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more. The final straw came when a door slammed, and I jumped nearly a foot in the air with a small scream in my throat before Daniel had me, holding me in one arm while his eyes constantly scanned the hallway around us. “Come on,” he said, talking softly in my ear and walking me along.
    We ended up going all the way out of Seattle and south a little bit, stopping along the coastline at a random resort town and picking out a cafe. “You looked like you could use the break,” Daniel said when he got on the Interstate. “There was no way you were getting any more learning done today, not with the way you're looking.”
    “Thanks, I guess,” I said simply, resting my head against the headrest of my seat and letting him drive. I dozed off until we got off the Interstate and was charmed by his choice of where to take me. “Where'd you find this place?”
    “I've never been here before, and I bet neither have you,” he said. “You know the coastline is filled with little spots like this—there's gotta be a cake and coffee shop somewhere along here. It's something I learned in the past few years. If you really want to disappear, just do something you've never done before. You'd be surprised at how most people are just creatures of habit.”
    The shop was actually not all that great, with easily identifiable store-bought cake and coffee that looked and tasted like it had been found in a glass jar along with its freeze-dried cousins five minutes before we ordered it, but it was exactly what I needed. We sat on the back porch of the cafe, listening to the sound of the ocean in the distance. The sun was warm, and I felt myself relax as I sipped at the mug. “Thanks again, Daniel. How'd you know this would help me?”
    “Part of what makes me good at what I do is judging people. See who would be worth giving a little bit of slack to, and who needs the stick. And of course, other things,” he said evasively. I understood though. I knew what Daniel was and what he'd done. There was blood on his hands for sure.
    “Can I ask you some questions about what you do for my Uncle?” I asked. It wasn't that I was ignorant, but everyone liked to keep me at an arm's distance from the criminal side of the family. Despite Carlo’s utter disregard for the law and those who enforced it, he knew that he led a life that ended with a high chance of death by violence. After what happened to my father, he didn't want that for me.
    “I’ll tell you, but not here,” Daniel said simply, taking a forkful of his slice of cake.
    I nodded, realizing it was probably a stupid question to ask in public.
    We finished up and left our plates along with a fifty cent tip on them in order to hold down the napkins in the coastal breeze, driving the two blocks to the beach. Summer vacation was over, so it wasn't too crowded, and walking along the sand, we found a spot after ten minutes or so that was relatively isolated. “Here’s fine,” Daniel said, sitting down. “What is it that you want to know?”
    “What exactly is your duty for my Uncle?” I had an idea, but I wanted to hear it rather than just assume.
    “Any and everything he wants me to do,” Daniel said simply. “Are you trying to ask if I’ve done hits for the Don?”
    “Actually, I wanted to know how much you've done, or how many,” I replied. “I figured by this point, you'd have messed at least a few people up.”
    “I have,” he said, no guilt at all in his voice. Instead, he talked about it like any other sort of professional with a slightly distasteful job would talk about their work. “And more. I haven't kept count, but I've intentionally done four so far.”
    “So far?” I asked, shocked. “You're planning on having to kill more?”
    “If I’m asked to. I owe him my life, Adriana. And I will say, all four were not the sort of people who were worth much in terms of being noble members of society. All were people who deserved what they got, in my opinion. Don't take