“Come on, Daddy,” Vanessa whispered. “Remember, we’ve got a job to do.”

“I know!”

“You worry me!”

“Why?”

“Damn you!”

“It’s different this time. Not the same, but this will work out.”

“Nope.”

I tightened the knot along my neck and dropped my cigarette in the porcelain urinal, as if to piss on the embers of my own humanity. “Think about it, V. Ain’t no different from them others.”

“I know,” she said. “But it is.” There was a world-weary tone in her voice that belied her age.

“Like I said to you. Ain’t never been better.” It was a lie. I lit another cigarette and zipped up my pants. Truth was that I was scared shitless and even I didn’t know why. She was right. There was something different about killing this time. I couldn’t explain it.

“Let’s get out of here, Daddy,” V said. “This don’t feel right.”

“I know.”

“Then let’s bolt. Come on!”

“Wait for it.”

“Huh?”

“Quiet,” I whispered, exiting the men’s room and pulling her into the closet. The sounds of police sirens echoed up the church parking lot.