Eye for an Eye by Bev Robitai

wistful. ‘It would be cool to beat that bastard
Colwyn at his own game and con him into believing I was smitten by
him.’
    ‘Fat chance,
sis - you’re no actress! You haven’t got a devious bone in your
body. There’s no way you could be convincing as a rich guy’s
plaything!’
    ‘I could so!
Mike was going to teach me some acting stuff - he thought I could
do it.’
    ‘Yeah? He must
be desperate then! No, give it up, Rob. No Academy awards for you,
girl.’
    ‘The hell! I’m
going to bloody do it - you just watch! I’ll call you from his
apartment in a couple of days, betcha twenty bucks!’
    ‘No! Don’t you
dare even think about it!’ Pete’s voice squawked tinnily from the
phone as she removed it from her ear. ‘Listen to me, Robyn Mav-’
The rest of her name was lost as she hung up on him. Well, he’d
practically dared her, hadn’t he? And she’d never turned down a
dare. She fished Mike Kent’s card from her purse and dialled the
number.
    ‘Yo, Mike?
Robyn Taylor. About your idea for getting to Colwyn Symons. Let’s
bust some fraudulent ass. If you’re game to take me on and teach
me, I’m all yours.’
    ‘Well done,
Robyn!’ His voice was warm and encouraging. ‘I’m glad you’ve had a
change of heart. Let’s meet up and discuss some possibilities. Are
you free now? Can you find your way to the subway? The nearest
station to you is King. Head north to Bloor, change for Bathurst,
get off there and walk to Croft Street. I’ll meet you in the Croft
St Café in half an hour.’ He sounded so pleased and enthusiastic
that Robyn felt her spirits rising already. She wrote down his
instructions for finding the meeting place and set off to catch the
subway north at King station.
    While standing
on the platform, she suddenly smelt a rush of warm metallic air
from the dark tunnel and stood well back as the silver train rushed
past her. As it slowed, people around her surged forward, pushing
their way on board when the doors opened. Disembarking passengers
struggled to thread between them, heaving their bags or cases as
best they could.
    Robyn found
herself a seat just inside the door and looked around with wide
eyes. She had seen subway scenes in the movies and on TV plenty of
times, but it was a whole different feeling to be there in person.
She looked at the overhead maps and read the adverts, then darted
quick glances at her fellow passengers. They came in every colour
of the human rainbow, black, white, yellow, and a dozen different
shades of brown. Snatches of foreign languages drifted past her,
along with the scent of many different spices exuded from sweating
pores. It was both fascinating and unsettling at the same time.
    When the train
stopped at College Station, she turned towards the window and was
startled by a fierce face just inches from her own, masked and
threatening. Her breathing eased as she realised it was part of an
ice hockey mural on the station wall.
    She changed
trains at Bloor, switching to the westward line which took her to
Bathurst Station. From there it was just a short walk to Croft
Street where she found Mike Kent waiting in a quiet coffee shop. He
rose from his seat as she came in, smiling with a warmth that made
his grey eyes light up.
    ‘Hey, Robyn,
it’s great you could make it. What made you change your mind?’
    ‘You can blame
my brother Pete for that. Any time he said I couldn’t do something
as a kid, I had to go right out and do it to prove him wrong. When
I told him about your idea he said straight away there was no way I
could carry it off successfully. So naturally, here I am.’ She eyed
him sternly. ‘You’d better be able to pull this off, Mike. Pete’s a
world champion at gloating if I get things wrong.’
    Mike chuckled.
‘I have a sister who’s just the same – I know what you’re up
against. We’d better get down to business and make sure you can
ensnare our golden boy into letting you into his life.’
    She looked down
at herself.