Danny

When I got in, everything seemed to be okay. I already missed Mack and I was tempted to call him back out and see if he wanted to stay the night. I knew that I would stay up all night and drag ass all day, but maybe it was worth it. My hand was on the knob of the door, about to go out before he left and I heard my name being said behind me in the dark living room.

I jumped literally and screamed a little bit. It was all that I could do because I was frozen in place in fear. I had enough wherewithal to turn the light on and the foyer flooded with light as a result. Where was Mariss? Who were these guys?

“Don’t think about going back outside Danielle. It wouldn’t be good for you because the deal we are going to offer you only stands for this moment. If you walk away, it’s off the table.”

I had no idea what the hell this guy was talking about, but he kept saying we and I finally caught sight of the man that was coming up from the side of me that I hadn’t seen before. Now I was even more nervous, but I wanted to know what was going on. My curiosity was stronger than fear and I asked them that very thing.

“Who are you?”

“We are with the FBI Ma’am.”

“I need to see some kind of ID or something. Even if you are who you say you are, you can’t just come in here like this while I’m away. It’s illegal. You’re not supposed to be here.”

The man that was standing beside me agreed. “You’re right. I’m not supposed to be here because my bosses are convinced that you’re in on it with your old boyfriend. I like to think that you were put into a bad position and you don’t know anything about it. I assured them that I would get you on board and give you immunity so a pretty little girl like you doesn’t have to find out how rough prison is for princesses like you.”

I was shocked and still a bit confused. It was obvious that I was being threatened, but I wasn’t sure what exactly he was threatening. It seemed like there was more to the story.

“I don’t know what you think I’ve done, but I have done nothing wrong. Me and Mack just started talking again and I don’t see how this has anything to do with him. What has he done?”

It wasn’t a question of them having the wrong guy. If they said that Mack was doing something illegal, I had to believe it because I knew him well and he really never was to worry about the legalities of everything. He was far more worried about getting what he wanted out of life and from the looks of things; he had done very well in that department. I still wondered how and it felt like I was finally going to get a straight answer about it.

“Mack is in the business of receiving and selling stolen goods.”

My mind went to stereos and televisions, but the detective informed me that it was rare photography and paintings, antiques, anything worth a lot, he sold. It made sense what he had said earlier about what he did for a living. I had known that he was doing something illegal and I had to know by his possessions and money that he had done well. I just couldn’t believe that the FBI was in my house asking about him. I hadn’t seen this coming and I was afraid for myself, but also for Mack. I didn’t want anything to happen to him.

“Are you sure that you have the right person? That doesn’t sound like something Mack would do.”

I was assured by detective Brock that it was Mack that they were looking for and it showed some pictures of me and Mack getting off the plane in New Orleans. There was another picture from just a little while ago, as well as a couple that showed more than I would have liked.

“You’ve been following us? Isn’t that against the law?”

Detective Brock just smiled and I had the feeling that even if it was illegal, it wouldn’t have stopped him from doing what he was doing. Now the dark vehicles with tinted windows lurking around made sense. I wondered then if Mack knew about this. He had seemed strange today in the beginning, but he had relaxed quickly so I hadn’t thought anymore about it. Now I wondered what all he knew about this. If he did know what was going on, why hadn’t he warned me?

They told me some of his major dealings, trying to convince me that Mack was a bad guy. I didn’t say it out loud, but the fact of the matter was that I knew him better than these two did and I knew what kind of a man he was. Maybe he wasn’t making the best decisions, I couldn’t argue that, at the same time he wasn’t hurting anyone. It was rich things being taken from rich people. It wasn’t like…who was I kidding, Mack was a criminal.

“Well as I said before detective. I don’t know what this has to do with me because I didn’t know anything about it and I’m not sure that I believe you. That doesn’t sound like the man I’ve known for all these years.”

“I assure you that it is. People change and like you said, you haven’t seen him in ten years. You just recently got back together with him. Don’t you wonder where he gets his money from?”

I had of course wondered that very thing, but it was another thing that wasn’t to be said out loud. I wasn’t here to add any more fuel to the fire. I wanted out of the situation.

“So what do you want from me? Why are you here, lurking in my house in the middle of the night?”

“We want you to wear a wire and catch Mack admitting what he does and any specifics you can about any paintings that he has sold recently.”

I wasn’t sure that I heard them right, but I didn’t want them to repeat, just in case it was true.

“I don’t see him that much and I don’t know when I’m going to see him again.”

“Oh, he’ll come back for you Danny. All you have to do is record it when you see him next, get him to confess his crimes to you on record and then you’ll be off the hook and we won’t have to tell your employer that you’re being investigated. It wouldn’t look good for a school teacher, don’t you agree?

I sighed and shook my head. “No, I guess that it wouldn’t.”

Now I wasn’t confused, the two detective’s threats were quite clear. I was going to have to cooperate or they were going to make my life even more complicated than it already was.