That mafia man’s face was in my mind as I tentatively knocked on Cooper’s door.

“Come in,” he called out.

My boss wasn’t normally in so early, but I was glad he’d come in on time for once. I opened the door and stepped inside.

Cooper was something of a legend in the office. He’d been around since the beginning and was one of the most grizzled and jaded reporters on staff. He didn’t write much anymore, but he was very good at finding new talent and promoting them ruthlessly. It was everyone’s dream to be discovered by Cooper.

But that wasn’t my goal, not anymore.

“Can I have a second?”

“Charley. Sit. You have two seconds.”

I sat down. “I have a story pitch.”

“Save it for the weekly meeting.”

“This is important, something I’ve been doing on the side.”

He sat back in his chair. Cooper was in his fifties, balding, with thick round glasses and a big round stomach. He looked exhausted, but he always looked exhausted.

“What is it?”

“It’s about Bull Dixon.”

“That football ass? He’s old news.”

“No, he’s not. I have an in with him.”

Cooper raised an eyebrow. “He’s notoriously closed off when it comes to the press. How do you have a source?”

“Not a source. I have him.”

He blinked. “Okay. I’m listening.”

“I want to write a feature. I know some things about Bull. Hell, I have some pictures of him that would blow him wide open. I want to write the story.”

He crossed his arms, looking at me seriously. “And how did you get all this information, assuming it’s all real?”

“I’d rather not say.”

“But you already said it’s directly from him.”

I nodded. “It is.”

“Why would he talk to you?”

“Does it matter? I mean seriously, Cooper, does it? I have the biggest scoop on this guy ever.”

“Good point.” He sighed. “You’re a nobody, you know? You got some talent, but so far I haven’t been blown away.”

“This will blow you away.”

“I believe you, but I don’t trust you.”

“One shot. I’m not asking for anything up front.”

He laughed. “Good, because I wouldn’t give it to you.” He sighed, glancing down at his desk. “You have three weeks. Get me something by then and we’ll talk.”

“I need to get paid something extra.”

“There it is,” he said, shaking his head. “No way.”

“If it’s as good as I say it is, it’ll be worth it.”

“One thousand.”

“Eight.”

“Three.”

“I’ll take five, but I can’t go lower.”

“Fine.” He looked annoyed. “Now get the fuck out of here and bring me something worth five grand.”

“I will.” I stood up and left his office.

I wasn’t doing this for myself anymore. I hated that I was going through with this, frankly, and I hated that I had actually brought it to Cooper’s attention. Cooper was a good man, but he was a reporter first and foremost. Now that he knew about this, he was going to follow through.

I had no other choice. I couldn’t pay Rafa off on my own. This article was the only thing I really had, and it was the only way I could get enough money to satisfy this guy.

I’d brought this on myself. I went looking for danger, and danger found me. Now I was having second thoughts, but it was way too late.

I was going to have to take Bull down with me. I didn’t want that, not anymore, but I couldn’t see any other alternative.

Maybe Bull would survive it. Hell, he’d survived so far without any real problems. There were plenty of rumors and stories written about him, even if they weren’t exactly accurate.

But I knew this was different. I was close to Bull, closer than anyone else. I knew I could get things that other journalists would beg for.

I wasn’t cut out for this, though. I thought I could handle it at first. I thought I could be ruthless and uncaring, all for the pursuit of my job, but that was stupid. I wasn’t that kind of person.

I found myself caring about Bull, but it was too late. I’d already made one dumb mistake and gotten myself into a bad situation, and there was no turning back.

I got back to my desk and sighed, staring blankly at the computer screen. I wanted to get the heck out of there, maybe run away from the city entirely. Who knew how far the mob could reach, though? There was no real escape. I felt trapped and claustrophobic.

“You look busy.”

I turned and looked over my shoulder. Dee was standing there, smiling at me with that awful, smug look.

“I am busy,” I said back.

“Good. Coop wanted me to give you this.” She handed me a folder.

“What is it?”

“It’s everything we have on Bull Dixon. Are you writing something about that creep?”

“No,” I mumbled, opening the folder. “Not at all.”

“What’s it for then?”

I looked at Dee. “Did Coop tell you?”

“No,” she said.

“Then mind your own business.”

She looked shocked, and then she just smiled and walked away. I sighed, turning back toward the folder. That might have been a mistake, but I couldn’t help myself. Dee was just so terrible.

I opened the folder and began to skim it. There wasn’t a lot, which didn’t shock me. There were some references to some early arrests, but apparently the records were all missing. There were some quotes about his family, his mother’s name and address, but that was pretty much it.

The one thing that did catch my eye, though, was buried at the bottom of a bunch of useless crap.

It was an interview with a journalist. Apparently, she vividly recalled interviewing a young, college-aged Bull Dixon about his family, and she recalled writing the story. As far as she knew, that story had everything about Bull’s family, details nobody else knew.

But she said the story disappeared from the internet. She had no clue why, and when she asked her editor, he just told her not to worry about it. She said the guy seemed almost afraid.

I shook my head, mystified. How was Bull able to get rid of all this information? I could just imagine the lengths people would go to get that kind of power.

Regardless of how he did it, Bull was able to erase things from the internet. That told me a lot about the man and about his connections. If I was going to play him, I needed to be prepared.

But as I sat there paging through his file again, I couldn’t help but wonder who was really playing who.