"Panicking won't help, Richard."
He stood up, emptying his mug in the sink and rinsing it automatically. He turned, leaning his butt against the cabinets, arms crossed over his chest. "You need a clear head to plan?"
I nodded. "Yeah."
He stared at us. I watched him thinking about something serious. He finally said, "I don't understand how the two of you can be calm. I'm shocked that someone has put a contract out on Anita. Neither of you is shocked."
I looked at Edward, and he looked back at me. We had one of those moments of perfect understanding, and I knew I couldn't explain it to Richard. I wasn't even sure I could explain it to myself. "I've stayed alive this long because I don't react the way most people react."
"You've stayed alive because you're willing to do things other people aren't."
I nodded. "That, too."
His face was very serious, like a little boy asking about the facts of life. "Let me ask one stupid question; then I'll shut up."
I shrugged. "Ask away."
"Anita says she doesn't enjoy killing. That she feels nothing when she kills."
I realized then that the question was going to be for Edward. I wasn't sure how that would go over.
"Do you enjoy killing?"
Edward sat very still in his chair, drinking his coffee quietly. His blue eyes were as neutral and unreadable as any vampire's, and in some ways just as dead. I wondered for the first time if my eyes ever looked like that. "Why do you want to know?"
"I agreed to kill Marcus," Richard said. "I've never killed anyone."
Edward stared up at him. He set his coffee down carefully and met Richard's eyes. "Yes."
"Yes, you enjoy killing?" Richard asked.
Edward nodded.
Richard was waiting for him to explain. You could see it in his face.
"He's answered your question, Richard."
"But does he enjoy the sensation of killing? Is it physical? Or is it the planning that he enjoys?"
Edward picked up his coffee.
"The question and answer session is over, Richard," I said.
A look halfway between stubbornness and frustration crossed Richard's face. "But 'yes,' doesn't tell me anything."
"After you kill Marcus," Edward said, "you can ask the question again."
"And you'll answer it?" Richard asked.
Edward gave the barest of nods.
For the first time, I realized that Edward liked Richard. Not as a friend, maybe, but he didn't think Richard was a complete waste of time.
Richard stared into Edward's face for a long time, then shook his head. "Okay." He sat back down. "No more questions. What's the plan?"
I smiled at him. "To keep the hitter from killing me."
"That's your entire plan?" Richard asked.