Last Chance Hero. Melinda Di Lorenzo

       Prologue

      From his spot on the hotel balcony, Corey “the Nose” Waller watched as the guy in the ball cap smiled at the courier, who handed over a slim envelope. He’d had Ball Cap under close surveillance for a week now, and the man’s unflappable politeness was making the Nose itch. Tipping coffee servers. Holding the door open for old men. Chasing after some young mother when her baby lost his shoe in a puddle and the woman didn’t notice.

      “Do-gooder,” the Nose muttered, pulling the binoculars away from his face for a disgusted second.

      Over twelve months of solid tracking, and he could scarcely believe this was the man who’d fooled his employers for the past decade. Someone who had—just this morning—returned a damned hundred-dollar bill to a guy who walked away from an ATM without it. But the Nose had earned his nickname well; his bloodhound abilities were rarely wrong. Everything had led him here. All he needed now was proof.

      He lifted the binoculars back up. The courier was laughing at something Ball Cap had said. He gave the other man a friendly slap on the shoulder. The Nose rolled his eyes. Two minutes in and they were best friends. Awful. A whole other minute of chatting went by before the courier finally turned to go. Ball Cap, though, continued to stand in the street, holding the envelope up to the light.

      “C’mon,” the Nose urged. “Open it up where I can see you do it.”

      He said it partly because it would be easier to report the proof that way. But mostly, he just plain wanted to ruin Ball Cap’s day. Inject a little misery into all that kindness.

      The Nose waited patiently, counting up. He only made it as far as twenty-seven before he got his wish. The other man slipped his thumb to the seal and forced the envelope open. He reached in, pulled out the thin sheet inside, then lifted his eyes. And even though the Nose knew he was too far away to be seen, he could feel Ball Cap searching him out. He made himself ignore the feeling, and continued to watch.

      The other man was clearly affected by what he’d seen. Trying not to panic, maybe. His eyes flicked up and down the street. Seeing nothing, he shifted from foot to foot, tapping the envelope and its contents on his knee.

      The Nose smiled to himself. That’s right. Twitch, you big suck. Go back inside and hide some more. Make your getaway plan.

      Satisfied that his search had come to an end, he started to lower the binoculars. Then stopped. Ball Cap had started to move, but he didn’t turn to go back into his apartment. Instead, he took off down the street at a dead run.

      “Crap.”

      The Nose dug into his pocket in search of his phone. He hit speed dial one. A deep, already angry voice answered on the second ring.

      “What?”

      The Nose didn’t bother to hide his concern. “I think we’re gonna have a problem. He’s on the run.”

      “Oh, hell.”

      “Yeah. You want me to go after him?”

      There was a pause. “No. He knows we’ve got him now. He’ll stay hidden and he’s too good at it.”

      “What, then?”

      Another pause. “Just a sec.”

      The Nose tapped his thigh impatiently as the phone became muffled. What the hell could be more important than this? A few moments later, he got the answer.

      A new voice—more refined and calmer than the first—came on the line. “Mr. Waller?”

      Puzzled to hear his own name, he answered carefully. “Yeah?”

      “Corey ‘the Nose’ Waller?”

      “Yeah.” He was impatient now. “Who’s this?”

      “The man calling the shots.”

      The Nose swallowed, suddenly very nervous. “Uh...”

      “You’ve done a fine job finding the target.”

      “Thank you.”

      “Now I need you to do something else for us. For me.”

      The Nose cleared his throat. “Okay.”

      “Go after the girl.”

      “Me? I’m not much of a—”

      “You are now. How far away are you?”

      “Few hours by car.”

      “Good. You should have more than enough time.”

      The Nose tried again to protest. “I really don’t—”

      “You’re fast and efficient and she won’t be expecting you. Make it scary. I want her terrified.”

      “Not...dead?”

      A cool laugh came from the other end. “No. I want him. I can use him. And if we have her, he’ll come straight to us.”