Chapter 38 #2
“Huh…” I had a feeling I knew who belonged to that head.
“What brought you to Flatbush?”
“Work.” I leaned forward and unzipped the bag to pull up some of its contents. A wad of cash and the gun.
Mark’s brow shot up, and he had to double-take before he pulled onto the street. “Jesus fucking Christ— You should’ve come into the office to get a wire.”
I put the cash and gun back in the bag. “It was a last-minute thing.”
“You aren’t changing your mind about working with us, are you?”
“No… Tonight has been one thing after another.” I looked out my window, pausing. “Antonio’s kids aren’t gonna back off.”
“And you know this how?”
“They made it pretty clear in the meeting tonight.”
“Great. Something else you weren’t wired for— Do you know how crucial this information could be to the investigation?”
“Antonio picked me up directly from my house without warning. It would’ve been a little suspicious if I told him and his driver to stop by your office and wait in the car while I got a wire fitted.”
He rolled his eyes but moved on. “What do you do with the bag now?”
“Well,” I sighed, “I’m keeping the gun— It’s the one you told me to get. But the cash needs to be delivered to Antonio tonight.”
Mark scoffed in amused realization. “And I suppose you’ll want me to drive you to Antonio’s house?”
“If you don’t mind.”
“Weren’t you meant to pick up 50k?” Vince asked after running the wads of cash through the counter, sitting on the glass coffee table.
I stood in the doorway of Antonio’s large living room, where the only light came from a standing lamp in the corner of the room. My arms were crossed loosely over my chest. “We didn’t have time to count it in between running from a dog and a truck, Vince.”
Seb agreed with a hum from the couch. Still in his riding leather with his helmet beside him, he had sunk into the cushions the second we arrived. He had spent an hour getting the cops off his tail until they decided the pickup driver was of more interest and let him go.
Vince sighed, shaking his head as he looked at the cash. “He’s 20k short. Antonio is losing respect left, right, and center… You boys go. I’ll let him know what happened tonight.”
“Awesome,” Seb grumbled, lazily getting to his feet.
We left the mansion in silence until we were outside.
“How did you get here, by the way?” Seb asked as we approached his bike.
“Lily’s dad,” I muttered.
Seb released a breath. “You’re brave.”
I jerked my head towards the driveway and pushed my fists into my pockets. “And he’s waiting. So is Lily.”
Seb unclicked his plate and got on his bike. “I’m gonna miss this.”
“Threatenin’ people or runnin’ away from crazed drivers?” I knew what he meant, but offered him a smile anyway.
He grinned, but his eyes said enough about what he was thinking. Then he looked down to adjust and readjust the straps on his gloves, hesitating or trying to find the right words for whatever he wanted to say. He didn’t have to say it, though.
“Yeah, I know.” I scuffed the gravel with my boot.
Seb inhaled and then huffed a laugh before pulling on his helmet. “Go on. Go sweep Lily off her feet.”
“Will do.”
I walked the two blocks back to where Mark agreed to wait in his car.
He didn’t say anything until we were on the road again.
“How’d it go?” he asked, casually checking his rearview mirror.
“I think your investigations are getting to him. He’s stressed.”
Mark shrugged. “Don’t do illegal things, and that won’t happen.”
I scoffed but didn’t answer.
We drove on in silence. With Antonio’s mansion located in Bay Ridge, the same suburb as Lily’s apartment and her parents’ house, I figured he would take me back to his place, where Lily was staying.
But then the streets started looking more and more like the ones I drove to get to Lily and Kira’s apartment.
It wasn’t until we were on their block that I straightened and looked at Mark. “You brought her back here?”
“Things were getting tense at home.” He looked at me side-on for a second before focusing on the road. “I think my family is going to have to sit down for a long conversation. But for now, she’s here. Lily needed space.”
“From your wife.”
His hold on the steering wheel shifted. “I don’t think you’re entitled to comment on it, Dean.”
I considered biting my tongue, but the words came out before I could stop them. “I think I am if she’s makin’ my girlfriend so miserable she has to call me up to organize an escape from her childhood home.”
He didn’t respond.
“She’s meant to feel safe there. Instead, she can’t get out of that house fast enough when she has the chance.”
“As I said, we will talk about it. As a family…”
“Lily agreed to that? Openly talkin’ about her sexual harassment in front of her entire family?”
He was silent again, but I had a feeling this silence was out of guilt for not knowing what his daughter had been through.
I kept my eyes ahead. “Wait until she’s ready.”
We arrived at the apartment, still not speaking until I spotted the patrol car parked across the street.
Suddenly, the gun was like a branding iron burning in my lap. “Who’s that for?”
“Relax. It’s protection for Lily while she’s here since I doubt she’ll want to go back to mine any time soon,” Mark said. “I’ll organize another car to watch your house too. But for now, go upstairs.”
I didn’t know what time it was, but it was already Saturday morning. Probably several hours before sunrise. And somehow I didn’t feel like sleeping. The night's events had left me wired and wide awake.
I ran a hand through my hair and climbed out of the car, tucking the gun into the back of my jeans as I went.
The cops watched as I entered the building, but then lost interest after receiving a radio call. Probably from Mark.
I rode the elevator to the third floor, slowly feeling the adrenaline from tonight wearing off. My mind was mostly quiet. Much like the apartment.
Apart from the jingling of my keys and the faint hiss of the door scraping along the carpet as I pushed it open, everything was calm inside. Peaceful.
The apartment itself was like a warm hug, inviting me in with the sweet smell of whatever infusers the girls had put in the space.
Apples? Cinnamon? Whatever it was, I didn’t suit it. I smelled like the city.
And sweat, I thought as I lifted my arm and grimaced at the smell.
A lamp was on in the living room. The second I stepped into view, Lily jumped off the couch where she was reading. All worry drained from her face as she rounded the corner of the couch and rushed into my arms, regardless of the sweat.
I squeezed her closer, inhaling her strawberry-scented shampoo. “You okay?”
She looked up, resting her chin on my chest. The blue of her eyes was cloudier, and her eyelashes were still wet. “I am now.”