Mick: Kingston Corruption, Book One

by Vester, Jennifer

  “So,” Mason continued. “Alex asks if I was planning on going back to the force. I told him those guys could go fuck themselves. Then he asks if I want to do a few things for him. For pay.”

  “Is it legal?” I asked.

  Jack and Mason looked at each other for a second then they both answered. “Mostly.”

  I groaned.

  Mason held up his hand. “Before you assume, just listen. It’s mostly legal because we took the exam, and we're waiting on our private investigator licenses to come in. Technically legal because we’re contracted right now by a defense attorney and we’re not doing anything major.”

  “Okay, so why the excitement?” I asked.

  “He says he has the licenses. So, we’re good to go. Come with us.”

  “Eh, I’ll pass.”

  Mason thumped me in the chest with one of his hands. “Come on. I was going to see if you wanted to check it out anyway. You’re out of the house, and you’re still out of whiskey. You can come take a look and go by the liquor store after. There’s one just down the block.”

  “You make me sound like an alcoholic.”

  He shrugged. “Nah, just glad to see you out of the house. You can go hide again later.”

  I nodded. The sad fact was, that I planned to go right back there afterward and do exactly what he said. Work out in his home gym, drink, and try to sleep. Tomorrow, wash, rinse, repeat. But the look in my brother’s eyes was hopeful. Like he wanted me to see this. He’d been my steady support for the last few months and I owed him one.

  “Yeah, man. I’ll go.”

  Chapter Four

  Alisa

  By the time Monday rolled around, I was more than ready to forget about Mick. At least I thought I was, after not receiving any texts back from him all weekend.

  Then Tuesday came and went while I settled into my new job helping my brother. No texts from Mick.

  Wednesday I had a phone interview with Nelson Hospital for a position as an assistant in their substance abuse department. I was overqualified, but it was a start. They called me back later in the day and told me that, although I had the license, they were looking for experience.

  “How am I supposed to get experience if I’m not hired somewhere?” I asked the HR rep.

  She answered nicely, “Well, you might want to try something like an out-patient clinic. On paper you have everything, but we’re looking for a certain kind of fit in that department. Experience really helps. Or maybe a sponsor.”

  “I see. Thank you,” I replied then hurried to get off the phone.

  I slumped in my chair feeling discouraged. It was only my first interview, but I’d felt certain that it was the best position I’d applied for out of the dozen of applications I’d sent.

  My thoughts drifted back to Mick as I sat at my desk chewing on a nail. I’d been daydreaming about him for three days. He was just an interesting man I met at a bar, nothing more. Plenty of people met at clubs, drank and talked without getting involved. There was nothing unusual about it. They might run into each other later and just say hello. That was it.

  But when I thought of Mick, his square, unshaven jaw, the way he looked distant and yet focused, I wanted to talk with him again. He was complex. There were multiple layers there that I wanted to peel back and examine.

  He warned me about the club and the things he saw, yet he made no move to take advantage that night. I was incredibly buzzed on the way home and ready for bed. Although, I wasn’t sure I was completely opposed to being in his bed when I got home. When he mentioned it the next day, it sent some seriously dirty thoughts through my head on what that might be like.

  I’d never seduced a man. Had I been seduced? Yes. I’d lost my V-card right after I graduated high school. I knew the mechanics of sex, but my experience so far was that it just seemed so awkward and not especially enjoyable. After that, I didn’t really have much time, and meeting guys at a private women’s college was difficult to say the least.

  I wasn’t one of those women that was determined to find someone through sex. Like Monica and her friends. I also didn’t particularly “hunt” men. Again, like Monica and her friends. Which is why I had no “game” according to Monica, and most likely couldn’t keep Mick interested if I tried.

  But I found him interesting, nonetheless. After a few internet searches on Tuesday, because I wasn’t obsessed at all, I found out his age. He was quite a bit older than I was, but for some reason it didn’t bother me at all.

  He’d also been a wide receiver, whatever that was, for the Notre Dame football team. Graduated, then disappeared. Not a lot on the internet past that point. Even when I tried various combinations of his name and typed in keywords, dates, places. Nada. However, on a positive note, I also couldn’t find a marriage record or social media account with some girlfriend hanging off his arm.

  Which really made me wonder who Mick was. Why was there not a wife? Or at least a significant other? He was hot as hell.

  I wasn’t obsessed. Just curious about the man I’d been dreaming about for the last three days and wondering why my body felt so restless all the time when I thought about him. There were only so many times I could wake up needing to touch myself to the thought of him before I went crazy.

  Looking around at the stack of files on the big desk in my brother’s office, I wondered what I was doing here.

  I’d learned this week that although I’d gone to college, and learned how to alphabetize in elementary school, I was delegated to organizing things. As if it was the only good use of my skills.

  I hated everything about this situation and wondered if I should have stayed back in Connecticut to get a job that I wanted. But funds were tight for a college student and I’d only worked part-time, so it was the position I was in.

  The door opened, and my brother stuck his head in. “Alisa, I’m headed to the funeral, do you need anything?”

  “Nope.” I said rather tartly while making sure the documents in one of his files was in the right order.

  “Hey,” he said, drawing my attention to him. He stepped in the room and shut the door.

  “What?”

  “Look, I know you’re not happy here, but it’s something until you find a job somewhere else, right?”

  I shrugged.

  My brother was a good man, no matter what people thought about lawyers. He’d always been kind to me even when our parents were less than interested in my life. He was tall, with dark hair, just like our father. He had the same large build and stern voice when he got upset. The difference lay in his personality without all the degrees and titles. He was one thing in public and a different person with me. He was kind and I’d always admired him.

  By the time I entered my teens he was already in college. It didn’t mean he kept up with me any less. When he was home, he made the effort to spend time with me. Growing up in a house where your gender was seen as a handicap rather than a blessing, it felt good to be doted on by the golden child, who didn’t care either way.

  I’d learned very early on that my position in the family was looked at more in terms of who I could marry and produce future generations with. It was laughable in this day and age, but there it was. And I was the only woman in my family, that I knew of, that didn’t give a shit about wealth, politics or marrying into either. Money didn’t mean anything if you couldn’t look at yourself in the mirror in the morning. My mother was proof of that.

  “Are you saving to move?” he asked as he came around the table.

  “I’ve got enough now, I just don’t want to move somewhere that’s awful. I think I found a place yesterday. I just need to put a deposit down.”

  He leaned against the table. “Tell you what, call them and I’ll pay the deposit and whatever fees they need. I don’t want you to stay with mom and dad any more than you have to. It’s not good for you.”

  Sighing, I looked up at him. “I need to do this on my own.”

  “You’re miserable. There’s nothing wr
ong with letting me help you out. Pay it back at some point when you get your dream job and we’ll call it a loan.”

  Standing up, I hugged him, and he rubbed my back. “It’s good to have you home. But I want you to be happy. It’s never going to happen in that house.”

  I nodded against his shoulder, tears threatening to spill. There was so much he understood about me, about my history. Being ashamed of myself for so long, then being sent away due to my parent’s disapproval.

  He leaned back and looked at me. “Phone number, desk, sticky note with hearts. Pronto. I have to run, but I’ll call them when I get back. Or Melanie will, whatever. You know what? Scratch that, just give it to Melanie and she’ll take care of it. You know I’m terrible with that shit.”

  “Thank you, Alex,” I whispered. “I’ll pay you back, I promise.”

  He shrugged and gestured at the mess around us. “No big deal. Just help me out for a while and don’t disappear. I’m not built for this mess. It just pisses me off.”

  “How the hell do you even keep up with it if you’re on a case?”

  Opening the door to leave, he glanced back at me. “One word. Interns. You might even get to meet a few. Okay, have to run. Your uncle’s funeral.”

  I grimaced. “Yeah, no. Never my uncle. He was so weird all the time. Always hanging around the house.”

  He smirked. “I never claimed him either. Total ass. But I have to make an appearance. I have to go pick up Heather, if I’m late she’ll have a conniption.”

  I shrugged. “Let her?”

  He chuckled then his smile dropped. “Yeah. Well, appearances, right? Take off for the day. Go shop or do something fun.”

  I nodded and smiled at him as he left. Then grimaced as he shut the door, thinking of his girlfriend, Heather. She was a piece of work and I had no idea why Alex dated her.

  A happy feeling bubbled up in me at the news that I’d be moving into my own place sooner rather than later.

  I wanted to share it with someone, but the friends I’d made at college wouldn’t exactly understand. None of them came from the same background it seemed. A small city with a lot of secrets. Where the name of the city started from a decent lineage that had become broken and twisted as the years passed.

  I thought about sharing my news with Monica. Even at her worst, she at least understood what it was like growing up as a King. But as my finger hovered over the button to call her, I hesitated. I didn’t want her to think it was an open invitation for partying at my house. I was close to her when we were growing up, and still enjoyed our friendship in a lot of ways. But we’d also changed.

  Even though she complained about her family, she was yet another King that was confined to living up to the name. Her father was entrenched in land development around the city and it’d been very profitable. She stood to inherit millions one day if the family gossip was true, which it generally was. I knew it was why she acted out. Why she was so wild. She hated the destiny that sat before all of us and strained against the small box they’d built for us.

  Before leaving, I finished two more files for Alex and placed them neatly with the other ones I’d completed.

  It was well into the afternoon when I left, and I didn’t want to go home. There was a window of time that was best for my return to the house. I took advantage of it as much as I could in order to avoid conflict.

  Around four-o-clock, my mother would start drinking and popping prescription pills. She’d pass out or be confined to her sitting room, doing whatever it was that she did for the rest of the night at that point, with very few instances where she’d emerge.

  My father, who avoided her, and his family in general, apart from occasional meetings with Alex, would come home late, quite often smelling of perfume and liquor. It wasn’t hard to catch the tell-tale signs of someone who was cheating. It disgusted me in every way. I felt sorry for my mother at first but from what I’d learned early on, she knew very well what he’d been doing. Sadly, it seemed that she was apathetic about the behavior, or was so in love with her pills that she’d become immune to it. For all I knew, she was probably fucking someone else too.

  Since the office was downtown, I took advantage of being near several small Mom and Pop restaurants in the area. I’d visited four so far, but my favorite was owned by the Parkers. Small, deli meat to go, but also had sandwiches and cupcakes. I was addicted to the cupcakes more than anything. The Parker family was just a nice perk to the place.

  Generally, David and Geri, worked the place but on occasion their son, Heath, would help. I knew him from high school and he was one of the people that was flirty, but nice to all the girls. He seemed happy, even now, working with his family after all these years, and I envied his situation. I would sometimes imagine what it might be like to have parents that were so normal.

  Walking in, Heath called out to me. He was tall, and lanky with brown hair and had a couple of dimples that always peeked out when he laughed. He glanced in my direction as he sliced some sort of meat for a customer ahead of me in line.

  “Alisa! You’re back again. Same as last time?”

  I nodded and smiled. “Yes, please.”

  He wrapped up what he was doing with the tall businesswoman in front of me and started on my order. The smell of the shop always made my mouth water. A mixture of bakery and roasted something that made me want to eat my weight in whatever they were selling.

  “How are things? Getting settled in okay?” he asked as he set my bag on the counter.

  “Yeah, I’m good. You?”

  “Can’t complain,” he said with a smile.

  “Got some good news today. I’m getting my own place.”

  He laughed. “Definitely good news. Still working for your brother?”

  “He’s helping me out with it actually. And yes, I’m still working there for the time being. Had an interview, but it didn’t go so well. Just applying where I can.”

  He rang up my order and I paid.

  When I grabbed my bag from the counter, he smiled. “Hey, if you want to go out and celebrate, let me know. Or just go catch a movie or something.”

  The thought of hanging out with him sometime was tempting. He had a laid-back personality and always seemed affable. I was sure that he’d make an easy friend with no outwardly crazy streak like Monica and her crew. But I wasn’t entirely certain that he meant it in a friendly way, and didn’t have other designs in mind. Dating him wouldn’t be bad, but I didn’t feel that way about him.

  Unsure of how to answer him, I nodded. “Sure, maybe sometime. A lot of stuff to get settled right now, but I’ll let you know.”

  He shrugged. “Great, you know where I am. Maybe you can have a housewarming party or something. Oh, hey, they’re having a grand opening of a gallery near here in the next couple of weeks. You should go, the artist that’ll be on exhibit is local supposedly, but no one knows who they are. It’s apparently a big secret. Operating under some fake name or something.”

  Laughing, I wiggled my eyebrows. “Probably has something to hide. The mystery! I’m sure it’ll be a swarm of people going just to figure it out.”

  “I’m going just to see who it is. Fuck the art, this is far more interesting.”

  “Oh, my God. I forgot how gossipy Kingston was. Probably just someone that knows how to market based on the suspense of it all.”

  “Maybe,” he smirked. “See you there if you’re interested.”

  “Sure,” I said as I waved and left.

  As I crossed the street, carrying my lunch with me to eat in the park, a car swerved into the far lane and heading in my direction. Behind the wheel was a man in sunglasses, who revved the engine rather than using his brakes. Running, I barely ducked behind a parked vehicle on the street before it passed.

  “Learn how to drive!” I yelled after the driver.

  I shook off the adrenaline and finally settled on a park bench to eat my messy sandwich as I watched people.

  Trying not to think of the idi
ot behind the wheel of their black BMW, thoughts of Mick drifted through my mind. I wondered if he liked things like movies, art and sitting in a park on a random afternoon. He probably worked somewhere that he didn’t have time for those things. I really didn’t know much about him at all.

  I wiped bread crumbs off my mouth and picked up my phone. Still no messages.

  Well, hell. This wasn’t getting me any further just leaving it up to him.

  Alisa: I had some good news today.

  I waited and drank my water, listening to the raucous chatter of two birds in a tree above me.

  Mick: What’s that?

  Alisa: I’m getting my own place. My brother is helping me out but still, it’ll be mine. I need to be out of that house.

  Mick: That’s good news. What’s wrong with your house?

  I hesitated for a few minutes wondering what to tell him. He didn’t know my last name right now which was probably best. There was no judgement so far based on my name or what most people thought. He wouldn’t automatically assume that as a King, I had a charmed life.

  Alisa: It’s just not where I need to be. Or belong. I think that’s your favorite word.

  Mick: If you’re using my word then it must be extreme.

  Alisa: It’ll just be a good change. What are you doing this week?

  Some strange desperation in me wanted to see him sooner than the weekend and in my odd need, I hoped that he’d reply back with just as much longing.

  I waited for several minutes wondering if I’d been too obvious.

  Mick: This and that. Right now, I’m lying in bed.

  I pursed my lips together at the thought of him anywhere near a bed. The fantasy of seeing him there had rolled through my mind several times no matter how much I tried not to think about him. Shirt off, maybe everything else off, that sexy smirk of his that had me dripping with more than just curiosity.

  That thought, also led to another. Had he gone out last night? Maybe to a bar, to get a thrill from someone else? I knew I shouldn’t care. I’d just met him. It was silly of me to think that the man might have some interest in me other than a conversation here and there. But he piqued my interest, and something inside me felt like our chance meeting was significant.