(Penny)

When I heard the first knock at the door, I shut my eyes and shook my head.

Please. No.

I wasn’t sure who it could possibly be at the door, but I heeded the warning Noah had given me. I was not going to answer the door. Instead, I slid off the bed and sat there on the floor, my back against the side of the bed. I played with a strand of my hair with one hand and hugged my knees with the other.

Somewhere inside myself I knew when I found someone to care for, it wouldn’t be easy. It wouldn’t be some romantic thing and end up with them sharing an apartment, saving for a house, getting married and having kids. That kind of life had been taken from me a long time ago. Whatever fate had in the works, it had been happening since I was a little girl.

I thought about her letters. All that time I took, trying to find the right words to bring my mother back. I believed I could bring my mother back. Whatever my father had done or said to make her go, I could fix it. All those letters, all those words, all that time waiting for some kind of response all ended when I had the final piece of her innocence stripped away.

It was all a lie. My mother was never coming back.

Addressing letters to Heaven was merely something cute for a heartbroken little girl to do.

There was another knock at the door. This time heavier. Pounding. It sounded like two hands hitting over and over. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

I looked over the bed at the bedroom door.

Whoever was there wasn’t going to let up.

“The gun,” I whispered.

I climbed on the bed and hurried to the nightstand. I got the gun and walked toward the bedroom door. Noah would be pissed if he knew I was doing this. But whoever was at the door needed to go away.

Who could it be anyway?

Marcos was dead. Nathan and Noah were together.

Slowly, I walked through the apartment. I remembered how to hold the gun and pull the trigger. Like when I shot Noah.

How romantic.

At the door, I licked my lips. “Who’s out there?”

“Penny?”

“Andy?”

I hurried and opened the door.

It was Andy, my boss.

He stood there, offering a smile.

His face was destroyed though. Blood and bruises everywhere. And they were fresh.

Andy reached out to touch me. I stepped back.

Andy fell forward, face down, into the apartment.

* * *

I handed Andy a glass of water. He sat on a barstool at the counter, holding a towel to his right eye. He was a little more cleaned up but he still looked like death. The corner of his left eye was even red, like his eyeball had been busted.

He drank the water, leaving blood on the cup.

His hand was shaking as he put the cup down. He labored as he swallowed and he let out a hoarse sounding breath.

When he looked at me, he blinked fast.

“I have a gun with me,” Andy whispered.

“So do I,” I said. “Plan on having a gunfight with me?”

Andy tried to laugh but winced in pain. “What happened to us?”

“Us?”

“Yeah,” Andy said. He moved the towel from his face. The right side of his face was beaten bad. Probably a broken orbital bone, easily. “We used to just write stories. Chase down crooked people and get good stories. Now look at us.”

“You’re the one bleeding,” I whispered. “Why did you come here?”

“To kill Noah,” Andy said. He lowered his head. “Jesus Christ. I’ve never fired a gun in my life.”

“Why, Andy?”

He lifted his head. Blood ran down the right side of his face. “Erik is out of control. He’s got enough on me to bury me. He thinks you’re fucking Noah and protecting him. I didn’t think so… until now.”

I slowly reached back and took out my gun. I backed up and stood there, making my position very clear.

Andy nodded. “I’m not here to hurt you, Penny. I don’t think I could hurt anyone. It was a good story to tell. The underground fighting. I knew it meant something to you because of your father. Then Erik approached me. He told me he wanted you to dig up shit on Noah. He said there was a past and it was a special case. There was cash on the table and I figured it was win-win for both of us. Then Erik got more and more pissed. So I pushed harder at you, Penny. Then…”

Andy grabbed the cup and drank more water.

“Then what?” I asked.

“I realized he was working beyond the badge,” Andy said. “And I have too much to lose. But I’m going to lose no matter what. Noah is a fighter protected by the mob. You’re in the middle and have a target on your back.”

Andy took a breath and stood up. I braced myself. Did I have it in me to shoot Andy? Before meeting Noah… not a chance in hell. I’d run. I’d hide. I’d cry. But after being with Noah, I had strength in myself. I understood what it meant to survive.

“Penny, I’m not going to try and hurt you,” Andy said. “Not anymore. I’m here to tell you that Erik is out for blood. Something happened with his brother’s murder that involves Noah. He’s hell bent on it. I’ve seen the police report. It was a murder that never got solved. Yet he believes there’s something pointing to Noah. That’s all I can tell you. And he’s pissed off. He’s insane. He did this to me.” Andy pointed to his face. “He just… I thought he was going to kill me.”

“You need to go to the hospital,” I said. “Then you need to tell someone. Go to his partner or boss or something. You have connections to the police. Call. Get help.”

“I said that,” Andy said. He then pointed to his left eye. “That’s when Erik rammed the butt of his gun into my face about ten times. I passed out after that.”

“Shit.”

“He waited for me to come to. Then he kicked me a few more times in the ribs. Some are broken and it hurts to breathe. His hands were still bloody as he stood over me. He told me I had to come here and end it. Or else he was going to end me. Then he made something very clear, Penny.”

“And what’s that?” I asked.

Andy looked at me with half dead eyes. His voice was clear, and honest. And terrifying. “It’s simple. He’s going to hurt everyone you and Noah know… he won’t stop until you’re both broken… and then dead.”