Chapter 8 #2
He hesitated for a moment, letting out a measured breath before rushing through his explanation.
“There are people who work for the city for the sole purpose of being eyes on the interior. They could be custodians, security guards, parking garage attendants—I actually don’t know, and it would look real suspicious if I started askin’ now.
What I do know is, they are constantly watching your father and reportin’ back to Silas.
They tell him if any witnesses stop by, if your father seems stressed, you name it.
“I know it may seem tempting to tell your father what I’ve just said, but that is about to be the least of your problems. Also, money talks.
Even when the people in these positions get these jobs with good intentions, all that needs to happen is for them to be approached and given a number with the right amount of zeros at the end.
There will always be someone workin’ for Silas on the inside. Know that.
“Today, one of the eyes Silas has on the inside let it slip that you stopped by your father’s office.
The county does a pretty good job of keeping the private information of state department officials off record.
This is the first time Silas has ever been made aware that your father has kids.
Well, for now he only knows about… you.”
“Does he know what I—”
“Yes, he knows what you look like,” Kain replied before I could even finish the question. “Someone has already taken and sent photos to him. Lauren, I need you to tie up your hair before you get out of that bathroom. If you can change anything else about your look, do that.”
Now I understood what was happening.
“Silas isn’t going after my father anymore because…he’s found an easier target—”
“You are not an easier target.” I couldn’t decide if Kain was trying to convince me of something or make me a promise. Perhaps it was both. “Nothing is gonna happen to you.”
Panic manifested in me in the form of tears.
“You can’t promise that. You go to a school five hundred miles away, and classes resume on Monday.
I’m basically on my own. Arguably, the most powerful man in Miami is coming after me to what?
Kill me to send a message to my father? Am I just supposed to sit around and let him get me? I have to tell someone!”
“Lauren,” he tried to calm me down. “I need you to trust me.”
“Trust you? I just met you! I don’t know you well enough to trust you with my damn life. You’re practically a stranger.” I was having a panic attack.
“You need to breathe,” Kain told me, not taking my harsh words to heart.
“I am breathing!” I snapped.
“You need to breathe slower.” He waited for me to heed his suggestion. “You’re not on your own. I lived in Miami for eighteen years before I moved upstate for college. I’ve got friends down here, people that I trust—”
“More strangers.”
“Hear me out, a’ight?” He let out a frustrated sigh. “I wouldn’t put you in danger.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not knowingly.”
“Not at all,” he argued. “I understand that you’re scared, but you’re not thinking clearly.
You go to the authorities or whoever it is you feel like you need to talk to…
And say what? ‘Silas Montgomery is after me because my father’s prosecuting his case’?
Do you know what they say to that? They’re gonna want to know how you know.
And let’s say you tell them. They put a cop on you twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Would that make you feel safe?”
“Um… kind of.”
“No,” Kain informed. “That is a walking, talking neon sign above your head, givin’ away your position at all times.
And not tryna scare you, but police officers are wildly easy to bribe if you can get the right one.
And all that aside—if Silas is serious about gettin’ a message across, he’s not the type to back off because a cop is in the way. ”
“So you’re basically saying your father is fully prepared to have a police officer killed right along with me. But wait! That shouldn’t freak me out because you got your homeboys from grade school who will keep me locked while you study for your finals five hundred miles away in Tallahassee.”
He actually laughed.
“It’s not funny!”
“Sorry, it’s just the way you said it,” he tried again to be serious, apologizing.
“You’re right, it’s not funny… But seriously—I need you to realize that no one can protect you like I can.
That’s not arrogance, that’s fact. Nobody understands what you’re up against the way that I do.
Even if I’m seven hours away, I got you. ”
Why the fuck did my heart just flutter?
“And summer vacation is right around the corner. That’s six weeks.
I’ll even drive down weekends if it gives you peace of mind.
Just let me take care of this. I won’t ask you to trust me again because I completely understand where you’re comin’ from, but believe me when I say I won’t let anything happen to you. ”
I was stupid for believing him. Every logical bone in my body was telling me to decline his offer and let the professionals handle this.
However, I thought about one guaranteed consequence of asking for outside help.
I couldn’t go to the police without basically exposing the fact that Kain gave me inside information.
I didn’t know what kind of trouble that would get Kain in with his father—it wasn’t even something he bothered mentioning, and I could only imagine this was because the answer was terrible.
It wasn’t just my ass on the line here.
“Lauren?”
“Yes,” I replied in quick frustration. “Yes, okay? We’ll do this your way.”
***
I was too afraid to drive straight home. Mom was at a convention out of state for work and Morgan was never home if she didn’t have to be. Becoming the newest member on Silas Montgomery’s most wanted list made me very reluctant to go back to an empty house.
When I told Kain this, I half expected him to say I had nothing to be afraid of. Perhaps I might’ve wanted him to assure me of that.
Instead he texted me an address to drive to, telling me the person who lived there was expecting me. It was weird, but a lot of strange things were happening today, and driving to a one-story house in the middle of some rundown neighborhood wasn’t even in the top three.
Paranoia made me scan my surroundings three times before I got out of the car.
I didn’t even get a chance to knock on the front door before it swung open, revealing a shirtless young man at the threshold.
The jeans he had on rode low at his waist, revealing the waistband of black briefs, but he looked perfectly comfortable as he was.
He had a bowl of cereal in one hand, a spoon in the other.
Standing at least six inches above me, he slowly brought his gaze down.
Without saying anything, he looked me over, but not in a way that made me feel like he was checking me out.
It was curious. Something must’ve been funny because he then chuckled to himself, stepping aside and motioning for me to walk on in.
“What’s funny?” I couldn’t help but ask. The stranger shut the front door behind him, and even though that should’ve made me uncomfortable, I didn’t think Kain would’ve let me come here alone if the person in front of me was dangerous.
He set his bowl of cereal down. “I was wondering why Kain was going through all this trouble,” he said between mouthfuls of Cheerios. “Now I know.”
Was that a compliment? I think that was a compliment.
“Anyone ever tell you that you kinda look like a young woman named Morgan Caplan?”
I kept a straight, neutral face, but in my head, I was throwing furniture and screaming.
Why does everyone and their mama know my sister?
Morgan, Morgan, and even more Morgan. Even in the most unexpected places, her existence was still known.
I assumed the man in front of me was one of her many campus admirers.
“Only all my life.” He raised an eyebrow. “We’re twins.”
He smiled at this, and objectively speaking, I decided he was attractive. “Oh, no shit? Small world. I had her in my communications class last semester. She gave a speech about how candy corn is really just repurposed frosting. First time I ever had to give a student a D.”
I liked him already.
“You’re a professor at the University of Miami?”
“Don’t sound so damn surprised—it’s offensive.” He grimaced at me. “And no, I’m a TA. I know I don’t look that fuckin’ old.”
“You look too young to even be a teaching assistant, to be honest,” I replied. “Are you a friend of Kain’s?”
“Nah, I invite strangers into my house for acquaintances all the time.” Fair point.
“Well,” I said, extending a hand, “I’m Lauren.”
He set his spoon down and accepted my handshake firmly. “Marlon.”
Light poured in from outside as the front door swung open, taking me by surprise. In stepped a new person, a smile spreading across his lips at the sight of my hand in Marlon’s.
“Damn it, Marlon! Kain leaves you alone with his girl for five minutes and your light skin ass already tryna spit game? Put a shirt on, nigga!”
There was a lot to process.
The unsuspected new person. The loud, friendly banter. The laughs that soon followed. “His girl.” I was still processing that last one.
“No one was spittin’ game,” Marlon said to the new entry in his house, his language far less formal. “Shut the door, nigga, you lettin’ my cold out.”
This newest addition was my height, a little on the rounder side, dressed head-to-toe in denim. A denim jacket over a black shirt, loose fit jeans, and tan boots. You could almost forget it was nearly ninety degrees outside. He looked over me the same way Marlon had, curiously.