(Penny)

I stood at the side of the desk with Andy on one side and the police officer on the other side. He made it very clear to me to go with him or else I’d end up dead in the trunk of Noah’s car.

“This is Detective…,” Andy started to say.

“Call me Erik.”

It made more sense now why he was in plain clothes. The man scared the hell out of me. He looked evil and unstable.

“What is this?” I asked.

“Where were you last night?” Andy asked.

“My personal time…”

“You were with him,” Erik said. “Noah. You were driving his fucking car.”

“So?”

“Let’s get something straight,” Erik said, turning to face me. “I’m the one with a badge and a gun here.”

“So what? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Penny, please,” Andy said. “Listen to Erik for a second.”

“Is this why I’ve been getting paid?” I asked. “Is this…”

I thought about everything Noah said to me. How he insisted there was something wrong going on. And I had been too blind to see it.

“Is this what?” Erik asked.

“What is this?” I asked.

“This is my personal revenge,” Erik said. “You want to learn about fighting, good. You’re going to get the greatest fucking story of your life.”

I swallowed hard.

I looked at Andy and he was sweating. This detective was working Andy over. And for that, Andy was working me over.

“What do you want with Noah?” I asked. “He’s a dirty fighter. Or is it the boss? The guy running the thing. I think his name is Marcos or something. He has mob ties though. This is dangerous.”

“Which is why you’re getting paid the way you are,” Erik said. “From me, personally.”

“And you want a story?” I asked.

Erik smiled. “I want what I want. I have do this the right way. I have to build this. Make it okay. I fully know who Marcos is and who his family is. I know more than you do, Penny.”

“Then why bother with me?”

“Because you have something to give him,” Erik said. “Your pretty little body. Find out about his past. Find out about his fights. I want it all for myself.”

I looked at Andy again.

Erik took out his gun and pointed it at Andy.

“Hey, come on,” Andy said. “I’ve done everything you’ve asked, Erik.”

“Look at Andy again and I’m shooting him,” Erik said.

“Okay,” I said. “I’m looking at you. Just put your gun away.”

“I’ll do what I want.”

I tried to convince myself to stay calm and not do anything stupid. I needed to get to Noah and warn him. Tell him that he was right and it was serious. That a detective was after him. That this guy knew about Marcos, his family, everything.

“Your wheels are turning, Penny,” Erik said.

“You’re both assholes,” I said. “For dragging me into this.”

“You know the fights,” Erik said. “Your father was killed in a fight.”

“Don’t bring him into this.”

“I am. You have revenge to seek, so do I. We’re going to do it together, Penny. We’re going to be best fucking friends.”

Erik put his gun away and nodded to the door.

“What?” I asked.

“We’re leaving. We’re done here. I’ll give you a ride.”

I took a chance and glanced at Andy one more time. He wiped his forehead and rubbed his cheeks. “Hey, Erik. Does this make us square?”

“I’ll let you know,” Erik said.

I was being kidnapped, again.

All I knew… was that everyone and everything around me was fake.

* * *

“Why do you and Andy need to be square?” I asked as Erik drove.

Erik grinned. “You caught that part, huh?”

“I catch everything.”

“Cocky. I like that.”

“Are you going to answer my question?”

Erik rubbed his chin. “Andy has a little problem.”

“A problem?”

“I dug around and found just what I was looking for. Someone like him.”

“Okay, that doesn’t answer a thing.”

Erik pulled the car over and turned to face me. “I want you to remember something. You wanted all this. You take all the street stories, right? That’s your thing. Because you lost your parents and you kind of had to hide for a little while. I get that. Now you’re trying to piece some puzzle together. I’m not even sure that puzzle exists. You want the truth about your father? I can give it to you. But you’re going to help me first. I want to know everything about Noah. Not about the fights. Not about where he lives. I want to know about him.”

“I don’t understand what that means.”

Erik gritted his teeth and looked away. “I want to know what he has to lose.”

“Why?”

Erik turned to the wheel and started to drive again. “Andy got himself in trouble with some male prostitution thing.”

“What?”

“Yeah. There’s a dark side to him. Hell, there’s a dark side to all of us. So I’m helping Andy with his criminal record and he’s helping me.”

“So you’re not supposed to be doing all this, are you?”

“I have a badge,” Erik said. “I can do whatever I feel is right. To protect people.”

“You’re trying to protect yourself.”

“And if I stay alive, then I can keep protecting people,” Erik said. “It’s only fair.”

“What do you want with Noah? Seth? The family?”

“Personal.”

“That’s why it’s all off the record.”

“Bingo.”

“I want nothing to do with this,” I said. “You know what? I don’t care about what happened to my father. I’ve seen enough fights to get the idea.”

“Then give me the idea,” Erik said.

“He never got over the death of my mother. So that was his way of raging. Maybe he bet on it, maybe he actually fought. No matter what, he was doing something illegal and it caught up to him.”

“That’s solid detective work,” Erik said. “But it doesn’t answer something.”

“What?”

Erik grinned. “There were two sets of files for your father’s death. One depicted finding him beaten to death. Nothing out of place. Just his body, on the floor, dead.”

“That’s what happened.”

“But there was a second set of files I found. Files that were meant to be destroyed but never were. Files that indicated your father had a pocket full of drugs and was shot several times before being beaten to death.”

I froze. I tried to keep a normal stare forward. “Oh?”

“Yeah, Penny. Everywhere I look, it’s dirty. That’s why I do what I do. I clean up messes. I’ve done it my entire life. I’m going to finish this one out. If you don’t help me, you’re going to end up right where you belong.”

“You’ll kill me? That’s another mess.”

“No. You’re an easy clean up. I’ve thought this through. I’ve been working with Andy for months, watching you. Figuring this out.”

I shivered with fear. Up ahead, I saw Noah’s car right where I left it.

“I really enjoyed our talk today,” Erik said. “It’s been a pleasure to finally meet you. I feel like I already know you so well.”

Erik reached and touched my hand. I pulled away and swung the back of my hand at him, hitting him in the mouth. I then opened the door as the car was still moving, but slowing down. A hand clamped on my shoulder and squeezed.

“Don’t go falling in love with him,” Erik said. “I’d hate to see you grieving again.”

“Fuck off,” I said. “Whatever you’re trying to do, it won’t work.”

Erik nodded. “Maybe. But before you choose your side in all this, I want you to remember something.”

“What? That you have a badge and a gun? That you have dirt on Andy? I don’t care about that.”

“No, it has nothing to do with that,” Erik said. “You already know that. I’m going to give you one more thing to take with you.”

“What?”

The car came to a complete stop. My feet were on the street. Erik’s hand still on my shoulder. He looked me dead in the eyes. A wave of anger and pain washed over his face.

“When you see Noah… ask him what it felt like to kill my brother.”