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All I can focus on are his tells.

You learn them fast in the line of business that led me to this moment. The sweat on his brow. The way his foot won’t stay still. His dilated pupils and quick breathing.

He’s one of two things. High as a fucking kite, or going through withdrawal.

And judging by the look on this fucker’s face, James Lapour is ready for his next hit.

I peek over my shoulder. His office is on the first floor. There are apartments above us and plenty of witnesses in case some shit goes down. But just outside those doors is Mason, sitting in a car and waiting for me in case I need him.

I’ve got two goals coming in here like this.

1. Warn him to back the fuck off.
2. Get any evidence I can.

Seeing as how he’s in his office, goal number two will have to wait unless I can get a confession. I slip the tape recorder on, and do everything I can to keep my hate down. But the image of Kat from the night terrors is all I can see. I can’t sleep; I can’t do anything without thinking about losing her. I feel like I’m losing my sanity. I have to hesitate and focus. Blinking away the picture of her, I prepare to do what I have to.

“Taking a break from the snow?” I ask him as I walk into the room. I’ve been standing outside the open door to his office just watching him for a few minutes. He didn’t change the locks and there’s no one else here on a late Wednesday night. Just him and me. Well not quite, there are a few broads in the far back. I can hear them from here. Maybe they’re waiting for him with exactly what he needs. I wouldn’t be surprised.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he sneers at me.

“I just want to know why, really.” I say the words easily as I walk closer to him. The city lights outside give the room a glow, but with the blinds drawn and only the lamp on his desk illuminating the space, it’s darker than I’d like it to be in here.

“Why what exactly?” he asks me, leaning back in his seat and I can faintly hear him pulling out a drawer slowly.

I rack the slide on the gun in my hand and raise it slowly. “Uh, uh, uh,” I reprimand him. It’s been a long fucking time since I’ve aimed a gun at someone. I’ve never wanted to pull the trigger more though.

“I wouldn’t do anything fast if I were you,” I tell him.

He raises his hands slowly, cocking his head and letting out a sick laugh. “So you here to kill me now? Is that it?”

“I should, shouldn’t I?”

“For what, exactly? Spit it out, you coward,” he scoffs at me. His eyes are so bloodshot, they’re nearly black with the lack of light.

“I’m the coward?” I ask him with ridicule. I have to be careful with the loaded gun. I nearly point it at myself like a dumbass. My anger is putting me on edge, my adrenaline pumping hard and every second that passes makes my body temperature go up just a little more.

One of the girls from the back room yells out, “You alright in there?” in response to my raised voice.

Before I can say shit, James answers them. “Just stay where you’re put.” Good old James, he knows how to talk to the ladies.

“What do you want, Evan?” he asks me, slowly laying his hands on the desk, palms down.

His arm twitches and I can tell he’s fucked up.

“What’s going on with you?” I ask him. “You’re not looking so good.”

“You look pretty fucked yourself,” he tells me, forcing a smile onto his face.

“We saw you watching,” I tell him.

“What’s that?” he asks.

“At Rockefeller Center.”

“Is that so?” I hate this game he’s playing. This tit for tat where no real information is given. “And what exactly was I watching?” he asks with a smirk on his face although I can see in his eyes that he’s curious.

I shrug and say, “Doesn’t matter, does it? What I want to know is what you plan on doing.”

He laughs abruptly, deep and from his gut, but any trace of happiness is immediately replaced with pain. He nearly doubles over and I raise the gun again, my heart beating hard as I prepare for him to come up with a weapon.

He doesn’t though and when he sees the gun aimed right between his eyes, he forces his hands in the air again.

“You stop doing coke? I guess Tony told you it was bad for you,” I tell him flatly, swallowing thickly as my hands sweat and the gun feels heavier.

He groans an answer I can’t hear and then he winces again.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Withdrawal?”

“Fuck you,” he manages to get out.

“You paranoid now? That someone’s going to do to you what you tried to do to me?”

He opens his eyes slowly, the light shining from the lamp creating shadows on his face. “The fuck you talking about?”

“The coke you laced. You scared someone’s going to do the same to you? Give you what you have coming?”

“It was my personal stash, you prick.”

I almost call him a liar, I almost tell him to shove it and put a bullet in his chest so I can get back to Kat and end this shit. But the look on his face stops me.

He’s always been a damn good liar though.

“If I wanted you dead … well, I know how to use a gun.”

“You want to know what I think?” I ask him, although I already know the answer.

“Sure, you can say that I’m intrigued,” he retorts.

“I think you’re greedy,” I tell him as I lower the gun.

“Greedy?” he says back with a crooked smile.

“I think you wanted to prove a point to your wife.” I lay it out there for him. I’m not messing around; I want this prick to know that I’m fully aware of what he’s doing.

“That bitch, she’s got nothing to do with this.”

“Who does then?” I ask him.

His bottom lip lowers, but then his mouth slams shut. “Fuck you.”

“I won’t stop until I find out everything. Until every bit of dirt I can get on you is dug up and exposed.”

“You know how much shit I’ve got on you, Thompson?” He seems to find his strength as he leans forward on his desk.

“This is a warning to stay away. From me and Samantha.” I almost bring up Kat. I almost say she’s pregnant. That family’s off-limits. But that would only give him that much more of a reason to hurt her. So I keep her name out of my mouth, I keep her safe.

“So it’s true then?” he asks with a snort of a laugh. “You two are together?”

With the visions of Kat in my head, I almost think he’s talking about her. That he knows we’re back together. It takes me a moment before I realize he’s talking about Samantha and referring to the rumors. Thank fuck. “She came to me for help.”

“I always knew she’d cross me. I didn’t think you’d be the dumb fuck she picked to go down with her.”

I raise the gun and take a step closer. “Give me one reason I shouldn’t kill you right now. You and I both know you deserve it.”

He shrugs. “I have the evidence that proves you lied to the cops, for one. I have evidence on both you assholes.”

“A dead man can’t do shit with evidence.”

“The cops will find it, and you know it. You don’t want them messing around in here.”

“What are you doing back here, baby?” A high-pitched voice rings through the hallway and I look quickly over my shoulder. I hear the door open and James smiles.

“Oh yeah, there are two other reasons. In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never put your hands on a woman. Well other than Sam, I mean.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I spit out through my clenched teeth.

“Come on back, baby!” he yells out. He’s calling my bluff and I’m quick to put the gun down, hiding it behind my leg.

My heart beats slowly and I can see it all playing out. Killing this fucker and the two of them screaming, running. I can see the red, blue, and white lights, reflecting off the glass.

“Are you ready for us?” A young woman walks in, skinny as a rail with a sharp blonde bob. It looks so perfectly straight, I think it’s a wig.

The smell of perfume floods the room as she walks in, swaying her hips and wearing shorts that ride up her ass.

Hookers.

“Let me just finish this conversation real quick,” James says and the second girl walks in a bit behind the first. The blonde rounds the desk, peeking at me, but stalks toward James to perch on the corner of his desk.

“Whatever you want. I’m not in a rush.”

“Hi there,” a little brunette says. Her voice is softer, sweeter even, which matches her look. She’s got a vibe that’s more innocent, with clothes that actually cover her ass. But her eyes are bloodshot and she can barely walk straight. She tries to lean against me, but I take a step back and when I do she sees my gun.

Her eyes widen and she stumbles backward with a gasp. The two girls exchange a look while holding their breath, both of them on edge and realizing they shouldn’t have walked back here.

“I was just on my way out,” I tell them slowly. I don’t need them calling the cops and getting my ass locked up for some dumb shit. I tuck the gun back into the waist of my jeans.

“I just want to ask one question before you leave, Thompson,” James says to my back as I turn away.

“So wives aren’t off-limits anymore, are they?” he asks. My blood rushes into my ears and I almost do it. I almost kill that fucker, consequences be damned.

“Ah, I see not all the rumors are true. Are they, Evan?”

“Leave her the fuck alone, James.” My blood pumps hot as I stare into his beady eyes. But all he does is smile.

And that’s what I dream about tonight. The piece of the nightmare that I’ve added. His fucking smile while I hold my wife’s dead body.