by London Casey
I’ll never forget the story. The way Seth told it in detail. The way he cared yet at the same time didn’t. He never said his father’s name during the entire story. I had no clue what his father’s name ever was.
So Marcos put Seth’s old man on the ground, to his knees, and kept Seth right there to watch. Marcos put the gun to Seth’s old man’s head and pulled the trigger.
What Seth described going out the back of his father’s head was what I saw come out of the the front of Seth’s head. Skull and brain spraying forward, blood everywhere. Seth thrust forward and toppled to the ground. Marcos just stood there.
He shook his head. “I saved him. Then and now.”
I was in shock.
After Marcos killed Seth’s father, he helped Seth. He took care of Seth and they had a lucrative relationship.
Until now.
I caught my breath. “Oh, shit.”
“I don’t accept failure,” Marcos said. “Not now. Not with this.”
I thought about Penny. Just who the hell was she? Who was after us?
“You didn’t have to shoot him,” I said. “This is my fault.”
I started to sit up and felt the doctor press on my shoulder again. I groaned in pain and turned my head, my left hand tight in a fist, ready to fucking punch him.
The doctor had a scalpel in his hand. He put it right to my throat, keeping me down.
“I have a vacation home in Malibu,” he said. “And a girlfriend who needs a bigger set of tits.”
“Does your wife know that?” I asked.
The doctor smiled. “My wife got her tits last year. Now shut up.”
Marcos approached me. On the floor, a few feet away, was Seth. My best friend. A guy who was like a brother to me.
“I’m sorry it’s come to this,” Marcos said. “But I cannot take chances. Not anymore. If Seth is that weak - and drunk - I don’t need him around. You saw how hungover he was. He wasn’t even here. Shit, he was probably still drunk. That’s unacceptable.”
“What does it have to do with me?” I asked.
“She shot you. So… are you as dumb as Seth?”
“I’m a fighter, Marcos. I don’t do the mob kidnapping thing.”
“Well,” Marcos said, nodding to Seth’s lifeless body, “I have good news. You’re getting a promotion.”
“I don’t need one.”
Marcos grinned. “You have a choice. You have twenty four hours to bring me Penny. If you don’t, I’ll shoot you. And trust me, it won’t be in the shoulder.”
Marcos reached down and touched my forehead.
I shook him away.
The doctor then took the scalpel from my throat.
“Change the bandages every few hours as needed. Check for heavy bleeding. You don’t want it to get infected, right?”
I made a fist again. I swung across my body and hit him in the mouth. He flew off his chair and hit the ground. He was lucky I had been on my back and didn’t have my full power. If I had, he’d be paying for a new jaw for himself instead of tits for his girlfriend.
Marcos quickly put the gun to my head. “You’re upset with me, not the good doctor here. Channel that anger. Find Penny. She’s trying to take all of us down. Don’t let her pretty eyes fool you.”
I looked at Marcos and he started to laugh.
“What?” he asked me. “She was the woman you were waiting for. I’m not an idiot. I’m not exactly sure how she got away from you, Noah. But you have more value to me alive, ready and willing to fight. That’s why you’re alive right now. Bring me Penny and my memory loses all this.”
“It doesn’t bring Seth back,” I said.
“But it keeps you alive.”
Marcos then walked away.
I was then back to basics.
Back to survival.
Back to hurting those around me.
Just like before…
Chapter 17
(Penny)
I stood at the side of the desk with Andy on one side and the police officer on the other side. He made it very clear to me to go with him or else I’d end up dead in the trunk of Noah’s car.
“This is Detective…,” Andy started to say.
“Call me Erik.”
It made more sense now why he was in plain clothes. The man scared the hell out of me. He looked evil and unstable.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Where were you last night?” Andy asked.
“My personal time…”
“You were with him,” Erik said. “Noah. You were driving his fucking car.”
“So?”
“Let’s get something straight,” Erik said, turning to face me. “I’m the one with a badge and a gun here.”
“So what? I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Penny, please,” Andy said. “Listen to Erik for a second.”
“Is this why I’ve been getting paid?” I asked. “Is this…”
I thought about everything Noah said to me. How he insisted there was something wrong going on. And I had been too blind to see it.
“Is this what?” Erik asked.
“What is this?” I asked.
“This is my personal revenge,” Erik said. “You want to learn about fighting, good. You’re going to get the greatest fucking story of your life.”
I swallowed hard.
I looked at Andy and he was sweating. This detective was working Andy over. And for that, Andy was working me over.
“What do you want with Noah?” I asked. “He’s a dirty fighter. Or is it the boss? The guy running the thing. I think his name is Marcos or something. He has mob ties though. This is dangerous.”
“Which is why you’re getting paid the way you are,” Erik said. “From me, personally.”
“And you want a story?” I asked.
Erik smiled. “I want what I want. I have do this the right way. I have to build this. Make it okay. I fully know who Marcos is and who his family is. I know more than you do, Penny.”
“Then why bother with me?”
“Because you have something to give him,” Erik said. “Your pretty little body. Find out about his past. Find out about his fights. I want it all for myself.”
I looked at Andy again.
Erik took out his gun and pointed it at Andy.
“Hey, come on,” Andy said. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked, Erik.”
“Look at Andy again and I’m shooting him,” Erik said.
“Okay,” I said. “I’m looking at you. Just put your gun away.”
“I’ll do what I want.”
I tried to convince myself to stay calm and not do anything stupid. I needed to get to Noah and warn him. Tell him that he was right and it was serious. That a detective was after him. That this guy knew about Marcos, his family, everything.
“Your wheels are turning, Penny,” Erik said.
“You’re both assholes,” I said. “For dragging me into this.”
“You know the fights,” Erik said. “Your father was killed in a fight.”
“Don’t bring him into this.”
“I am. You have revenge to seek, so do I. We’re going to do it together, Penny. We’re going to be best fucking friends.”
Erik put his gun away and nodded to the door.
“What?” I asked.
“We’re leaving. We’re done here. I’ll give you a ride.”
I took a chance and glanced at Andy one more time. He wiped his forehead and rubbed his cheeks. “Hey, Erik. Does this make us square?”
“I’ll let you know,” Erik said.
I was being kidnapped, again.
All I knew… was that everyone and everything around me was fake.
“Why do you and Andy need to be square?” I asked as Erik drove.
Erik grinned. “You caught that part, huh?”
“I catch everything.”
“Cocky. I like that.”
“Are you going to answer my question?”
Erik rubbed his chin. “Andy has a little problem.”
“A problem?”
“I dug around and found just what I was looking for. Someone like him.”
“Okay, that doesn’t answer a thing.”
Erik pulled the car over and turned to face me. “I want you to remember something. You wanted all this. You take all the street stories, right? That’s your thing. Because you lost your parents and you kind of had to hide for a little while. I get that. Now you’re trying to piece some puzzle together. I’m not even sure that puzzle exists. You want the truth about your father? I can give it to you. But you’re going to help me first. I want to know everything about Noah. Not about the fights. Not about where he lives. I want to know about him.”
“I don’t understand what that means.”
Erik gritted his teeth and looked away. “I want to know what he has to lose.”
“Why?”
Erik turned to the wheel and started to drive again. “Andy got himself in trouble with some male prostitution thing.”
“What?”
“Yeah. There’s a dark side to him. Hell, there’s a dark side to all of us. So I’m helping Andy with his criminal record and he’s helping me.”
“So you’re not supposed to be doing all this, are you?”
“I have a badge,” Erik said. “I can do whatever I feel is right. To protect people.”
“You’re trying to protect yourself.”
“And if I stay alive, then I can keep protecting people,” Erik said. “It’s only fair.”
“What do you want with Noah? Seth? The family?”
“Personal.”
“That’s why it’s all off the record.”
“Bingo.”
“I want nothing to do with this,” I said. “You know what? I don’t care about what happened to my father. I’ve seen enough fights to get the idea.”
“Then give me the idea,” Erik said.
“He never got over the death of my mother. So that was his way of raging. Maybe he bet on it, maybe he actually fought. No matter what, he was doing something illegal and it caught up to him.”
“That’s solid detective work,” Erik said. “But it doesn’t answer something.”
“What?”
Erik grinned. “There were two sets of files for your father’s death. One depicted finding him beaten to death. Nothing out of place. Just his body, on the floor, dead.”
“That’s what happened.”
“But there was a second set of files I found. Files that were meant to be destroyed but never were. Files that indicated your father had a pocket full of drugs and was shot several times before being beaten to death.”
I froze. I tried to keep a normal stare forward. “Oh?”
“Yeah, Penny. Everywhere I look, it’s dirty. That’s why I do what I do. I clean up messes. I’ve done it my entire life. I’m going to finish this one out. If you don’t help me, you’re going to end up right where you belong.”
“You’ll kill me? That’s another mess.”
“No. You’re an easy clean up. I’ve thought this through. I’ve been working with Andy for months, watching you. Figuring this out.”
I shivered with fear. Up ahead, I saw Noah’s car right where I left it.
“I really enjoyed our talk today,” Erik said. “It’s been a pleasure to finally meet you. I feel like I already know you so well.”
Erik reached and touched my hand. I pulled away and swung the back of my hand at him, hitting him in the mouth. I then opened the door as the car was still moving, but slowing down. A hand clamped on my shoulder and squeezed.
“Don’t go falling in love with him,” Erik said. “I’d hate to see you grieving again.”
“Fuck off,” I said. “Whatever you’re trying to do, it won’t work.”
Erik nodded. “Maybe. But before you choose your side in all this, I want you to remember something.”
“What? That you have a badge and a gun? That you have dirt on Andy? I don’t care about that.”
“No, it has nothing to do with that,” Erik said. “You already know that. I’m going to give you one more thing to take with you.”
“What?”
The car came to a complete stop. My feet were on the street. Erik’s hand still on my shoulder. He looked me dead in the eyes. A wave of anger and pain washed over his face.
“When you see Noah… ask him what it felt like to kill my brother.”
Chapter 18
(Noah)
I checked the apartment. It was clear, but I didn’t trust it. I didn’t trust anything. Marcos was out of his mind and I was the next target. Yet all I had to do was give Penny a call and bring her to Marcos. If she was writing about shit and putting her feet in a grave, why was it my problem?
I thought about what I saw. The way the bullet tore through Seth’s skull. Spraying his brain across the office. Literally dead in a second. The only saving grace from it was that he probably didn’t feel a thing. Hell, his hangover headache was worse than the bullet.
It all came crashing down on me as I slowly sat on the edge of my bed. Years of me and Seth together, shoulder to shoulder, pushing forward. He fought a few times but never really had the true skill to win. In a bar fight or a street fight, that was one thing. But to have money thrown around, Seth was better off in the background, working the deals, leaving me to take care of all the muscle. We were a good team. There were a lot of things we didn’t talk about, but we were a good team. We were close like brothers.
What we had done… all those years ago…
I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t go back to those memories.
I shut my eyes and lowered my head. A piece of me wanted to cry. I wanted to trash the apartment. I wanted to fight someone.
It wouldn’t help.
It wouldn’t bring Seth back.
Marcos and his family demanded perfection. They wanted Penny and there was no fucking around with it. Seth had fucked around. He had gotten drunk and Marcos punished him. I understood why Seth got drunk. The woman thing was a weak spot for both of us. Watching my old man beat up on my mother did it for me. For Seth… it was a far different situation.
When I looked forward, the room was blurry. I sucked in a breath and stood up. My shoulder throbbed in pain. My head spun. I had been a fighter, not an organized crime member. I didn’t plan on anything but training and taking down my next opponent.
Now the fate of lives were in my hands. My life. Penny’s life. Shit, Seth’s death was in my hands.
I left the bedroom and needed a drink. A cold beer. A shot of whiskey. Anything to try and cloud up my mind. All I could hope for was that Penny stayed away and stayed safe. I’d have to call eventually, but I needed to figure out what to do and how to do it. If I gave up my life for hers… would that make up for the things I’d done wrong in life?
I opened the fridge and grabbed a beer.
There was a knock at the door.
I put the beer down and grabbed my gun.
Penny stood at the door, looking frazzled. Her eyes were wide, pretty, but scared. Her hair still messy from sleeping. She wore the same clothes, which meant she hadn’t gone back to her place at all.
We both looked at each other and I felt it.
I felt pain, regret, confusion. It was like a storm kicking up all around me. The gun was still in my hand, feeling way too comfortable. I never liked carrying a weapon, but I understood why I needed to have one.
I took a step back and slowly tucked the gun away. “Penny… what are you doing here?”
She just stared at me. “I need to know who you really are.”
“What?”
“Right now, Noah. Who are you?”
“You’ve seen me. What kind of question is that?”
“Are… have you…”
I heard a door slam outside the apartment. I quickly grabbed for Penny and pulled her into the apartment. I shut the door and locked it. She pushed away from me and swung, the
tips of her fingers catching my jaw. She scratched me more than she slapped me. I jumped back and watched as she wound up again, ready to attack.
“Holy shit,” I said. “What are you doing?”
“Who are you? What am I involved in?”
Penny lunged at me. There was fire in those pretty eyes of her.
I grabbed her by the arms and lifted her up. I turned and hurried to walk her to a wall and put her there. I held her there as she tried to get away. It made me feel worthless to hold a woman like I did, but I didn’t want Penny to get hurt.
“Calm down,” I said.
“No,” she yelled. “Who the fuck are you? What the fuck is going on?”
“Listen to me,” I growled. “Goddammit. Seth… Seth is dead.”
I said it.
I said it out loud.
I released my grip on Penny and backed up. I rubbed my face and said it again, calmer.
“Seth is dead.”
Penny just stood there. “What?”
“Marcos shot him. Because of you.”
“Me?”
“Marcos didn’t believe a thing we told him. He knew something was off. The bottom line was that Seth fucked up. Marcos has an obsession with you, Penny. Whoever you are, whatever you’re involved in, it’s bad. And it has nothing to do with me.”
“Oh, shit, Noah…”
She reached for me and I stepped back again. “I wasn’t going to call you. I was hoping you got away and stayed away.”
“I couldn’t do that.”
“Why?”
“You’re wrong, Noah. You’re involved. Big time. You have someone after you. A detective, Noah.”
“For what?”
“I have to ask you something. Please don’t lie to me.”
“I wouldn’t lie to you, honey. I’m trying to figure out how to save you. Marcos made it very clear, Penny. Either I bring you to him or I die. One of us is going to end up dead.”
“Or both.”
“Or both,” I whispered. “What’s your question?”