Chapter 12
Evan
A ll 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 right 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.
Judging by the look on this prick’s face, James Lapour is fiending 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. More importantly, just outside those doors is Mason, sitting in his car and waiting for me in case I need him.
I’ve got two goals in coming here like this.
Warn him to back the fuck off.
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. The tape recorder in my pocket is already running.
It takes everything in me to keep my hate down, but the memory of Kat from my night terrors is all I can see.
I can’t sleep; I can’t do anything without thinking about losing her.
It’s as if my sanity is steadily eroding.
Blinking away the image of her, I prepare to do what I have to.
For her. For us. All I want is for this to be done and over with, so I can be with her and be the man meant to stand beside her.
I walk into the office, the wooden floor beneath my oxfords creaking eerily as I do.
I’ve been standing outside the open door 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.
“Taking a break from the snow?”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” he sneers at me, ripping his red-rimmed eyes away from the computer screen.
With the city lights peeking through the drawn blinds, the room is bathed in a diffuse glow.
It’s darker than I’d like it to be in here with only the lamp on his desk illuminating the space.
“What I really want to know is, why?” The question leaves me coldly as I stalk closer to him.
“Why what?” he asks me, leaning back in his seat and I can faintly hear him pulling out a drawer, ever so slowly.
Racking the slide on the gun in my hand, I 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 stupid if I were you.”
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 appear nearly black with the lack of light.
“I’m the coward?” The ridicule comes complete with an arched brow. I have to be careful with the loaded gun. My anger is putting me on edge, the adrenaline in my veins 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 all right in there?” in response to my raised voice.
Before I can respond, James answers her. “Just stay where you are.” Good old James, he knows how to talk to the ladies.
“What do you want, Evan?” he questions, slowly placing his hands palm down on the desk.
His arm twitches and I can tell he’s fucked up.
“What’s going on with you?” I ask in return. “You’re not looking so good.”
“You look pretty fucked yourself,” he spits out without wasting a second and forces a smile to his face.
“We saw you watching,” I say, offering him a small piece of the puzzle.
“Watching what?”
“At Rockefeller Center.”
“Is that so?” I hate this game. This back-and-forth 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 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, deeply 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 to the desk again.
“You stop doing coke? I guess Tony told you it was bad for you,” I say flatly, swallowing thickly as my hands sweat and the gun feels heavier.
He groans an answer I can’t hear then winces again.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? You got the shakes?”
“Fuck you,” he manages to get out as his eyes shut.
“You paranoid now? Worried 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 are 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 from 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. I know that much about him. But I’m better with tells.
He adds, “If I wanted you dead … well, I know how to use a gun.”
“You want to know what I think?”
“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 repeats 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 has got nothing to do with this.”
There’s a skip in my pulse. With a slight cock of my head I ask, “Who does then?”
His mouth parts, but then slams shut a second later. “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. Every ounce of my being craves to demand that my 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 the conversation; I keep her safe.
I’ll do anything for her. Anything and everything. Fear stirs in my blood at the thought of her being on his radar. It’s gone as quickly as it came, eased by his next line of questioning.
“So, it’s true then?” he asks with a snort. “You two are together?”
It takes me a moment before I realize he’s talking about Samantha and referring to the rumors. “She came to me for help.”
“I always knew she’d cross me. I didn’t think you’d be the dick 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 poking 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 say, gritting the words through my clenched teeth.
“Come on back, sweet cheeks!” he yells out. He’s calling my bluff and I’m quick to lower the gun, hiding it behind my leg.
My heart beats slowly and I can see it all playing out. Killing this fucker and the two girls from the back room screaming, running. I can see the red and blue lights reflecting off the glass.
“Are you ready for us?” A young woman walks in, skinny as a rail with a sharp blond bob. It looks so perfectly straight, my guess is it’s a wig.
The smell of perfume floods the room as she enters, swaying her hips and wearing light blue ripped shorts that ride up her ass.
Hookers.
“Let me just finish this conversation really quick,” James tells her as 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 look that’s more innocent, with clothes that actually cover her ass.
She might sound sweet, but there’s a devil in those baby blues of hers.
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 on edge and realizing they shouldn’t have walked back here.
“I was just on my way out,” I reassure them. I tuck the gun back into the waistband of my jeans.
“I want to ask one question before you leave, Thompson,” James says to my back as I turn away. “Wives aren’t off-limits anymore, are they?” 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.