Farrah

 

Calvin left. I was so relieved, and so exhausted, that I wanted to curl up then and there on one of the Berth’s beds and take a nap, but Connor informed me that we’d best be going. The Minghelli men would be around soon to collect Tom’s body, and we didn’t want to push our luck any more by being there when they arrived.

 

I could not agree with him more.

 

So we left, clambering back onto his bike and meeting Joey at the rendezvous point. He had a bloody lip and his leather outfit was scuffed, but otherwise he and his men looked fine. I was so happy to see him that I gave him an enormous hug, laughing into his shoulder until Connor got playfully jealous and broke the two of us apart. Then, the whole group of Devil’s Wings mounted their bikes, and rode back to the compound.

 

Which reminded me of one more problem I still needed to solve.

 

I tapped Connor on the shoulder and hollered over the wind, “What about Montengo and Honi? She is still lying, and he still thinks I’m Princess.”

 

Connor, surprised, turned his head around so quick to look at me that he nearly toppled the pair of us off the bike. Controlling himself, he muttered, “Fuck. I forgot about all that. What are you going to do?”

 

I took a deep breath, drawing on the bravery I had felt when facing Minghelli.

 

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’ve got a plan.”

 

When we arrived at the compound, I asked Connor not to walk in me through the front, but to sneak me into his office through the back. He scowled, and was obviously about to ask, “Why?” But he stopped himself. I could see in his eyes that he was beginning to trust me.

 

That made me feel braver.

 

So Joey and his comrades burst in, informing Montengo that Tom Minghelli was dead and that Calvin had turned tail. A party was immediately thrown, and all of them began enjoying the ruckus that ensued. Meanwhile, Connor and I snuck quietly into his office. I just caught a glimpse of Honi as we slunk by, and a petty part of me was pleased to see that she looked nervous. Of course she would. Now that Minghelli was dead, there was no reason for the Devil’s Wings to keep housing her.

 

It was the same fear that had been preying on my mind the whole trip back.

 

I knew the Devil’s Wings wouldn’t keep me. Connor and Joey would try to, but Montengo would think me as nothing but trouble. I had to prove my worth to the Devil’s Wings and reveal my true identity—all without allowing Honi to come to harm.

 

And the solution to all that waited in Connor’s office.

 

After we were inside, I shut the door behind us and locked it. Connor watched in curiosity as I opened a seemingly random door in his desk. There, I found the envelope.

 

“Huh,” he gasped as he saw it. For a second, I was worried he would get angry like the last time he had seen me with it, but he just frowned and crossed his arms, waiting for me to act.

 

Good. I had no time to worry about him.

 

I booted up the computer, undid the envelope, and plugged in the jump drive that it had contained. Immediately, at least fifty files popped up, every single one of them gibberish.

 

“Farrah,” he said at last. “Do you know how to decode that?”

 

I took a deep breath and said, “I know how to try.”

 

And then, I began working.

 

It took several hours. By the time I was done, my eyes were straining, my head pounded, and my skin felt clammy. At least three times, Connor disappeared for a few minutes, only to return with cups of coffee. I took them with a quiet ‘thank you’ every time and returned to work.

 

At last, I pushed the keyboard away, wiped my sweaty brow, and said, “I think I’m finished.”

 

“Great!” Connor exclaimed, slamming the ‘Print’ button and catching the pages as they emerged from the printer. “Now, let’s take these to Montengo!”

 

“Wait a minute,” I interrupted. “There’s one more thing I have to do.”

 

I reached into the pile of papers and fished one out. “This,” I explained, “is the information for several of my aunt’s secret tax-dodging accounts. Each one contains something like ten thousand dollars.”

 

“Yes, yes,” Connor said excitedly. He looked like a kid in a candy store, surrounded by the prospect of so much money.

 

“Well,” I said, “I want to give you these, and then, in exchange, I’d like you to give me ten thousand dollars cash.”

 

His smile faltered.

 

“Right now?” he said.

 

I nodded firmly.

 

“Yes. Right now.”

 

He stared a long time at me, and then said, “All right.” There was something strange about his voice, but I was too tired and exhilarated to figure it out.

 

He left the office, going, I assumed, to the secret coffers the Devil’s Wings had for emergency cash. When he returned, he counted out the money, and then left in silence, without a word.

 

What’s going on with him? I thought. He seemed angry.

 

But I had more important things to worry about.

 

Feeling nervous about leaving the office, I crept out and snuck to the fringes of the party. There I saw Honi, sitting alone and with a disgruntled look on her face, nursing a cigarette and a glass of champagne in turn.

 

“Honi,” I whispered to her. “Honi, come here.”

 

She jumped, spilling a drop of champagne on her expensive outfit, and then looked my way, scowling.

 

“Princess!” she exclaimed. “You’re alive! What do you want?”

 

“Come here,” I said, gesturing her away from the party. “I need to talk to you.”

 

She crossed her legs, looking like a petulant toddler. “Why should I?” she demanded.

 

In answer, I pulled out several of the many fifty dollar bills I had stashed in my jacket and waved them through the air. Her eyes perked. I needed nothing more than that.

 

Like a hound on the scent of fine meat, she followed me into Connor’s office.

 

“All right, you whore,” she spat. “What do you expect to do with that money? The Devil’s Wings still think you’re Princess, and they own you.”

 

“Actually, Honi,” I said gently, “the money is for you.”

 

Her eyes went wide. Obviously, she had not been expecting that.

 

“There are ten thousand dollars here,” I said, holding up the wad of cash. Even without counting it, its thickness showed that it was an incredible sum of money. “I want you to take it, then I want you to leave the Devil’s Wings, and get out of my life forever.”

 

Honi’s eyes narrowed. “What?” she asked.

 

I took a deep breath. “I want you to take this money, and then I want you to consider whatever debt me or my aunt owed you paid. I don’t want to hear about you anymore, and I don’t want you whoring. I want you gone, and our problems finished. Agreed?”

 

Still, she hesitated, waiting for the catch. It struck me how much in that moment she looked like Calvin, making a similar decision. Wounded, violent, desperate people, forced to evil things.

 

Slowly, she raised a trembling hand and made to grasp the bills.

 

“Hold on!” I interrupted. “Agreed? I will not do this without your word.”

 

She glared at me, then chuckled. “You’re the only one I know, Farrah, who would respect a whore’s word. All right. I agree.”

 

“Good,” I said, and tossed her the money. With hunger in her eyes, she held it to her nose, inhaled deeply, and then began to count. When she finished, she had a grim smile on her face. Odd. I expected her to be ecstatic.

 

“Honi?” I asked tentatively.

 

She wouldn’t look at me. “Do … do I have to go tell Montengo who I really am?” she asked. I was astounded to hear fear—real fear, little girl fear, in her voice.

 

“No, Honi,” I said. “I will do that. I will take care of everything. The only thing you need to do is leave. Right now. And forever.”

 

She nodded, and wiped at her eyes. Then, to my utter astonishment, she threw her arms around me.

 

“I’m sorry, Farrah,” she whispered.

 

“That’s okay, Honi. I understand.”

 

She nodded, offered me a real, faltering smile, and slipped into the shadows, out the back of the compound, and away from me and all the Devil’s Wings.

 

I never saw her again.

 

# # #

 

Next, I had to confront Montengo.

 

I gathered up all the printed papers, revealing the financial and blackmailing goods the Berth of Venus had to offer, and emerged once again from the office.

 

Montengo was in the center of the party the Devil’s Wings were having, looking drunk and happy. Joey was handing out drinks nearby, but Connor was nowhere to be found. I approached him, and he looked up at me, a childish smile on his face.

 

“Princess!” he exclaimed. “I’m glad things worked out! You seen Farrah around?”

 

“Actually, President Montengo,” I said, sitting down beside him. “I have a confession to make. I am the real Farrah Michaels. The woman you were with is named Honi, and she lied about who she was in order to help protect me from the Minghellis.”

 

Montengo stared. I could tell my words were battling the liquor in his brain. “What?” Was all he could manage at last. I could sense the anger brewing in that single word, like water just short of boiling.

 

“I’m the real Farrah Michaels, sir, and I can prove it,” I persisted. “Here, take a look at these.”

 

I handed him the papers.

 

“These are a gift from my aunt. All the information from the Berth of Venus has been decrypted, and I’m giving it to you.”

 

Montengo stared from the papers up to me, and back down to the papers. I could tell he was trying very hard to keep from seeing double.

 

“You bitch,” he growled. “These teeny little sums aren’t going to make me stop believing in … hiccup … the woman I love!”

 

“Check the zeroes, sir. Count them again.”

 

He did. And as he did so, I saw his eyes widen.

 

“Christ almighty,” he gasped, and collapsed into a drunken stupor, head flat upon the table.

 

I laughed. I couldn’t help it.

 

Joey must have heard me, for a moment later he was by my side.

 

“Did you tell him?” he asked.

 

I nodded. “Yup. I just hope he is sober enough to remember. I don’t want to have to tell him again tomorrow.”

 

Joey laughed, and then offered me a beer.

 

“No, thank you,” I said. “Actually, I was hoping to find Connor. Have you seen him? He stepped out a little while ago.”

 

Joey frowned. “Not for a bit,” he admitted. “Earlier, I might have heard his bike though. Can’t imagine where he’d be going. He’s not one to miss a party.”

 

Now it was my turn to frown. Though I couldn’t figure out why, I had a feeling this had to do with me.

 

“Okay,” I said to Joey. “Well, if you see him, or talk to him, can you tell him to call me? Or at least meet me at my apartment?” I wrote down the address for him. “Now that this whole Minghelli thing is over, I’m finally free to go home.”

 

Joey nodded, and then raised his beer to me. “To Farrah. A real Devil’s Daughter—and one of the bravest people I’ve ever met.”

 

“Thank you, Joey,” I said. I leaned him, kissed him on the cheek, and left.

 

Once outside, I realized that the fresh air had never smelled sweeter. I would have walked home if it hadn’t been so far, but instead I was forced to grab a taxi. I had a few twenties ‘borrowed’ from Honi’s ten thousand (I preferred to think of it as severance pay) and was easily able to afford the ride.

 

My apartment felt cold and alien to me as I walked in, even though I realized it hadn’t been that long since I’d been away. Maybe, I thought, it’s not weirdness you’re feeling, but loneliness. After all those long nights wanting to leave the compound, I found myself wanting to be back there—in Connor’s arms.

 

“Connor, where did you go?” I asked myself aloud. And then, internally, I whispered, I miss you.