big time. It was different from all the other times. There was no turning now back though, they had put the ball in motion last night and there was no stopping it now.
Maybe they should have stayed out of this one but even as she had the thought a thin smile crossed her face in resignation. This was the life they lived, things had to be done, decisions made and consequences paid. She checked her pistol one last time, tucked it in her holster and stepped out of the rental car.
He watched her get out of the car. She was still gorgeous. He watched a body he had come to know very well a long time ago. There had been occasions to get reacquainted but it was never enough time for him. She was someone that he knew he would do almost anything for at one time. He didn't understand the connection they had, had. They had met so many years ago, but she had meant as much to him as anyone that has followed since. She was a part of what made him the man he was today and that meant something.
As he watched he couldn't understand the emotions that that filled his heart and the conflict that tumbled in his mind. There was confusion at how much things had changed. He weighed heavy with the decisions he had made and the things he set in motion that brought them here today. He had wanted nothing more than to keep her out of the game from the first day they had met all those years ago, but she would have none of it. With every move he made toward that, he seemed to inevitably pull her in deeper, year after year.
Very well he thought. He had tried, what followed was out of his hands. More than that, he was starting to understand that it was unavoidable, it had to happen, it was how they lived, and it was his place to bring it about. Like he said, a lot of things had changed including what they meant to each other. He had started to realize this a while ago. Her sister was a little more cautious by nature but she was in just as deep. They were drawn to the money, who wouldn't be? They were drawn to the excitement, the danger, it was a rush that not many people would ever know.
He watched thru the glass doors of the mall. He was far enough back so that she couldn't see him.
She weaved thru the cars, making her way vigilantly, people walking around her. He noticed her demeanor. She knew she was in danger, smart girl he smiled to himself. Apparently not smart enough if he was watching her make her way to him unawares. She was nervous, he could see it with every step she took. Nobody else would notice but he knew that body. He had watched every curve as she undressed for him time after time. He had seen how her muscles mover together when she was at easy and he had seen how tight they were when she wasn't.
She was wearing a short tight top and loose skirt. He couldn't see her eyes but he knew they were darting around, taking everything in. He watched her move, the top she wore, black and hugging her every curve. It started just above the waist of her skirt showing a suggestive amount of skin as she walked. Her body was fit, partly from working out, mostly from genetics. The clingy material climbed over her skin, up her body stretching over her breast. Breast he had loved, caressed and paid countless attentions too. Her skin was the color of a soft caramel, coming from some Native American ancestor somewhere down the line.
As she walked, her skirt hung off her beautiful hips. It was a pattern of blue and white flowers and sat low down her waist, having no chance of ever meeting the material of the black top. She had legs that others imagined wrapped around them. He didn't have to imagine, those were memories no one could take away from him. Feeling her thighs, squeezing his waist, trying to bring him into her, trying to make them one. He knew the pleasure of running his hands up and down those soft thighs.
As he basked in those memories, he watched her coming to him for the last time. He knew she was armed. She, like him almost always was with good reason. This woman carried two weapons on her at all times. One in a holster somewhere on her person. The other he could just make out as he took a step back and pushed open the door to the service hall just behind him. The last thing he saw before he walked thru it was the very edge of the life size Sig Saur tattooed on her right hip.
The door clicked close behind her as she stood still in the service hall. Sarah didn't like this at all. She, along with her sister had been involved in a risky game most of their adult lives. There was only one winner, they understood that, but it didn't stop them from getting pulled in, deeper and deeper, time after time. If she was being completely honest, people had gone to great lengths most of their lives to keep them out of danger. This wasn't always possible but she knew Cindy and she had more than one guardian angel in their business.