Free Eye for an Eye by Bev Robitai Page A

advertising a
‘Mobile executive grooming and hair care service’. Then she
purchased a white clinician’s coat from a surplus store, and a
cooling gel eye mask from a drugstore. Combined with her
battery-operated shaver, scissors, towel and a few combs, she
thought it made a pretty convincing package.
    Back in her
room, she used a temporary hair dye to change her own appearance,
cautiously reading the instructions and following them to the
letter. Once she’d rinsed her hair she looked in the mirror and
gasped at the transformation from blonde to redhead. It made her
feel like a completely different person, one who might just get
away with the scam she was about to attempt. She put on her
shortest skirt and some high shoes, and packed her useful camera
bag with the hair-cutting equipment and the white coat.
    On the way to
Colwyn’s apartment she found the nearest chemist and asked for a
make-up demonstration, explaining that she was trying for a role as
hairdresser in a play. By the time the assistant had finished
enthusiastically demonstrating mascara, eye shadow, lip gloss and
blusher, Robyn was confident that her own brother wouldn’t have
recognised her.
    She entered the
foyer of Colwyn’s apartment building, smiled sweetly at the doorman
and picked up the lobby phone. The code for his apartment was
handily listed and she punched it in with trembling fingers. He
picked up with a crisp ‘Yes?’ and she began her spiel, selling the
concept of a home haircut for busy businessmen, and putting on a
slight American accent to throw him off the scent.
    ‘Our view is
that a busy executive always needs to look his best, even when he
doesn’t have the time to go to a stylist. Our trained operators can
have you looking as if you just stepped out of a salon in a
fraction of the time it would take to go to one. May we set up an
appointment for you?’ She could feel his hesitation. ‘If you book
right now, the second visit is free, that’s our special for
August.’
    ‘Oh all right,
you’ve talked me into it. I guess I’m due for a haircut, and
today’s pretty quiet –could you get here this morning?’
    ‘I’ll send one
of our top operators over immediately, sir. We’re based downtown so
it will only take a few minutes.’
    She retreated
to a nearby coffee shop to wait for the few minutes, allowing her
nerves to subside. After downing the last of her cup of tea, she
returned to the apartment building and buzzed him again, trying to
alter her voice as she announced herself.
    He opened the
door when she knocked, seemed to accept her appearance as being
appropriate to her trade, and invited her in. Her heart raced as
she walked past him into the apartment, and it was all she could do
not to gasp at the luxurious surroundings. The view over the lake
was spectacular, prompting her to wonder bitterly if Colwyn was
paying the rent for this little slice of paradise with the money
he’d stolen from her father.
    Barely
suppressing her natural urge to strangle him, Robyn sat him down in
front of the vanity unit in the bathroom and clipped a towel round
his shoulders. Then she pulled the eye mask from her bag and
settled it gently on his face, covering his eyes completely.
    ‘We like to
give our clients a chance to relax, since you have to sit still
anyway sir. Just let yourself go while I take care of
everything.’
    Nervousness
made her voice go high, but it was appropriately squeaky for the
bimbo role she was trying to play, and she managed to keep up the
accent for the little she said to him. It took great self-control
to steady her hands, and to refrain from squeezing them round his
throat now that she finally had him in front of her. But the
revenge she had in mind would be longer-lasting than a few moments
of common assault.
    She ran a comb
through his hair and got to work with the scissors, taking time to
get both sides even. She’d had plenty of practice cutting Pete’s
hair and her father’s, and she was no