“I feel like a jerk,” Alec said. “I didn’t expect she would get sick.”

Jesse sat across the desk from him, with his feet up on his desk. One of the good things about their office space was it still maintained the feeling of a well-kept home. Alec had been up early that morning after not sleeping well the previous night and had finally gone into the office around seven. It was just Alec and Jesse in his office. David was absorbed with work on his computers in the next room.

“It’s a possible side effect. How much of the drug did you dose her with?”

“The usual amount, about a tablespoon. I spiked her coffee with it.”

“Probably it was the combination of a lot of alcohol,” Jesse said. “I mean, you really feel bad? She pulled a gun on you after all.”

“I guess it does make us almost even. I can’t say it wasn’t effective. She told me nearly everything there was to know about her, as far as the jobs she’s pulled. I had to email David some of the details before I went to bed last night before I forgot some of it. I had my share of liquor while I was at her place.”

Jesse grinned. “You got the information you came for. I have a question though. You’re not attracted to this girl, are you?”

The question surprised Alec. “She is attractive. But I’m just doing my job here.”

“Uh huh,” Jesse said. “Anyway. The thing is she’s in some serious trouble with this Pascale. I wonder if she actually knows more about him than she lets on. And what did she do to get him to agree to let her go after one more job?”

“I don’t know. It’s the one thing we didn’t really get to discuss. I’m guessing it’s true. Maybe it’s better to tell her he’d allow her to go than fight her on it if he thinks she’ll disappear again. I mean, after all, it takes manpower to find her if she runs. She says she’s never met him. I don’t know. I believe her story when she says she’s been trying to get out.”

“I hate to say this, but why not just terminate her if she’s a problem?” Jesse asked. “If she doesn’t know anything about Pascale I doubt she could give the authorities information which would get him in trouble. She might be able to offer damaging information about Emery and the general running of their operation though. Seems a lot to risk for a person who isn’t completely on board.”

“Maybe,” Alec mused. “But someone like her is an asset, and they’ve spent little over a decade building her into a professional thief. You can change up people over time but thievery is a skill too. Not everyone is going to be able to handle the stress that comes in those situations. She didn’t say anything about it but I’m sure there were people who were killed because they were unsuccessful in pulling a job. It’s part of the business. I mean, she pulled a gun on me.”

“No telling how her brother is going to react once he knows you’ve found her,” Jesse said. “Are you speaking to him soon?”

“I’m going to let him know I’ve found her. That’s a conversation I’m going to need to feel my way through. Honestly, I am going to delay it a little bit.”

“Why?” Jesse asked.

Just then, David came in. “Hey, sorry to interrupt but I’ve got something you might want to take a look at.”

A few moments later Jesse and Alec were looking over David’s shoulder as he pulled up information on his computer.

“I thought you’d be really interested in this. So. Emery was one of the only names Erika gave you. Turns out, I was able to find a record of a man named Clayton Emery. He’s a well-known thief in Europe. He actually did a ten-year stint in jail back in the late eighties, early nineties.”

“Never got busted after that?” Alec asked.

“No. Doesn’t mean he hasn’t been plenty busy though. Check out some of these old pics of Erika,” he said.

Alec and Jesse leaned closer to take a look at the fuzzy image on the monitor.

“How the hell did you get that picture?” Jesse asked.

“I could tell you…but actually I can’t,” David teased. “This is a street camera from Toronto.”

What they were looking at was a man and woman sitting on the terrace of a restaurant. The man appeared in his early fifties, with silver hair. He wore sunglasses and a black suit. Erika sat across the table from him, legs crossed, arms over her chest, listening intently to whatever Emory was saying to her. He had a square jaw and a craggy face spotted with old acne scars. He leaned forward, with one hand flat on the table, shoulders squared.

“I’d love to know what they were talking about.”

“Intense,” Alec agreed.

“It matches up with the time period Erika was supposed to be in that city. I’m almost willing to bet this was when he found her after she ditched him,” David said. “So, Emery is the real deal. When he got caught it was only because one of his associates rolled on him. Apparently, he hasn’t made that mistake to date. But he would have been young back then, in his early twenties. Before that, he had a criminal record longer than your leg. And it included just about everything you can think of, excluding murder or rape.”

“He’s not completely without standards then,” Jesse snorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d killed a few people by the looks of him. Did things effectively and didn’t get caught.”

“Grand theft auto, check forgery, burglary, aggravated assault. That’s all in the juvenile record. American born,” David said. “But the only address anyone can find for him is in London. It’s listed as his permanent address since 1996.”

“London. Where Erika’s mother lived for a time.”

“I thought of that too,” David said. “Not sure if that’s significant or not but I haven’t found any connections there. I’ll let you know if something comes up.”

“Were you able to pull up known associates for him? Anyone who could be this Pascale?”

“Not yet,” David sighed. “Give me a little time on that front. He appears to be excellent at keeping a low profile but I expected that. She has a legitimate reason to be afraid of this guy. I would be.”

David pulled up a second photo of the pair. “This one’s about a little over a year old. Notice he’s got a hand on her arm. Think he’s threatening her?”

“Possibly,” Jesse said. “Or leading her somewhere.”

This image was somewhere on a busy street. It could have been in any busy city. Erika was walking with Emery beside her, and he was leaning towards her, appearing to whisper in her ear. This might have been on a job but instinct told Alec that this was on their time off. He was dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and sneakers. She wore a casual dress and sandals. Her hair was down. Alec’s jaw clenched. He wondered if there were more personal reasons Emery had a hold over Erika.

“He’s an enforcer,” Jesse said. “Not just a hired thief. Mentor and father figure on one hand, but he’s the one who gets rid of anyone who doesn’t get into line. After all, the boss doesn’t trust his own people. He has to keep someone who will make sure no one gets out, speaks, or does anything that could bring suspicion back to them. That’s my assessment of him, anyway.”

David ran a hand over his head. “He’s bad news one way or another.”

“What’s worse,” Alec said. “We don’t even know who his boss is yet.”

* * *

Erika woke that morning with a pounding headache.

She laid in bed for a half hour after she woke, without even moving. The events of the night before came back to her slowly. She was embarrassed. After basically spending the entire night talking about herself, she ended the evening by getting sick.

“I guess it could have been worse,” she muttered into the quiet of her room. “I could have upchucked on him.”

And that was when she remembered she actually pulled a gun on him.

She’d been paranoid for the last few weeks, and suspicious about anyone who approached her. Never knowing when Emery might pop up had done that to her. She thought Alec was handsome when she saw him and didn’t mind having the male attention. But that didn’t stop her from questioning his attention. While she didn’t think he was a cop, she did think he could have been one of Pascale’s men. And if he wasn’t a henchman—she believed him when he said he wasn’t--- he was something. The vibe she got off of him was a man who dressed well but lived just within the law. And yet he carried himself like a soldier. But he didn’t mention any military service in his past. The scars on his hand made her think there was more to the injury than breaking a window.

He’d given her back her gun and bullets. Obviously, he could have harmed her if he’d wanted to, in more ways than one, and he’d chosen not to. It wasn’t the way any of Pascale’s people reacted. They wouldn’t have bothered trying to talk to her. If he was one of them he’d have walked her out of the gallery, found an alley and shot her.

Erika reloaded her gun and put it back into the nightstand where she usually kept it.

Of course, the truth was not a comfortable thing. As recollections of the night came back, she realized she’d said way too much. She was honest with this man about her profession. Whenever she dated men, she had a cover story that she used. Most people expected to hear about what you did for a living as a matter of polite conversation. She usually said she was a freelance photographer or writer, something which took up a lot of time and explained her ability to keep unusual hours. But she’d opened up to this man and told him the truth, something that was dangerous for more reasons than one.

It could have been the vodka, coupled with the attraction she felt for this man. She’d half expected Alec to reveal some dark secret of his own to her because she instinctively felt he had one. There was something about him, a sense of brokenness that she picked up from him. She had seen a lot of things, and one which she could easily detect were the residual effects trauma in other people. She sensed in him the same kind of emotional damage she saw in herself. Quick to tease and joke, he was hiding something. She noticed how aware he was of his surroundings, and how he paid close attention to her.

In the living room, the empty bottle still sat on the coffee table. She’d had a couple of drinks out of it before last night. She wondered how much she’d actually consumed out of the now the empty bottle. Alec had some too, but he kept his sense about him much better than she had. She hadn’t drank heavily in a long time, just the occasional nightcap. And she hadn’t eaten anything beforehand so it was possible.

The thought occurred to her that maybe Alec slipped her something.

It wouldn’t have been in the alcohol. Had he handled her coffee when they were out? Maybe. She wasn’t clear on it, but there was a reasonable probability he could have slipped her something. It would explain how she was suddenly so forthcoming.

She didn’t think her stomach could handle too much food, but she made dry toast and that seemed to be fine. That, along with some tea, and a small bottle of water was all she dared consume. And some aspirin made her feel a little bit better. Since she didn’t have anywhere she had to go, she climbed back into bed. There were more places in town she intended on canvassing, but it could certainly wait until mid or late afternoon.

At ten she was brought awake by the ringing of her doorbell.

Since no one knew where she lived, other than Alec, she grabbed her gun and shoved it into the waistband of her pants before going to the door.

It was a delivery; a teenager with a huge bouquet of flowers asked for her signature before handing over the package. Two dozen red roses. In the kitchen, she put them in a vase and opened the note attached:

Erika,

I hope we can do things better on the second date. I’d love to try again. Can we meet at 7:00 tonight?

--Best,

Alec

The name and address of the restaurant he wanted to meet at were at the bottom of the card. She smiled. This man was persistent. She wasn’t sure if he what he was after. If he was looking for information, she needed to know why and exactly what his angle was. Beyond that, she was intrigued with him. Something in his eyes, the way he moved, the calm tenor of his voice. From what she could see of him beneath the suit he wore, he was not only thin but well-toned. He’d disarmed her easily. He was a professional of some sort, one who knew how to fight. She wouldn’t be surprised if he knew martial arts. What exactly was soldier boy hiding? It was a mystery she’d like to unravel. Either way, she believed it was better to stay close than to push him away just yet. Not until she knew why he was around and what his true intentions were.

* * *

Alec called Rick, and though he said he wasn’t able to get away from work, he was anxious to hear about what he’d found so far. Alec arrived at his office in Century City shortly after two in the afternoon and was ushered into Rick’s private office when he arrived.

“He’ll be with you in a few moments,” the assistant assured him. “He’s finishing up on a conference call.”

Alec took a seat. Rick ran a commercial real estate company. His office was plush; white carpet and white chairs, with a lacquered desk and a single laptop. He smiled. He was a little suspicious of anyone who had a desk that neat; he couldn’t imagine they were getting any work done. He thought of how many computers David would probably cram into this much space before he thought things were even slightly crowded.

As promised, Rick came in with a few minutes.

“Alec, good to see you man,” he said, closing the door behind him. “It’s great to see you. From your message I take it you have good news for me?”

“Yes, I do,” Alec smiled. “Look, I won’t take up too much of your time. I wanted to let you know that your sister entered the States a few months ago. We’re not sure exactly where she is, but before she came back, she was in South America for a brief time.”

“So, she moves around like our mother used to. Figures. In other words, you haven’t been able to contact her directly?”

“Not yet but we’re working on it. I couldn’t find a lot of information on her personal life but I can tell you she’s unmarried and without children. You’re not an uncle yet.”

“Wow. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to know even that much. I’m glad to know she’s okay. So what’s the next step in finding her?”

Alec talked to him about tracking her down, how he expected it would take two weeks before he would be able to get in touch. It went easier than he expected. Rick was so happy for the small amount of information he was given. His sister hadn’t been much more than a photograph and an idea to him up until now. He could go on living with the idea of her as an abstract idea for a little longer. Two weeks would give him time enough to figure out just how much trouble Erika was in, and what he could do about it. Until then he didn’t want his friend anywhere near her. This kind of people often used relatives as a target. As long as no one else knew that Rick was her brother, no one would bother him. In the meantime, he was going to have to figure out what to do.

Alec didn’t mind lying to protect his friend, but he did worry about what might happen when he had to tell him the truth. Enemies like Emery and Pascale didn’t just disappear, and he wasn’t sure yet what would be the best solution for Erika.

“I’ve waited this long to meet her face to face,” Rick said. “I can wait a little longer since I know she’s alright. My mother had a lot of secrets and she kept and for whatever reason, my sister was one of them. I’m looking forward to hearing about how she grow up, what her ideas about our mother are, and what their relationship was like. Anyway, I know I’m babbling on. But thank you, Alec.”

By the time Alec left the office, clouds were gathering in the skies. The sunny afternoon had turned gray. The sun darted in and out of the clouds, casting beams of light on the skyscrapers and the cars speeding by on the street. There was a humidity in the air, that warm, smothering feeling which reminded him of southern weather rather than California climes.

He looked around and oddly had the sense that he was being watched.

There were probably at least a hundred people walking along, maybe fifteen or twenty crossing the bridges between Century Park East and Century Park West. Teenagers, businessmen, and women, a few young mothers with their kids in strollers. All of them seemed preoccupied with their own business. No one was looking for him. He was just another man in the crowd. Another no one.

Alec shook off the sensation. Remaining vigilant, he looked around but didn’t see any threat. He walked down to the parking lot, got in his car, and with a sigh, drove towards the freeway for the short journey home. He had a date to get ready for in a little while, and he couldn’t be late.