Enforcer

by Black, Selena

  "Something came up that needed my attention."

  "Are you going to tell me what?" Brigitte asked as she walked to the desk to gather together her belongings.

  "Are you asking as my counselor or my girlfriend?"

  Brigitte spun around to face him. There was no doubt she was his counselor, but she'd never even considered herself as being his girlfriend..., until he said the word. It made her let out a sigh and her lips tightened together afterwards.

  "Your abruptness on the phone got me worried," she admitted.

  "You've got nothing to worry about," Matt replied. "I can promise you that."

  He knew it was a lie, but intended to do everything in his power to make sure she didn't get involved in the situation that was developing around him. If everything went to plan, it would be over by the end of the day anyway.

  "Are you sure?" Brigitte asked and couldn't disguise the skepticism in her voice.

  "Yes," he insisted and moved to embrace her.

  The kiss was gentler this time and Brigitte shuddered as she was caught up in it. She wanted to believe what he was saying, but still couldn't help questioning him when their lips parted.

  "So what came up on Tuesday evening that needed your attention?"

  "Oh, a friend was having problems with his car," Matt lied. "He knew I was doing the vehicle maintenance course, so asked if I could have a look."

  "Did you get it fixed?"

  "No," Matt went on. "I checked it out and found the problem, but it needed a couple of spare parts to fix it properly. He was going to buy them yesterday and I'll go later today to get the job done."

  "Oh, OK," Brigitte said and was about to ask more, but Matt changed the subject.

  "Is your father still away?"

  Brigitte couldn't hold down the flash of nerves, and more, that sprung up. She hesitated and it gave him his answer.

  "I was thinking maybe I could come around tonight after I've finished helping my friend,” Matt went on.

  "What time?" Brigitte asked before she could stop herself.

  It was like Saturday night all over again. She knew she should stop things in their tracks, but was incapable of doing it. The impulse to be with Matt seemed to override every sensible thought in her brain and the words blurted out to reveal her true feelings. It wasn’t the way she normally acted and it slightly irked her that she was acting in that way, but she couldn’t control it.

  "I'm not sure what time I'll finish," Matt said. "I guess it will be early in the evening. When do you usually get home after work?"

  "No later than six," she told him.

  "OK, I'll see you sometime after that. We better get out of here before your boss comes looking for you."

  The mention of Mr. Brody sparked Brigitte's concern and she looked across the room to the closed door. She still really wanted to have an honest conversation about where things were going between them, but it wasn't the time or place for that.

  "Yeah, I guess you're right," she agreed.

  She walked over to the door and opened it to look out to the hallway. It was clear and she glanced over her shoulder to motion that Matt should follow her. They made their way to the stairs then on up to the reception area and only stopped when they reached the entrance.

  "I'll see you on your next visit, Mr. Harris," she said and saw the cheeky smile flash across his face before he left the building.

  She watched for a few seconds as he walked away from the place before Mr. Brody returned to her thoughts. It made her hurry along to her office and she hoped it was empty when she walked inside. She got what she wished for and it was another ten minutes or so before her boss came in.

  "How are you feeling?" she asked.

  "I've been better," Mr. Brody replied. "I thought I was getting over whatever the problem is, but now I'm not so sure."

  "You should go home," Brigitte told him. "There are no more people coming in today. You might be better taking some rest."

  "I'll give it until lunchtime and see how I feel," he replied.

  In the end, Mr. Brody didn't even make it that long. He started to feel worse around eleven and gave up on the idea of continuing with work shortly afterwards. His departure left Brigitte in the office alone and she simply got on with what she needed to do for the rest of the morning. She did the same after having a short break for something to eat at one o'clock, but her thoughts turned to what might be in store for her that evening as the afternoon wore on.

  She'd almost jumped at the chance of Matt visiting her home again and didn't protest in the slightest. That didn't mean she thought it was a great idea and the conflicting emotions that he brought out in her began to surface again. She hated having them and knew that she was getting herself in a position where she would need to make a choice one way or the other. Her worries about whether he wanted to be with her all but disappeared when he kissed her that morning. The fierce passion in it excited her and she wanted more, while at the same time wondering if she was crazy for even getting involved with him.

  "For god's sake, just make up your mind," she let out too loudly and even though she was alone in the office, felt the blush of heat on her face.

  It was the first time she'd really let a man get to her in the way that Matt Harris did and she couldn't make up her mind whether that was the best thing ever or the most terrible thing in the world. Her thoughts veered from one to the other as his upcoming visit to her home preyed on her mind for the remainder of the afternoon. It made it difficult to concentrate on work, so she was glad when the hands of the clock showed five and wasted no time in getting to her feet to leave the office.

  It was still before six when she stepped through the door of the house and she went upstairs to her bedroom right away. She quickly stripped off her clothes to go for a quick shower and no more than five minutes later was sitting at the dressing table looking at herself in the mirror.

  "You know what's going to happen," she told her reflection.

  She picked up a comb to run it through her blonde locks, then got out her hair dryer and switched it on. When she was finished, she ran the comb through her hair again to get it sitting the way she wanted. She leaned closer to the mirror when she was finished and ran fingertips across her cheek. Her skin was smooth and mostly blemish free and it wasn't as if she wore a lot of makeup unless she was going out.

  "Not going out tonight, are you?" she said, but still went ahead and put on some eyeshadow, a touch of mascara and blusher, and finished by making her lips cherry red.

  It gave her a pretty look that she liked and she was sure the man coming to her house would too. When she went to her underwear drawer, she took her time to find a skimpy, matching set in powder green that she knew Matt would definitely like on her. That pretty much confirmed that she would give in to his inevitable advance, but she'd pretty much known that from the moment she asked what time he would arrive that evening.

  It was coming up to six o'clock when she looked at the clock on the wall, so she was quick to move to the wardrobe and choose a tight pair of jeans, with some distressing around the thighs and a white t-shirt. She checked her appearance in the mirror and knew she was looking as good as she could in the short while she had to get ready. Moving out of the bedroom, she went down the stairs to the kitchen and opened a bottle of wine. Thirty minutes later, she was on her second glass and wondering if she should call Matt to see if he was going to turn up.

  "Yeah, show him how keen you are, why don't you," she let out under her breath and shook her head.

  She switched on the television to give herself something to concentrate on, but it didn't really work and she couldn't get her mind from Matt. When she emptied her wine glass for the second time, she debated having a third. The sound of the doorbell ringing stopped her before she reached for the bottle and she jumped to her feet. She ran fingers nervously through her hair then pulled down the hem of her t-shirt.

  "Stay calm and in control," she let out quietly when she walked out to
the hallway in the growing darkness of early evening.

  She knew she was wasting her breath telling herself that as she headed towards what was waiting for her on the other side of the front door.

  Chapter 14

  The beer wasn't going down well for the first time since his release and Matt grimaced as he put the bottle on the table. That evening's planned rendezvous with Brigitte kept popping into his head, but it annoyed him that it was happening. He was about to go into a dangerous situation and that meant he needed to focus completely on the task in hand. The fact that he kept thinking about something else put him at risk of being careless and he couldn't afford that.

  Slipping into the old routine was proving more difficult than he thought although that didn't entirely surprise him. More than four years had passed since he lived the life of an enforcer and there was also the small matter that he didn't actually want to be doing what he was about to. He lifted the beer to his lips without thinking, but it tasted bitter to him and he pushed the bottle away when he set it down on the table.

  He'd chosen the small café bar he was drinking at because it put a few tables on the sidewalk for customers to use and it enabled him to get a distant view of the property he was about to visit. That afforded the opportunity to see anyone going in and coming out of the place although that didn't really do him much good. He didn't have a picture to know what Brett Collins looked like and for all he knew, the man he was after could be sitting at one of the nearby tables. That thought made him glance around although it was another distraction and he forced himself to stop doing it.

  "You're out of practice, dickhead," he mocked himself under his breath. "You should have asked for a picture."

  In truth, he suspected if there was one, it would have been provided when he was handed the name and address on Tuesday evening. He'd contacted Lincoln around an hour previously to comply with his orders and inform that he was going through with the job that day, then switched off his phone straight afterwards. Bringing it out of his pocket, he debated switching it on again. He eventually decided that any messages or missed calls would be another hindrance to getting his mind fully on what he was about to do and left the phone turned off.

  He wiped the back of his hand across his mouth as he stared in the direction of his destination. One visit to the area the day before got him the lay of the land, but all he really knew was the building and apartment number he was going to. There was no way of knowing if the man he wanted was even at home. He wasn't sure quite what he would do in that situation, but would cross that bridge if and when he came to it.

  Slipping the phone back into his pocket, he touched his fingers on the other item in it. The switchblade was a weapon he'd trained himself to use in his younger days although the one he'd bought earlier that afternoon felt strange in his hands. Not that he planned to use it, but it always paid to be prepared. There was no knowing what he was walking into although he was confident he'd be able to handle it. He always had been before.

  "You sure that confidence isn’t misplaced," he muttered under his breath, but ignored his own derogatory comment as he started to psyche himself up to make a move.

  It was time to get his head in the game and he closed his eyes for a few seconds to block out his surroundings. When he opened them again, he waited until the daylight started to fade then got to his feet and walked away from the table. His pace was slow and measured and he remained on the opposite side of the street from the building he was about to visit. He didn’t look at it and kept his gaze fixed directly in front of him. There were only a few people around, but none of them gave him a second glance and he waited until he was almost opposite the property before crossing over.

  He already knew it didn't have a controlled entry system. That enabled him to play the role of just another resident arriving home from work by calmly walking through the front door, as if it was something he did every day. The interior hallway was brightly lit, but there was no one in it and he kept his head bowed as he made his way towards the stairwell. The apartment he wanted was on the third floor and he set off up the steps at a brisk pace. It made beads of sweat break out on his forehead although he knew that was about more than just the effort of climbing the stairs. He could feel the clamminess on his palms too and wiped them on his pants.

  The silence as he approached the third floor was an indication that the hallway was deserted, but he stopped before he got to it and glanced both ways to make sure. It showed him no one was there and he was quick to make his way up the last of the steps, then along the hallway. When he got to the door he wanted, he came to a stop and sucked in a deep breath then let it out slowly to compose himself.

  "Get in, do this professionally and get out."

  He lifted his hand to knock before he even finished saying the words and prepared himself for the confrontation he expected. It was all important to get in complete control of the situation from the very first second and the element of surprise gave him a chance to do that. He got ready to spring into action when he heard the sound of movement from within, but the door opened to turn the situation on its head and it knocked him back on his heels.

  “What the hell,” he let out in an astonished voice and took a step back as he stared at the familiar features of an ex-girlfriend

  “Matt,” Delores let out in an astonished voice. “What are you doing here?”

  “What…, what am I doing…,” Matt stammered as the shock of being unexpectedly confronted with a face from his past wore off.

  “Why are you tracking me down?” Delores went on. “I didn’t expect to see…”

  “Whoa…, hold on there,” Matt interrupted her brusquely and lifted a hand as he gathered his thoughts.

  He looked past her to the apartment beyond, but there was no one else in sight. That didn’t mean Brett Collins wasn’t inside and he shook off the moment of consternation to get his mind back on the task in hand.

  “Are you here alone?” he snapped.

  Delores frowned when she heard the tone of his voice becoming terse.

  “Yeah,” she replied.

  “You’re sure.”

  Delores let out a nervous laugh and the confusion showed in her expression.

  “What is this?” she asked “You think I don’t know when I’m on my own.”

  “But you don’t live here alone, do you?” Matt went on and stepped forward.

  “Well…, no,” she admitted. “This is my boyfriend’s apartment.”

  The penny suddenly dropped and Matt wondered if Eddie and Lincoln were aware that an ex-girlfriend of his was living with Brett Collins. For a brief second, he wondered if that was why they wanted him to do the job although he shrugged off the idea quickly. He was sure they would have told him if they’d known and he moved on to thinking they were ignorant of the fact. They were probably unaware he’d gone out with Delores anyway. His affair with the woman he found himself staring at burned brightly and briefly when they were both in their early twenties and he suspected that apart from the two of them, there weren’t many other people that remembered it.

  “Your boyfriend is Brett Collins?” he asked.

  “Yes, how do you know his…” she started to say, but her words were ended by Matt’s actions.

  He didn’t want the conversation to carry on in the hallway in case anyone came by. What was about to pass between the two of them was better said in private, so he grabbed her arm to move her inside the apartment and followed.

  “Hey,” Delores protested as she tried to free herself from his firm grasp.

  Matt ignored her protests and listened carefully after he closed the door, but there appeared to be no sounds coming from the rest of the apartment. It didn’t completely convince him that only the two of them were there and he focused his attention fully on Delores when he let go of her arm.

  “Brett definitely isn’t here?” he asked.

  She appeared to catch on to what was happening and a suspicious expression crossed her f
ace as she glared at him.

  “This has nothing to do with me, does it?” she said in an indignant voice when she put her hands on her hips.

  “Sorry,” Matt said. “If you want the truth, I didn’t even know you were here. It’s the man of the house I came looking for.”

  “Shit,” Delores cursed and turned to walk away.

  Matt remained cautious when he followed although he now suspected Dolores wasn’t lying to him and that she was alone in the apartment.

  “Where is he?” he asked when he stepped into the lounge after her.

  “Out,” she answered and threw herself down on an armchair.

  “I guessed that much,” Matt went on. “Out where?”