by Ashlee Price
“No, not really, but I suppose in a sense, you could say that. Here’s the deal: You come with me when I give the evidence to the prosecutor. You can gamble on whether it’s good enough to convict you, and if you get off, you’re out of trouble and you can do as you please. If you are found guilty, you face the music like a man.” I had to add that last insult; it was payback for one of the many he’d levelled on Tim.
“Now just why would I do that?”
“Because otherwise I’m afraid I may have to take justice into my own hands.”
The tension was palpable, and I saw Malchevsky’s hand moving to the inside of his jacket. I knew it would emerge with a gun. I had a split second to react. Snatching up the retractable fountain pen I’d been doodling with, I clicked the nib out and at the same time arched my hand high and brought the point of the nib down onto Malchevsky’s arm, penetrating his jacket and an inch of flesh and pinning him to the bar surface. He roared in pain, unable to reach the gun.
The bartender spun around at the screaming. “Have you got a Band-Aid?” I asked him, motioning to Malchevsky. “I think he cut himself.” I walked out, calmly got into my car and left for home. In my rearview I saw a familiar cab parked across the street at the curb with the door open. Tiffany was standing at the corner of Turbo’s window. She glanced quickly at my retreating car and went inside the bar.
“Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I shouted, slamming the steering wheel. I knew what she was after. She’d been watching me the whole time and had seen my confrontation with Malchevsky. I might have just gotten Whitney’s sister killed. I knew I would for sure if I turned around. When he’d shot the both of us, he’d go after Whitney. “She’s on her own!” I shouted to myself. God, but I hated myself in that moment.
So I wheeled the car around and drove back to Turbo’s, pulling right up over the curb to within inches of the door. I jumped out, yanked the door open and shouted, “Tiffany! Get out here!”
She was standing at the end of the bar, as women do when they want someone to buy them a drink and invite them to sit down. Her head swiveled at the sound of her name, but it didn’t much matter: She was close enough I could grab her. “Get your ass in that car, now!” I shouted as I picked her up and stuffed her across the console. I already had the car in gear and I rammed the gas pedal to the floor. There was a ping as a bullet bounced off the sidewalk ahead of us. “Get down!” I shouted, using one hand to push the back of her neck so her head was forced forward into her lap. I spun around the corner so as to avoid further bullets and kept the pedal to the floor until we’d run two red lights and were blocks away.
I was so angry I couldn’t speak.
“Why did you stab that man?” she asked, as casually as if asking for the time.
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.
“Dagger, are you mad at me?”
“Tiffany, unless you want me to throw you out on to the street, I suggest you keep your mouth shut. You are not to say anything about this to Whitney, or anyone else for that matter. Forget what you saw. Forget that man and forget you saw me. I’ll deny it, and if you remember, I’ve got photographic evidence of your behavior. I’ll send it to your father.”
She waved her hand through the air. “Aw, hell, he won’t care. He knows me by now, and there’s not much I could do to surprise him.” She casually looked out the window as we topped eighty miles per hour, merging onto the expressway.
“Just don’t say a word or you’ll deal with me.”
That seemed to carry more weight. I saw her eyebrows rise in consternation. She started to say something and then thought the better of it.
I wheeled down the off-ramp and pulled up to the Hilton. I pulled a hundred-dollar bill out of my wallet and shoved it down her shirt. “Get out, go in there and stay put tonight. Tomorrow, go home. Forget what you saw, and God help you if Whitney finds out.”
She looked at me saucily. “Should I leave the door unlocked for you?” she mewled prettily.
“Fuck you, Tiffany,” I said, leaning over her to shove open her door and push her hips out. She nearly landed on the sidewalk, but she was out. I inched ahead enough that I could slam the door without hitting her. I turned my attention to the road ahead, and this time, I didn’t look back.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Whitney
I’d gone to bed without waiting for Dagger to come home, although I’d left my door open so I could hear anything that went on in the building. It was late, very late, when I heard the front door close. Then his apartment door closed as well. I was surprised. He didn’t owe me an explanation, but he’d been in the habit of checking in on me when he locked up at night and had more than once spent the night in my bed. To have him not even come upstairs surprised me. I tried not to read anything into it, but it kept me awake for some time.
The next morning I showered and went downstairs in my workout clothes. Kat was at the front desk, but the studio was empty. Dagger hadn’t come out of his apartment yet.
I sauntered to the kitchen, made coffee and dug around until I found a blueberry muffin. I popped it into the microwave for a few seconds and was spreading some cream cheese onto it when Kat came in behind me.
“Something wrong?” she asked.
“Oh, nothing that killing my sister wouldn’t solve.”
“I never had a sister,” she shared. “But I had a big brother who used to push me around to show off in front of his friends.”
I peered up at her from beneath my brow as I chewed the muffin. “That couldn’t have been much fun,” I sympathized.
“I didn’t mind, at least not when his friends were there. They were hot, and one of them usually came to my rescue and kicked his ass. So it was okay.”
I wondered about the dynamics of other families. Ours had been so quiet, so respectful—outside of Tiffany’s antics, at least.
“Well, if you need someone to talk to,” Kat said, throwing the words over her shoulder as she left the room, “you know where to find me.”
I nodded, my mouth still full, and stood to clear away the crumbs. I nearly collided with Dagger as I picked up my coffee to leave the room.
“Good morning,” I said in a cheery voice.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he snapped.
I wasn’t sure whether that called for a response or just a conciliatory look. Maybe he’d gotten drunk the night before and was hung over. I decided to change the subject.
“Dag, I’m wondering if you’d mind showing me a few things? I’ve got students coming in later, and I’m still missing a few moves in the routine.”
“Later. After the studio is closed,” he said bluntly.
I nodded and said no more, choosing instead to go to the women’s workout room and do some stretching. I rinsed out my cup and left the room. Dagger said nothing further.
As I stretched, I played through the events of the previous hours in my mind. It was obvious that Dagger was off his game. I hadn’t known him long enough to know if this was his typical behavior under stress, or under suspicion. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Had I done something to upset him? I hadn’t had a chance to really discuss the showdown between Tiffany and me. He and I had found far more pleasant things to do. I’d take his way of passing the time any day.
The atmosphere was heavy in the studio. I could feel it. It felt like people who’d been shut in during a long blizzard and were ready to murder one another. But there was no anger involved, no betrayal. Or was there?
I put this out of my head as my students began to arrive. This was a day for getting down to work. No more parties and five-star treatment. Everyone was putting on their clothes in the locker room, preparing for warm-ups, when a last-minute student joined the class. It was my sister, Tiffany.
“Uh, uh, no way, Tiff. This is not for you.” I took her by the shoulder and tried to usher her out of the room without attracting attention.
“What? Why not? I paid my money.”
“How did you even
get that kind of money? Never mind. Tiffany, aside from the obvious, that you and I just had a major fight, this isn’t your crowd and I don’t want you here.”
“Huh. Good thing for you I didn’t say that when you showed up at my door with nowhere to stay.”
“That’s different, and you know it. This studio isn’t mine, and the clientele is highly selective. Lots of money,” I whispered.
“Ohhh, well then, sounds like I’m in the right place.”
“It’s not a pick-up joint, Tiff. Couples only.”
“I’m half of a couple.”
“You are? Who is with you?”
“You don’t know him… yet.”
I was exasperated. “Tiff, please leave.”
“Look, Whitney, you don’t order me around. I’m here legit. Deal with it. Cause me any more problems and I’m on the phone with Mom and Dad, telling them what you’re doing with their expensive U of M degree. Got that?”
My old instinct to protect my parents kicked in again—that infernal guilt even though I was doing nothing wrong. The students were beginning to look at me, and I had to begin the class. I really hated my sister in that moment, but there wasn’t anything I could do, short of calling the police. It would cause more of an uproar than it was worth. I let her stay and dreaded the moment when I’d have to explain everything to Dagger.
Class went well, even if it was a little briefer than expected. I wasn’t able to include the moves I’d asked Dagger about earlier, so I had to wing it. No one seemed to have a problem with that. They were, for the most part, out of shape and very sore. They happily ended their class with a stretch-out in the pool and then left. Tiffany was the last one out the door. She kept craning her neck to look around. Was she looking for Dagger? There was no way to miss the kid-in-the-candy-store look she’d given him when he walked in on us. I knew she was after him, but that was one thing that wasn’t going to happen. I would bet my life on that.
Katrina locked the door behind Tiffany and I breathed a sigh of relief.
“Rough, was it?”
“You know it. Sisters can be horrible.”
“You look like you could stand a drink.”
I shrugged. “Actually, you know… I could. Would you like to join me?”
“Don’t mind if I do,” she replied, pulling her purse out from beneath the front counter. We locked the door and walked companionably down the street to a small café that served a variety of wines.
We settled into a booth and ordered a Bordeaux with two goblets. We took a few minutes to become comfortable with one another. We’d not become fast friends up to that point. I was leery of her motives concerning Dagger, and she seemed to be sabotaging my efforts to be a good balance between girlfriend and good employee. The wine helped, though, and it wasn’t long before we’d exchanged a few true confessions.
“Did you go to college nearby?” I asked her.
She shook her head. “Never went to college. Well, I started to go to beauty school, but it creeped me out when people came in with dandruff or any kind of skin rash. I didn’t want to touch it. You could call it germ phobia, maybe?”
“So how did you come to be working for Dagger?”
“The same way you did. I answered an ad in the paper.”
“I have to admit I was surprised. I thought there would be a long line of women applying for that job.”
She nodded. “There was. But for that position, Dagger didn’t want just anyone. I guess you could see why.”
“I suppose so. The joke is on me, though. I had no idea what it involved, and I would have never set foot through the door if I’d known. I’ve had what you might call a nun’s love life up to this point.”
“No shit. I could tell that when you walked in the door. Dagger knew it, too. That’s one of the reasons he wanted you.”
“Well, since we’re on the topic, I couldn’t help but notice that you seem to have an eye in Dagger’s direction, too. Did I get in the way of something?”
“You sure the hell did. But I can’t hold it against you. Even if I had made it to first base with Dagger, it wouldn’t have lasted. I’m not sophisticated enough to be his type. I think that’s one of the reasons he hired me, to be the dumb blonde at the front door, you see? The women aren’t challenged by me, because the men that come here aren’t looking for a good time with a fuzz head. And if anyone comes in the front door who we don’t want, I can do the dumb blonde routine and run them off without causing trouble.”
“It sounds to me like you can’t be too much of a… fuzz head, as you put it, or you wouldn’t have that figured out.”
“Thanks, but the fact is Dagger told me that’s why he hired me. I guess he wanted me to understand that there was nothing personal between him and me. Oh, I won’t say that I wasn’t jealous of you at first. Any girl would be. You’ve got a classy way about you, though. That can’t be faked, you have to be born with it. I don’t have that, so I stick to my own kind. By the way, I just thought I’d mention something. Your sister, Tiffany?”
I nodded.
“It’s hard to believe she’s related to you. She doesn’t even look very much like you, and from the neck up, she’s a different animal. Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to meet her in a dark alley when she’s in a bad mood. You know she’s got her panties wet for Dagger, right?”
I nodded again.
“I don’t think you have anything to worry about, at least not from his side. But women like her have a way of finding a crack they can slip through unnoticed, like a rat, and becoming a big pain in the ass. All I’m saying is that if you think there’s something going on there, give him the benefit of the doubt. Dagger is a good guy. Not very many like him out there.”
“I know, and believe me, I’ve counted my blessings. When it comes to my sister, there isn’t much I would believe from her. She always has been a wild one. She broke the rules and flaunted the fact in our faces. She gave my parents sleepless nights, and I had to work all the harder to be the good daughter, to make up for it.”
“I got that from the way she was talking to you. I wouldn’t worry about that. You may not be giving your parents credit, but chances are they know that she’s the screw-up and you’re the one who’s going to win the race. They probably also recognize that you work extra hard to make sure of that. You’re allowed to screw up once in a while, you know?”
“I’m not sure I know how to screw up.” I laughed and lifted my goblet, studying her distorted face through the red liquid. “I’ll admit I was jealous of you when I first came. We all have our strengths, you know. You’re a very pretty girl and I know a lot of women who would die for that body. There’s someone out there for you; someone who has been looking for a girl exactly like you. When you find them, you’ll know it.”
“Is that who Dagger is for you? Is he the right one?”
“Well, he’s the first one, so I can’t say that for sure. But I do know one thing. If they get any better than that, I probably don’t deserve them.”
“Now who’s doing a pity party?”
We laughed, and I glanced down at my phone and noticed the time. “Oh my God. Dagger promised to give me some special lessons this evening after we closed. I don’t know how I could’ve forgotten. He’s going to kill me. Look, Kat, I need to go. It’s been great, and I truly mean it when I say I enjoyed myself. I’ll see you in the morning.”
I settled up with the waitress quickly and left, jogging down the sidewalk back to the studio. I let myself in and went in search of Dagger. I found him in the men’s gym, and I could tell by the twitching muscle in his cheek that he was irritated.
“I am so sorry, Dagger. It was a rough day with some unpleasant surprises. I went up front and visited with Kat for a while and we ended up going for a glass of wine down the street. I was actually enjoying myself, and one glass turned into several. I lost track of the time. I apologize.”
“I was worried about you. It’s not like you to be gone with your car stil
l parked behind the building and no note. I had no idea where you were.”
My mouth fell open, and then my heart softened. “I really am sorry. You have to remember, this relationship stuff is new to me. I can’t remember the last time I let anyone know where I was going.”
“Well, maybe it’s about time you got used to it,” he said, and I dreaded what was yet to come. “So, what was so stressful?”
“You’re not going to be happy when I tell you.”
“Well, I’m not particularly happy right now, so maybe you should get it in quick while you can roll it all into one mess.”
This was a side of Dagger I had yet to see. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. I felt he was overreacting under the circumstances, particularly since he’d been out half the night and I’d never questioned it. I had a feeling there was more to it than it appeared. “Okay, here goes. We had a new student sign up for the class today. I didn’t want her there, but she made some fairly compelling arguments and I really had no choice.”
“Who was it? Why didn’t you just tell Kat to kick her out?”
“It was my sister.”
“Oh, hell, no! Not her. Not in my studio.”
I was a little surprised at his reaction. I knew he’d heard the fight she and I had had upstairs, but that was hardly a reason to be so hateful.
“She’s my sister, Dagger. We fight like all sisters fight.”
“Not her. There is nothing sisterly about her in the least. I don’t want her here, Whitney. If you won’t tell her to leave, I will.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. “You don’t understand. She’s always been the screw-up, the one that my parents were embarrassed to acknowledge. It was my job to make sure that they had at least one daughter to be proud of. Tiffany is threatening to tell my parents about my working here at the studio.”
“But we’ve modified that. You’ve got your clothes on the entire time.”
“Yes, I know, but Tiffany will tell them that I don’t. She will also tell them that the clients in the studio will be together in the nude. That we can’t deny, and that will upset them. A lot. It cost them a lot to put me through school, and they’re going to see my using my degree to work with people doing nude yoga as being a failure. I just can’t do that to them.”