"Ciggarette?" He asked warmly, smiling.

"Don't smoke." I replied.

The doctor seemed to shrug to himself as he pulled out a butt. Lighting it in the elevator and inhaling slowly.

"Smokings bad for your health. Did they forget to tell you that in medical school or something?"

Something about him struck me, kinda like when I first met Gail. Security and darkness, I think. He was calm for a doctor.

"No, I learned all about that in school, Beccy."

I could feel my own eyes widen with shock, my fingers itched for my cell phone. How the fuck did this creep know who I was? I would've remembered meeting him before.

"How'd you know my name."

"I overheard you talking to doctor Pierce."

Something was up. I walked into a trap. My tounge couldn't keep up with my heart and I found myself talking, stalling till the elevator stopped and I could escape.

"Do you normally eavesdrop on private conversations?"

"Who said it was private?"

Was this guy even a real doctor?

"A little thing called patient-doctor-confidentiality."

"Ah, I believe you've got me beat there. But I couldn't help it, you're so beautiful, I just wanted to talk to you alone."

He was fulla shit. I didn't like the way he was lookin at me.

"Hey, why don't you let me take you out to dinner? Get to know each other better. We can go somewhere nice, I promise."

I wouldn't trust thisscumbag if my life depended on it. In the back of my mind the thought popped up that it might. I was uneasy about accepting his offer, but maybe I could geta free dinner out of it. Maybe that's all he really wanted. Or maybe he only wanted to fuck me. I just got outa that, I didn't wanna get pulled back in but both of those sounded better then getting rubbed out. I think working in Oldtown for so long has made me cynical. I probably should've just gone home to my ma's.

"If you're trying to buy me or somethin, I ain't in that business anymore."

"No ma'am, I just want to take you out to dinner."

What was this mother fucker trying to pull? Guys like himdon't just take girls like me out to dinner. Maybe Gail sent him to kill me, or that mob guy, or a former client, or anyone. I've made a lot of enemies in my life. But his smile was charmin. And I'd already lived though that shoot out. Odds were in my favor. God wouldn't deliver me from one evil only to hand me over to the next.

"How did you really know my name?"

"A magician never reveals his secrets."

And he smiled his charming smile and I got closer to him only to feel cold steel. In my stomache.

"Just don't let my mom know-" I had to stop. Let some of the blood out of my body.

"I won't."

"Protect-" More blood. "her"

"I will."

My last thoughts were of his promise. The one he had to keep.