Greed

by Lana Pecherczyk

  “I told you. I don’t like relying on something we know little about. This mate business is unpredictable and new to us all.”

  At least with his protocol, he had precise implications for each action he made versus the response on his tattoo marker. Steal a piece of jewelry, the marker would shift into the dark. Do something selfless, it would shift to the light. Lilo had saved his life, but he’d shielded her with his body when the explosion went off. Was that enough to equalize their debt to each other?

  Griffin peered at his tattoo, still equal parts black and white, and that concerned him. It had been hours since he’d been with Lilo. If it were anyone else who had saved his life, his tattoo might have tipped toward the dark side—the selfish side. Especially if the marking believed he let Lilo save his life for selfish reasons. Following his current protocol for keeping balance, that would mean that Griffin had to do something equally selfless to put him back to center, but with the tattoo in its current state, he had no evidence to suggest he was out of balance.

  Unreliable.

  The entire protocol he’d built over countless years would be null and void if he couldn’t get accurate readings from his tattoo anymore.

  Without understanding his new situation, he felt as though he waited for a bomb to go off. Would he suddenly tip into the dark-side when least expected? Or did her proximity reset his internal equilibrium, as though wiping a slate clean? How much of his life would be controlled by his need to be near her? And on the flip side, how many of her feelings would be controlled by the pheromones he released around her? Both of them would be living their life according to a specific set of rules someone else had written.

  “Can I make a suggestion?” Flint asked. “Do what you’re good at. Gather evidence and make an informed decision before you write this woman off. In the mean time, be nice to her. You don’t want her to turn off you before she’s had a chance to meet the real you. Change is good, Griff.”

  But it wasn’t easy.

  “I’ll think about it,” Griffin said. “I have to go. Mary will be waiting for me soon.”

  “While you’re at it, apologize to your mother. Your behavior was uncalled for earlier.”

  “I agree.”

  “Good chat.” Flint clapped Griffin firmly on the shoulder and then let go. “See you at dinner tomorrow night.”

  Chapter Twelve

  When Lilo got back to the Cardinal Copy, she sat at her desk, staring into space, trying to decide if she trusted Griffin enough to send the message churning in her mind. He tried to save her cousin. I have to help him, he’d said. Not, Get him, or RUN! His first instinct had been to save the criminal. Any man who acted so selflessly must be good. With her resolve hardened, she typed into her phone:

  We need to talk.

  He didn’t answer. Probably because he had no idea who she was.

  This is Lilo, by the way, she added. Lilo Likeke.

  Still no answer. Maybe he was freaking out because Grace gave her his number.

  Grace gave me your number. Hope that’s okay.

  Griffin?

  Lilo tapped her finger on the phone screen, waiting. Maybe he was busy. She could probably just phone him, but she was at work with a thousand prying eyes. Plus, if she didn’t start work on the story soon, Fred would start to worry. Fred would come over and discuss. Then Lilo would blurt out something she shouldn’t.

  She turned on her computer then promptly distracted herself by ordering her old housekeeper a birthday present. It was a necklace she’d spotted in the lifestyle section that Candy had recommended. Renata had always been kind to Lilo when she grew up. Because Renata was poor, Lilo never worried her affections were paid. She didn’t have to be kind to the spoiled princess Lilo, but she was. And now that Lilo had seen the truth behind her family money, she always did what she could to let Renata know she was thinking of her.

  Good. Paid. Express delivery so it arrived today. God she loved same day shipping. It helped every time she forgot someone’s birthday.

  When it was all done, and Lilo checked her phone. Still no response from Griffin. He had left the hospital in such a rush. What if he was sitting at home bleeding, and that’s why he couldn’t answer the phone? She tried texting again:

  Griffin?

  Hello?

  Just when Lilo was about to find a supply closet in which to call him privately, her phone finally pinged back.

  Hello.

  Thank God. I was beginning to worry you were sitting in a puddle of your own blood. We need to speak about what happened today.

  No puddle.

  Shall I call you?

  No! I’m at work and there are too many people listening.

  He didn’t respond. Insufferable man. Why was it men liked to use simple sentences when texting? Would it kill him to release a little more information? Lilo kept texting.

  I’m writing up the news story about this morning.

  I’m saying it all happened so fast that I didn’t get a good look at the perpetrator.

  Okay.

  I’m not ready to throw the Deadly Seven under the bus until I get some more information. I’m sorry if that offends you, but I need facts before I publish a story that could condemn them.

  What kind of information?

  Lilo took a deep breath. If there was a time to let him know about her intentions to help her father, now was the time. She could ask him to come with her like Grace suggested. But, she couldn’t bring herself to ask.

  The kind that involves understanding why a member of the Deadly Seven would suddenly resort to murder in cold blood when they’ve never done it before. I’ll be going out and investigating. Standard journalist stuff.

  Griffin’s message returned almost immediately.

  Tonight?

  As soon as I’ve finished my article.

  I’ll be there in fifteen. Wait for me.

  Butterflies flipped in Lilo’s stomach. He was coming.

  Was he coming to watch her process, or was it something else? She knew having someone to watch her back was what she wanted, but suddenly she was nervous.

  You’ve been shot. You should rest.

  Griffin?

  Does that mean we’re on the same page about this morning?

  …

  Hello?

  But no more messages came. After a while, she stopped trying. She guessed he wasn’t a text type of guy.

  To take her mind off the fact she was developing a serious crush on this man, she turned back to her computer and began typing the news article. It was the hardest story she’d ever written because, for once, she wasn’t being truthful and it hurt. Those butterflies in her stomach twisted and rolled. On one hand, the truth was why she got into the industry, but on the other, being honest had the potential to hurt more people. It could also tarnish the reputation of the Deadly Seven if she was wrong, and the last time they had an incorrect story printed about them, they disappeared for a couple of years. It wasn’t like they spit the dummy; it was simply that they knew the city had lost faith in them. Why fight for the city when they weren’t wanted? Lilo didn’t blame them. But now they were finally back, saving their city from self-destructing, and she had the power to help them, or hinder them.

  But she never lied in a story.

  This wasn’t lying, she told herself sternly. It was withholding the truth because it could be defamatory, and misrepresented. This was the flip side of journalism, knowing your words could be misread or reinterpreted as something else. In the end, Lilo only kept out the supposed identity of the attacker, and the private conversation with her cousin. The city didn’t need to know that her father had been ransomed, and they didn’t need to know that the attacker looked like Greed. Not yet, anyway. She sent the article to Fred for approval.

  It wasn’t the best, but it would have to do.

  A few minutes later, Fred called on the internal phone system wanting to speak with her in his office. When she got there, she was surprised to see Donnie s
itting in the other free chair in front of Fred’s desk.

  “Come in, Lilo,” Fred said and pointed to the only other free seat. “Shut the door behind you. Sit.”

  The room smelled like cigar smoke, and Lilo knew the two of them had shared a moment before she’d entered. Despite being the twenty-first century, it was still a boy’s club in many ways, and the thought that she wasn’t invited to their little tête-à-tête made her growly. Stuff them. It was bad enough the men in the company got paid more, but here they were discussing her behind her back.

  Fred’s unimpressed tone unsettled Lilo. If it was about her article, why was Donnie there? And why were his eyes tracking Lilo as she stepped into the room and took her seat?

  “Is something wrong, Fred?” Lilo asked, threading her fingers together and placing her hands on her lap.

  From the look of him, he’d already had a hard day. His white hair was disheveled. Round spectacles sat crooked on his nose.

  “Well, Lilo.” Fred’s eyes flicked to his computer screen and then to Donnie. “While I appreciate you coming in after your ordeal this morning, I think perhaps you’re leaving a few facts out of your story.”

  Lilo’s muscles seized. “What?”

  “Oh, don’t play dumb, princess,” Donnie said. “We’re not fiction writers here. We’re journalists.”

  She sat there dumbfounded. Her instant reaction was to shrink and roll over. Anytime Donnie used that tone on her in the past, she was a walking yes-girl. But… after the morning she’d had, she wasn’t feeling very yes-like. She’d single handedly saved Griffin’s life. Her! The cattle prod to the back of the imposter worked. The adrenaline may have worn off, but the after effects of her monumental effort hadn’t. Griffin had been right. She shouldn’t have to take Donnie’s shit anymore.

  Instead, of saying something stupid, she allowed her empowerment to sizzle inside and let a slow burn of hate leak from her eyes. She imagined them shooting lasers into his face. Pew pew. Pew pew.

  The more distance from the end of their relationship, the more she realized his toxicity, and how she was a toy, or a play thing for him to poke around. Well, she wouldn’t play his games. Not anymore.

  Pew pew.

  “Lilo?” Fred prompted.

  Right. She turned back to him. “I still don’t know what you mean.”

  While her outward appearance was at war, her mind scrambled back to the events at the precinct. Apart from Griffin, the only other person who saw the attacker up close was Nathanial, and he was dead. She supposed if there were cameras and Donnie had somehow received CCTV footage, he might have seen. But the police weren’t in the habit of releasing that information to a journalist. Not until it was officially ready to go public.

  “I understand you may be in shock from what happened, and perhaps you need to take some time at home,” Fred continued, voice softening.

  “You think I made up what happened?” They thought she was some hysterical woman?

  Donnie scoffed under his breath. “We think you’re keeping certain facts out of the story. Like, for instance, oh, I don’t know, the fact the person doing the attacking was one of the Deadly Seven.”

  How on earth would he know? Nervous tension prickled her body.

  Donnie added, “Witnesses saw him escape the scene.”

  “Well, I can only report on the truth, and all I remember was a person in black wearing a hoodie. It could have been anyone. Ask Griffin if you don’t believe me.” Saying the words twisted a knife in her heart.

  Fred frowned. “How is he, by the way?”

  “Relax, Fred. He won’t sue.” Donnie rolled his eyes.

  Lilo wanted to strangle him. What’s wrong with asking how someone else was doing for once? Maybe Fred was just concerned about the new employee.

  “He’s doing okay. He was very brave and protected me.” Saying the words made the fact hit home. For a moment, Lilo lost all sense of surroundings and was taken back to the attack. She’d been terrified, but Griffin had held her hand. He’d jumped in front of her, and when he’d had a gun pointed in his face, he hadn’t run away. He’d run forward. Griffin had put himself in harm’s way to either stop the criminal, or to save Lilo. Maybe both.

  Her eyes cut razors down Donnie’s foul body. When was the last time he’d ever done anything selfless?

  “Foolish,” Donnie muttered. “Now look at him. He should have stayed out of it.”

  What a jerk. Lilo already knew there wasn’t a chivalrous bone in his body, but to take it one step further and put another man down for being brave? Lilo wanted to tell him Griffin was twice the man he was, but held her tongue. No. You know what? “Griffin tried to stop the man, Donnie. If he hadn’t, who knows what might have happened, or how many other people were going to die. It could have been me next. I could be dead.” Your little princess, she wanted to add. The one you claim to want back.

  “Instead, he almost died. Doesn’t sound very smart to me.”

  “No, it wouldn’t, would it Donnie?”

  “Okay then,” Fred said. “So perhaps add the details about the witness testimony to your story, then we’re done, Lilo.”

  “No problem. If you could supply me with the names of the witnesses, I’d be happy to get the fact-checker to follow up with them.”

  “That will take too long, and you know it,” Donnie argued. “Another paper will have the story written by then.”

  “I’m sorry, I’m not sure why you’re here, Donnie.” She was at her limits. “Were you there? Were you assigned the story?”

  She turned back to Fred who sighed and waved his hand at Donnie.

  “Donnie, do you have the witness information?”

  “No, they refused to give me their contact details.”

  “You were there?” Lilo couldn’t believe it. He’d followed her. “Didn’t you trust me to investigate the story, Donnie? And you, Fred. You allowed this blatant waste of resources?”

  Stuff Donnie and his meddling.

  For once, Fred came through. “No, I didn’t. Lilo is correct, Donald. You shouldn’t have been anywhere near the precinct unless it involved the story you were assigned. You’re not freelance. You’re a full-time employee of the newspaper which means your hours need to be justified. And if you don’t have the witness information for Lilo to corroborate, then unfortunately, we won’t be printing it. You know this. We’re not fiction writers here. We’re journalists.”

  Ha! Lilo scowled at Donnie. Pew pew.

  He stood up. “Fine. You want to print fake news, that’s up to you.”

  Then he left.

  Lilo slumped back into her chair, all empowerment gone, hands trembling from the confrontation. What on earth was up Donnie’s butt?

  Fred fixed his spectacles and turned to his computer. “Thank you, Lilo. I will have the article proofed then we can upload it. Now, as far as working with Mr. Lazarus goes, did everything work out fine? Apart from the shooting business, of course.”

  “Yes. All fine.”

  “Good.” He removed his glasses again and peered at Lilo. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Well, just remember, sometimes these things hit you unexpectedly later. If you need to take some time, I’d understand.”

  “I think if Mr. Lazarus can come in after getting shot, then I can keep working.”

  “He’s coming in?” Fred blanched. “He can’t. We’ll get sued. He needs to take the correct time to recover. The lawyers are already breathing down our necks.”

  “If it’s any consolation, he insisted the bullet only grazed him.”

  “Still. There’s the mental health component. You should probably take time off too.” Fred rubbed the bridge between his nose. “On his first day at work, he gets shot. Not good.”

  “I’m fine, Fred. Really. I have balls of steel.”

  “Always about the cahonies, isn’t it?”

  She smirked. If they didn’t see her as an equal to men, she just had to
speak in a language they understood, and he was right. It all came back to the cahonies, and she was fast learning she had big ones. All she had to do was remember that around Donnie.

  Lilo shifted in her seat in silence, waiting to be dismissed. When Fred didn’t raise his head, she asked, “May I leave?”

  A nod was all she received.

  Hoping Griffin was already in his office, she detoured there on the way back to her desk. With Donnie already disputing the facts of her story, it was imperative that she confirm with Griffin a unified version of events. There was no reason to believe that he would lie for her, but if he didn’t corroborate with Lilo, then she could be fired. Her heart beat faster. Maybe she was fired anyway. Maybe he was rushing in because he was going to head straight to Fred’s office and tell him the truth about what happened this morning. Maybe she’d made a terrible error with her judgment of character. It wouldn’t be the first time.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Having spent the afternoon training with Mary, Griffin arrived at the Cardinal Copy newsroom, sore and drained. Working his new ability had taken a surprising amount of mental energy, and combined with his recent injury, he felt altogether lethargic. His shoulder was stiff, and he knew he should have rested it, but he couldn’t sit still at home.

  Lilo’s messages were unsettling, and both he and Mary agreed he should forgo his patrolling tonight in favor of assisting Lilo with her investigation of the fake vigilante. Mary would also conduct her own investigation and discuss the incident with the rest of the family at their weekly dinner tomorrow night.