Nancy enters the penthouse

The ride in the elevator to the top floor went by in a flash as Nancy felt a surge of adrenaline coursing through her veins, her body getting primed for a mission, albeit a quite different one than she usually partook in. Less bullets and more cleavage…

With a ‘ping’ the elevator doors slid open and Nancy stepped out into the hallway. A brief look around and she spotted the right door, slowly making her way over it. It was time! Taking a deep breath to calm herself one final time before things got started, she slowly blew the air out of her lungs, closing her eyes, focusing.

“Here we fucking go…” she muttered, lifting her fist and rapping her knuckles against the smooth, polished wood of the door. She felt a knot of nervousness in the pit of her stomach as she waited, a primal flight instinct screaming at her to run as she heard footfalls approaching the door from the other side.

Realizing that her teeth were clenched, Nancy relaxed her jaw just as the door swung open, forcing a wide smile on her face.

“Well, hello!” Dean Mendes’ smooth voice immediately sent a tingle up her spine, reminding her of every flashy con-artist she had ever encountered. Her fake smile widened to cover her dislike and she was aware that it didn’t look honest, but that wasn’t a problem. Anxiousness fit her cover story of an amateur model going for her first professional photo shoot quite well.

Dean Mendes was a tall, lanky man. In his mid-forties, his hair was more grey than black at this point and he made an effort to hide the fact that his hairline was receding by using some product. His wide, aggressively charming smile was likely to put people at ease, but Nancy’s experience made her aware that it did not reach his eyes, which looked cold and calculating behind the smart, modern glasses. He was clean shaven, his outfit – black suit pants and a white shirt with the top button undone - looked fashionable casual. In one hand he already held an expensive-looking camera while extending his other to her.

“Nancy Perez?!” he asked. Fletcher had used her maiden name for her appointment, arguing that a familiar name would keep her reaction time more inconspicuous in stressful situations. Nancy hadn’t much liked the idea, but now hearing her old name gave her a strange comfort, putting her a little more at ease.

“Mr. Mendes!” she took his hand with a smile. It felt cold against her skin. “Th-thank you so much for giving me this appointment!”

“Oh, it is my pleasure! In fact, once I saw your portrait, I knew you were exactly the kind of woman I was looking for! Also, please call me Dean!” he replied, stepping aside. “Please, come in! I see that you already changed into your bikini for the shoot?!”

“Yeah, I did!” Nancy followed his invitation, stepping over the threshold and into the room, “I booked a room here and changed so I wouldn’t steal much of your time…”

“Oh, that wouldn’t have been necessary! You could have just changed in the bathroom here!” Shutting the door, Mendes followed her into the suite, taking the folded papers from her hand. “That’s my paperwork, I assume? Perfect!”

As Mendes briefly checked the pages to see if his victim had put all the signatures into all the right places, Nancy took the opportunity to look around.

The penthouse suite was lavish, to say the least. All marble and polished wood, the main room was outfitted with a seating corner with a few leather couches, a TV, hi-fi equipment, a dining area with a huge table and a bar with a display that promised to satisfy any need imaginable with an array of expensive bottles on display.

Doors to the other rooms were wide open, showing off a bathroom that was bigger than the entire room that Fletcher was currently waiting in downstairs. Nancy could see a walk-in shower with glass doors and a Jacuzzi, bubbling away, looking like it was ready and just waiting to be entered. The bedroom revealed a huge, four-poster bed with soft, white sheets and flowing drapes, and both main and bedroom were equipped with floor-length windows, filling them with warm sunlight and revealing a giant, terracotta-tiled terrace where Nancy could see several loungers as well as a large pool.

“Wow,” she said, not even having to pretend to be impressed.

“Yeah!” Mendes grinned, putting the signed papers away, certain that all was done to his content, “It’s quite something, huh? Quite a site fee to pay, but that should show in the pictures too…”

Nancy glanced at him. For a moment she considered just jumping the creep. She knew she could take him rather easily. Hold him down, beat him up until he gave up the pictures of Izzy. Teach him a lesson and get this over with quick. On the other hand, this was an off-the-books kind of mission. Destroying his **** material was one thing, but physical **** was something else and if Mendes went after his attacker legally, she could get into deep shit…

“Well,” Mendes broke her train of thought, getting her attention and lifting the camera with a smile, “Shall we get started?”