(Noah)

It was desperate and it was stupid.

The two men had me by the arms as I kept thrashing. I had to do anything to buy Penny some time to escape. She had to get the hell out of there. It was her only chance.

I managed to get to my feet and then I realized the guys hadn’t punched me at all. If this was Marcos taking me in, he would have had the guys jack me up like they did before.

“We’re not going to hit you,” one of them said. “Just calm down, man.”

I broke away from the two of them. I punched one in the mouth and turned to see where Penny was.

She was in the car, but she wasn’t driving. A man stood at the driver’s door and opened it. Penny slowly got out, hands up. That’s when I realized the guy had a gun.

It wasn’t Marcos though.

What the fuck is going on here?

“Don’t hurt her!” I yelled. “Shoot me.”

“Take it easy, Noah,” the guy said.

“Who the hell are you?”

The guy pushed at Penny, letting her come to me. I wrapped my arms around her and had no clue what to think.

As the guy approached, I saw the flashy suit and the flashy watch. His look was straight out of a mob movie. The corners of his mouth curled up with a sick smile.

“Noah. Funny how we meet like this. Yet you’ve made me so much money.”

“What is this? Where’s Marcos?”

“I’m Nathan. I guess you could say I’m Marcos’s boss.”

“Shit,” I said. “So you know why he wanted us?”

“I don’t give a shit,” Nathan said. “But if we’re going to talk, I’d like to do so in a more comfortable environment.” He grinned.

“Fuck that,” I said. “You want to kill me? Do it right now. Marcos wants me dead? Then fucking show him to me. Right now. He killed my best friend in cold blood for no reason. He has…”

Nathan put a hand up. He stepped toward me and touched my face. “You look like you’ve learned a lesson already, Noah.”

“Marcos had me tied and beat up. I’m not leaving without an answer.”

Nathan motioned for me to follow him. I walked with him to the car. He took out a set of keys and jammed them into the trunk.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this,” Nathan said, shaking his head.

I knew then he was going to stuff me in the trunk of the car. I wasn’t even going to get an actual car ride to my own murder.

Nathan turned the key and the trunk popped open.

“Does this satisfy your concerns, Noah?” Nathan asked.

I wasn’t going to go in the trunk of the car. It was already full.

I swore I felt my heart stop for a second.

It was Marcos… dead… in the trunk of the car.

* * *

Nathan put a hand to my shoulder. “My estimate tells me we’ve been standing out here for a good four minutes. Now while it’s quiet, it’s awfully shady looking to have us going between vehicles, fighting, yelling, opening and closing the trunk of a car. In fact, I noticed one of your neighbors looking out the window about thirty seconds ago. If you don’t want to take a ride with Marcos here, then I suggest you climb into your vehicle and follow me.”

I nodded.

Yeah. Okay. Sure.

Nathan shut the trunk.

He snapped his fingers and the two men grabbed Penny.

She screamed.

“What the fuck?” I asked.

“Easy,” Nathan said. “Nobody get upset. I’m taking her so you’ll follow me. Nobody is going to get hurt, Noah. Okay?”

They put Penny in the car. Nathan got into the backseat, next to her.

The two men got into the car and started to move.

I had to hurry to my car and keep up.

I was in complete shock.

Marcos was dead.

That was half the problem solved.

But now I had to deal with his boss, Nathan.

And I still had a detective who wanted me dead.

* * *

“One quick kiss and she’s going home,” Nathan said as he walked behind a desk.

“What?” I asked.

“We don’t need her here. She serves no purpose. I’m keeping her alive because I can tell you care about her.”

I looked back at Penny. “You can’t…”

“It’s okay,” Penny said.

“Listen, Nathan,” I said, “Marcos wasn’t the only problem in my life. There’s a detective that wants me dead. He’s using Penny to get to me.”

Nathan laughed. “Talk about eating where you shit, right?”

“It’s not goddamn funny.”

“I didn’t say it was,” Nathan said as he gritted his teeth. “We’ll take her to your place. That’s all I can offer, Noah. Now sit the fuck down and tell me what you’d like to drink. We have business.”

I went to Penny and kissed her. I told her where I had left the gun. I told her to keep safe and not to leave the bedroom, no matter what. I stole a second kiss and feared it was going to be our last kiss.

I watched her walk away.

Then I did as told. I went to a chair and sat down. I pointed to a bottle of whiskey and nodded.

Nathan grabbed the bottle.

“Hey,” I said. “Skip the glass. Just give me the fucking bottle.”

“Deal,” Nathan said. He brought the bottle to his desk. “Now… let’s figure out the mess Marcos created.”