Elastic Heart

“I told you, Teresa, I have to volunteer at the shelter around the corner and this was the easiest place to meet.”

“Yes, but I could have given it to you in the morning…” The girl, Teresa, trailed off. She looked around warily, clearly uncertain of the situation. I understood that too well. Morris was a great man, right? He was a senator and church figure; she had no reason to distrust him. Still, why were they in such a precarious situation?

“I’m a very busy man, Teresa. If you’d rather work for someone else…”

“No!” Teresa apparently snapped to her senses. “I love working with you. It’s a great opportunity, thank you.”

“I could give you the papers in the morning. You didn’t have to come to my apartment.”

“I’m a very busy man, Nami. If you’d rather work for someone else…”

“No!” I said, letting Morris inside my door. “I have the papers right—”

Fear crept into my belly and adrenaline coursed through my veins as a hand fell on my shoulder. In the brief moments that I’d been reliving the incident, Teresa and Morris had disappeared. The camera dropped from my hands and fell to the gravel. I had zero time to contemplate the damage that might have been done, because there was someone there with me.

I spun around, expecting the worst.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded. Standing a few feet away from me, his body outlined by what little light existed in the grim lot, was Law. I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or on guard.

“Making sure you don’t do something stupid,” he growled.

“You have no fucking clue who I am, Law.” I seethed. “Or what I’m doing.”

“I know you’ve been following the senator for months now. I know you want revenge.” Law stepped closer, forcing my back against the snow-covered wooden pallets. “I know that if you keep doing this it will end badly for you.”

I was terrified. I hadn’t let anyone, much less a man, so close to me since the incident. Still, I didn’t want my fear to betray me. I settled my breathing and kicked up against the pallets, forcing Law to stumble back.

“And how do you know that?” I spat.

Law quirked a brow. “I’m observant.”

I scoffed. Observant? What the fuck did that mean? “So what, I’m supposed to trust you?” I shoved him, making him stumble back a few more feet. “I don’t know a thing about you, except this: you’re untrustworthy and you’re dangerous.”

“I am dangerous, Nami, but not to you. I can help you.” There was a sincerity in Law’s eyes that I wasn’t sure I should acknowledge. Instead, I disregarded him. Now that I knew I wasn’t in any danger, awareness replaced the adrenaline that had previously held my body captive. The first thing on my mind: what happened to Morris and Teresa? I immediately thought the worst. Ignoring Law and whatever shit he was trying to sell me as diamonds, I scanned the lot.

Morris’s car was gone.

Teresa was nowhere to be seen.

It was as if they’d vanished.

An icky, cold feeling settled in my gut. Had Morris just taken another victim? If so, all I’d done was snap pictures with my fucking camera. Camera! I bent down and grabbed it, brushing snow off the already cracked lens.

“Have you been listening to a word I’m saying?” Law sniped.

“No,” I said as I examined the lens for more cracks. “I already told you, I don’t trust you. If you keep showing up, you’ll be sorry.” I didn’t exactly have any way to back up my

threat, but I hoped he wouldn’t call my bluff.

I snapped a picture of Law, this time with flash, and made sure to get right up in his face. As the bright bulb flared I heard him swear. I used the small window of confusion to run—and hopefully vanish—away from him.

I was at my car, fumbling with my key, when Law showed up. “Did you really think that was going to work? Take a picture and I would be too stunned to follow?”

No. Yes. I don’t know.

I’d hoped it would. I shrugged and ignored him, getting my key out and sticking it into the lock. I drove an old Honda. It was a bit beat up, but it was cheap to fix and it got me from point A to point B consistently. As an added bonus, it blended in nicely.

Law leaned against the door as I jimmied the lock open. “You need my help more than you think if those are the kind of getaway moves you have stored up.”