by London Casey
I screamed and didn’t step on the gas pedal.
A man stood in front of my car, a hand on the hood.
In his other hand… a gun… pointed right at me.
Chapter 26
(Noah)
It was desperate and it was stupid.
The two men had me by the arms as I kept thrashing. I had to do anything to buy Penny some time to escape. She had to get the hell out of there. It was her only chance.
I managed to get to my feet and then I realized the guys hadn’t punched me at all. If this was Marcos taking me in, he would have had the guys jack me up like they did before.
“We’re not going to hit you,” one of them said. “Just calm down, man.”
I broke away from the two of them. I punched one in the mouth and turned to see where Penny was.
She was in the car, but she wasn’t driving. A man stood at the driver’s door and opened it. Penny slowly got out, hands up. That’s when I realized the guy had a gun.
It wasn’t Marcos though.
What the fuck is going on here?
“Don’t hurt her!” I yelled. “Shoot me.”
“Take it easy, Noah,” the guy said.
“Who the hell are you?”
The guy pushed at Penny, letting her come to me. I wrapped my arms around her and had no clue what to think.
As the guy approached, I saw the flashy suit and the flashy watch. His look was straight out of a mob movie. The corners of his mouth curled up with a sick smile.
“Noah. Funny how we meet like this. Yet you’ve made me so much money.”
“What is this? Where’s Marcos?”
“I’m Nathan. I guess you could say I’m Marcos’s boss.”
“Shit,” I said. “So you know why he wanted us?”
“I don’t give a shit,” Nathan said. “But if we’re going to talk, I’d like to do so in a more comfortable environment.” He grinned.
“Fuck that,” I said. “You want to kill me? Do it right now. Marcos wants me dead? Then fucking show him to me. Right now. He killed my best friend in cold blood for no reason. He has…”
Nathan put a hand up. He stepped toward me and touched my face. “You look like you’ve learned a lesson already, Noah.”
“Marcos had me tied and beat up. I’m not leaving without an answer.”
Nathan motioned for me to follow him. I walked with him to the car. He took out a set of keys and jammed them into the trunk.
“I’m sorry it’s come to this,” Nathan said, shaking his head.
I knew then he was going to stuff me in the trunk of the car. I wasn’t even going to get an actual car ride to my own murder.
Nathan turned the key and the trunk popped open.
“Does this satisfy your concerns, Noah?” Nathan asked.
I wasn’t going to go in the trunk of the car. It was already full.
I swore I felt my heart stop for a second.
It was Marcos… dead… in the trunk of the car.
Nathan put a hand to my shoulder. “My estimate tells me we’ve been standing out here for a good four minutes. Now while it’s quiet, it’s awfully shady looking to have us going between vehicles, fighting, yelling, opening and closing the trunk of a car. In fact, I noticed one of your neighbors looking out the window about thirty seconds ago. If you don’t want to take a ride with Marcos here, then I suggest you climb into your vehicle and follow me.”
I nodded.
Yeah. Okay. Sure.
Nathan shut the trunk.
He snapped his fingers and the two men grabbed Penny.
She screamed.
“What the fuck?” I asked.
“Easy,” Nathan said. “Nobody get upset. I’m taking her so you’ll follow me. Nobody is going to get hurt, Noah. Okay?”
They put Penny in the car. Nathan got into the backseat, next to her.
The two men got into the car and started to move.
I had to hurry to my car and keep up.
I was in complete shock.
Marcos was dead.
That was half the problem solved.
But now I had to deal with his boss, Nathan.
And I still had a detective who wanted me dead.
“One quick kiss and she’s going home,” Nathan said as he walked behind a desk.
“What?” I asked.
“We don’t need her here. She serves no purpose. I’m keeping her alive because I can tell you care about her.”
I looked back at Penny. “You can’t…”
“It’s okay,” Penny said.
“Listen, Nathan,” I said, “Marcos wasn’t the only problem in my life. There’s a detective that wants me dead. He’s using Penny to get to me.”
Nathan laughed. “Talk about eating where you shit, right?”
“It’s not goddamn funny.”
“I didn’t say it was,” Nathan said as he gritted his teeth. “We’ll take her to your place. That’s all I can offer, Noah. Now sit the fuck down and tell me what you’d like to drink. We have business.”
I went to Penny and kissed her. I told her where I had left the gun. I told her to keep safe and not to leave the bedroom, no matter what. I stole a second kiss and feared it was going to be our last kiss.
I watched her walk away.
Then I did as told. I went to a chair and sat down. I pointed to a bottle of whiskey and nodded.
Nathan grabbed the bottle.
“Hey,” I said. “Skip the glass. Just give me the fucking bottle.”
“Deal,” Nathan said. He brought the bottle to his desk. “Now… let’s figure out the mess Marcos created.”
Chapter 27
(Penny)
When I heard the first knock at the door, I shut my eyes and shook my head.
Please. No.
I wasn’t sure who it could possibly be at the door, but I heeded the warning Noah had given me. I was not going to answer the door. Instead, I slid off the bed and sat there on the floor, my back against the side of the bed. I played with a strand of my hair with one hand and hugged my knees with the other.
Somewhere inside myself I knew when I found someone to care for, it wouldn’t be easy. It wouldn’t be some romantic thing and end up with them sharing an apartment, saving for a house, getting married and having kids. That kind of life had been taken from me a long time ago. Whatever fate had in the works, it had been happening since I was a little girl.
I thought about her letters. All that time I took, trying to find the right words to bring my mother back. I believed I could bring my mother back. Whatever my father had done or said to make her go, I could fix it. All those letters, all those words, all that time waiting for some kind of response all ended when I had the final piece of her innocence stripped away.
It was all a lie. My mother was never coming back.
Addressing letters to Heaven was merely something cute for a heartbroken little girl to do.
There was another knock at the door. This time heavier. Pounding. It sounded like two hands hitting over and over. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
I looked over the bed at the bedroom door.
Whoever was there wasn’t going to let up.
“The gun,” I whispered.
I climbed on the bed and hurried to the nightstand. I got the gun and walked toward the bedroom door. Noah would be pissed if he knew I was doing this. But whoever was at the door needed to go away.
Who could it be anyway?
Marcos was dead. Nathan and Noah were together.
Slowly, I walked through the apartment. I remembered how to hold the gun and pull the trigger. Like when I shot Noah.
How romantic.
At the door, I licked my lips. “Who’s out there?”
“Penny?”
“Andy?”
I hurried and opened the door.
It was Andy, my boss.
He stood there, offering a smile.
His face was destroyed though. Blood and bruises everywhere. And they
were fresh.
Andy reached out to touch me. I stepped back.
Andy fell forward, face down, into the apartment.
I handed Andy a glass of water. He sat on a barstool at the counter, holding a towel to his right eye. He was a little more cleaned up but he still looked like death. The corner of his left eye was even red, like his eyeball had been busted.
He drank the water, leaving blood on the cup.
His hand was shaking as he put the cup down. He labored as he swallowed and he let out a hoarse sounding breath.
When he looked at me, he blinked fast.
“I have a gun with me,” Andy whispered.
“So do I,” I said. “Plan on having a gunfight with me?”
Andy tried to laugh but winced in pain. “What happened to us?”
“Us?”
“Yeah,” Andy said. He moved the towel from his face. The right side of his face was beaten bad. Probably a broken orbital bone, easily. “We used to just write stories. Chase down crooked people and get good stories. Now look at us.”
“You’re the one bleeding,” I whispered. “Why did you come here?”
“To kill Noah,” Andy said. He lowered his head. “Jesus Christ. I’ve never fired a gun in my life.”
“Why, Andy?”
He lifted his head. Blood ran down the right side of his face. “Erik is out of control. He’s got enough on me to bury me. He thinks you’re fucking Noah and protecting him. I didn’t think so… until now.”
I slowly reached back and took out my gun. I backed up and stood there, making my position very clear.
Andy nodded. “I’m not here to hurt you, Penny. I don’t think I could hurt anyone. It was a good story to tell. The underground fighting. I knew it meant something to you because of your father. Then Erik approached me. He told me he wanted you to dig up shit on Noah. He said there was a past and it was a special case. There was cash on the table and I figured it was win-win for both of us. Then Erik got more and more pissed. So I pushed harder at you, Penny. Then…”
Andy grabbed the cup and drank more water.
“Then what?” I asked.
“I realized he was working beyond the badge,” Andy said. “And I have too much to lose. But I’m going to lose no matter what. Noah is a fighter protected by the mob. You’re in the middle and have a target on your back.”
Andy took a breath and stood up. I braced myself. Did I have it in me to shoot Andy? Before meeting Noah… not a chance in hell. I’d run. I’d hide. I’d cry. But after being with Noah, I had strength in myself. I understood what it meant to survive.
“Penny, I’m not going to try and hurt you,” Andy said. “Not anymore. I’m here to tell you that Erik is out for blood. Something happened with his brother’s murder that involves Noah. He’s hell bent on it. I’ve seen the police report. It was a murder that never got solved. Yet he believes there’s something pointing to Noah. That’s all I can tell you. And he’s pissed off. He’s insane. He did this to me.” Andy pointed to his face. “He just… I thought he was going to kill me.”
“You need to go to the hospital,” I said. “Then you need to tell someone. Go to his partner or boss or something. You have connections to the police. Call. Get help.”
“I said that,” Andy said. He then pointed to his left eye. “That’s when Erik rammed the butt of his gun into my face about ten times. I passed out after that.”
“Shit.”
“He waited for me to come to. Then he kicked me a few more times in the ribs. Some are broken and it hurts to breathe. His hands were still bloody as he stood over me. He told me I had to come here and end it. Or else he was going to end me. Then he made something very clear, Penny.”
“And what’s that?” I asked.
Andy looked at me with half dead eyes. His voice was clear, and honest. And terrifying. “It’s simple. He’s going to hurt everyone you and Noah know… he won’t stop until you’re both broken… and then dead.”
Chapter 28
(Noah)
Nathan offered me a cigar and I declined. This wasn’t a time to relax or celebrate. The whiskey was smooth and good. Really good. I was afraid to ask how much a bottle of it cost.
“I noticed on the books you were working a lot of fights,” Nathan said. “I didn’t like that Marcos kept that going. That’s a huge risk for all of us.”
“In his defense, not that he needs it, I was demanding those fights.”
“Why?”
“Because of a woman.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes,” I said. “That’s the truth. Now that woman was ordered to be kidnapped by Marcos. He wanted her dead. Seth couldn’t hurt her though. He got drunk and I found them. So I helped her. I shouldn’t have gone behind Marcos’s back like I did. I’ll take my beating on that. But he was…”
Nathan lifted a hand. I shut my mouth.
“Looks like you took your beating,” Nathan said.
“Yeah. I don’t like that. I don’t lose fights.”
“To be fair, Marcos is dead. You’re alive.”
“I’ll drink to that.”
“Marcos had been stepping over his line for years,” Nathan said. “I protected him as much as I could. The problem, Noah, is that when there’s heat on my family, it doesn’t end well. I’m sorry Marcos killed your best friend.”
“Thank you.”
“Let me finish. I’m sorry only because I wish I could take Seth and torture him.”
“Excuse me?”
Nathan’s face dropped. “Marcos covered up a murder for Seth. That’s blowing back on my family.”
“The guy is after me now. And Penny.”
Nathan nodded. “I’m not taking this on. You are, Noah. It’s your job to fix this. I will use all my power to back you up. My family cannot take out a detective right now. We’re going through records of Marcos’s dealings and it’s not good. Truthfully, I should wipe the slate clean. That means killing you and Penny. But I need you alive. You’re of value to me. You could make yourself even more valuable by ending this shit that Marcos started.”
I swallowed hard. “You know, Marcos told me I was getting a promotion and I refused.”
“This isn’t a promotion. This is an order.”
I rose up from the chair. I pushed the whiskey away. No more drinking. I had to be able to drive and make sure Penny was alive.
Nathan opened a drawer and took out a black book. He put it down and put his hand over it. “This is Seth’s.”
“Seth? My best friend?”
“Use that term loosely, Noah. This is an assassin book. Your best friend was an assassin for Marcos.”
“Excuse me?”
“This book is filled with every name Seth has killed. It includes his process, time, fee, everything. Kind of a dangerous thing to have, but I’m sure Marcos wanted documentation to justify paying Seth.”
I was in complete shock. Seth? An assassin?
“This…”
“Noah, have you ever killed anyone?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“I fight a lot of people. If I beat someone and they get shot by their boss, is that my fault?”
Nathan nodded. He slid the notebook to me. “This is unacceptable. Any and all hits are done through an organized process. This is why that detective is stirring up problems for all of us. Kidnapping and murder is TV shit. We’re organized. We do things the right way. This will never happen again. Marcos lost his way. He’s gone. You’re not, Noah. I need you.”
“You want me to kill this detective?”
“I never said that. My words cannot be used wrongly. I’m giving you this book because of what’s contained in it.”
Nathan opened the book and flipped to a page. He put his finger to the middle of the page and looked at me.
The name on the page meant nothing. Robert Downelly.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Who is it?”
&
nbsp; “That’s Penny’s father.”
I stepped back and knocked the chair over. “Jesus Christ.”
“This was not approved by me or my family.”
“That was a long time ago,” I said.
“Exactly. Seth and Marcos have been doing this for a long time. My fear is that there were outside influences. Money from other families. Just very wrong things. I’m sorry to show you this, but I need you to understand what’s been happening. My associates are going through your personal records, Noah. Everything you’ve ever said, done, bought, it’s all being scrutinized. You will be followed until I say no more. You will do exactly as I say, when I say. Do you understand?”
“What if I tell you to go fuck yourself?” I asked.
Nathan nodded. “You know the answer to that already. So I’m not going to respond. But I will tell you this. There’s a fight with your name on it. Heavy betting is coming in. The news of Marcos’s early retirement is shaking things up. The family wants to see how you operate under pressure.”
“Under pressure?” I asked with a grin. “Every time I fight I’m under pressure.”
“Perfect. Then let’s push forward, Noah. Our new relationship begins now.”
“After you tell me why my best friend killed my…” Just what in the hell is Penny to me? “… killed Penny’s father…”
“That’s something you’ll have to work out. I’m giving you this information as my way of showing trust. Honesty. Openness. I don’t look back, Noah. I look forward. I stand in the present and gaze to the future. The present wasn’t working. That’s why Marcos is gone. You’re worth what you give back to me, Noah. So fight, win, earn, and life moves on.”
I stood there. I looked at the black book. The hidden secrets from my best friend. That’s why Marcos killed Seth. Because dirt was being dug up and Seth was supposed to hide it all. He couldn’t hurt Penny though. He fucked up and Marcos made him pay. That’s why Marcos wanted to take me out.
I slowly let my eyes meet Nathan’s. I slid the book out of the way. “I don’t give a shit about this. I don’t give a shit about you. I don’t give a shit about your family. My blood is Irish, so I guess you don’t give a shit about me either. You need my fists, my fury, my rage. I need my chance at survival. I’m telling you this, Nathan. I am not a killer. I am not working for some crew, or mob, or gang. Get that straight. If that entitles me to be killed, then kill me now. I will win whatever fight you want me in. I will find a way to take care of this detective thing. But right now, my best friend is dead and I just found out he was a real piece of shit. And the man who gave me a shot as a fighter, Marcos, is also dead. But he too was a piece of shit.” I paused. I then opened my arms. “I’m not a piece of shit. I’m not a bitch either, Nathan. So do what you need to do to me.”