Secrets Of The Guilty [Nanowrimo 2019]

TWENTY-THREE

It was late.

But it wasn't that late. One of the neighbours cracked their door open, listening to the noise in the hallway. The sound of the elevator, the shuffle of feet and the clink of keys in a lock. Tess had always told her the place was for her girls (even if she wasn't one anymore) and that she paid the people here to be nosy and suspicious. Tess would know the second Eli stepped into the lobby before she walked off the elevator.

But since they weren't her actual neighbours, Eli ignored them and let herself in, closing the door with her foot. Followed by her jacket and keys.

"Bathrooms through there," she said, padding over the carpet to the window to peek out through the curtain. "You should find a few dry towels behind the door. Coffee?"

Lucius had insisted on staying in the car. She could see the light of his phone through the window. The sign reading Golden Age, blinking against the black car. The apartment down the street from the high-end burlesque bar and apart from a few patrons, Lucius was the only one outside in the rain.

She was more than wired. She was angry and cold, and really needed answers before taking a long shower with water she doesn't pay for. But she was also tired, bone-deep tired.

"Black." James set down an A4 size brown envelope, peeling his wet coat off and hung it, rolling his sleeves as Eli directed him to the bathroom. The apartment was small, studio but bare enough to make it seem somewhat spacious. Pieces of furniture were missing like someone had thrown out old and left newer old pieces.

A small black, two-to-four-cup coffeemaker sat tucked along with the tile backsplash. Eli pulled out a filter, sliding the pot into the machine, and running her hand along the bottom of the countertop. A piece of tape stuck to the end of her finger before she gripped the end of a cold metal .38.

She pulled her hand away, marking its place when the bathroom door opened.

"Here," she walks barefoot back into the living room. He'd taken her place by the window, holding the curtain open with a finger, to either check on Lucius or the patrons milling about, she wasn't sure which.

In the low light of the apartment, bruise on his jaw, he looked the part. Both dangerous and lethal and powerful. Eli handed him the full mug of black coffee and padded across to the table settled between two chairs and a couch. She sat against one, on the floor. Legs out under the table. Trying to ignore the water dripping from her hair. "You have something for me?"

James takes a drink for the mug coming towards her. He bends at the waist, pushing the envelope across the coffee table. "As promised."

He settles across from her, taking up a seat on the floor. James drops his shoulder, placing the mug down before pulling at the shirt drying against his skin. "That detective of yours is an interesting man."

Eli says nothing. Opting to take a sip of the too-hot coffee instead, wincing faintly as it runs down her throat. Ignoring the remark, she swallows another sip, before speaking.

"Interesting how?"

"He's only got one mark against him. Been with the department five years, before being promoted to detective two years ago. He was fast-tracked through the department. His father was a revered District Attorney, which is where the drive comes from. A hero with an almost spotless record as a beat cop. The kind of man willing and able to rid this city of corruption."

That explains his fascination with Fenton then. And Amy.

"How big is this mark?"

"Not very, at first glance. Page six, read the arrest report." James keeps his eyes on her, as she pulls the adhesive away from the envelope. A single black file inside. Poorly photocopied pages rest inside it, detailing an arrest from a shipping dock. Five years ago. Nothing important until she gets to the bottom of the page.

The list of names is three columns deep, but the name at the very bottom is circled. Twice. The lawyer present at the scene was Charlie Fenton. And one of the arresting officers was beat cop, Alex Tanner.

The irony wasn't lost on her. Tanner wanted to rid the city of corruption, and instead, he was now part of a cover-up scheme. Not even that, but he was helping solve the murder the of someone who would have pointed out names and crimes if only someone hadn't gotten there first.

"How do you have this?" Eli said, evenly though the worry between her brow gave her away.

"You're not the only one who pays off cops." He says, over the rim of his mug. Her eyes slide to his and she let her hand hesitate now over the pages, and for a second she thought they understood one another. Maybe even saw each other, until she remembered why she was holding the file.

And who he was and why he was here.

"I'll have someone deliver the recording to you." Eli let the file fall shut and leaned back into the cushions moving to draw her feet up to under her.

James moved, closing a warm hand above her ankle, keeping her in place. Eli shot her eyes to the gun under the counter and then up to his.

Her tell, he knew and a reflex she never grew out of.

His hand flattened against her ankle, trailing the littlest bit higher. A finger brushing under her pant leg. When she doesn't move, he kept going but never any higher than her knee.

"Tess told me she bought you the tickets. She told me it was for a bargain, a deal. You could have walked back into this life through any door but you chose to deal with me. Why is that?"

Eli drew closer, so close their knees could brush and she could feel the tremble in his hand. She locked her face, hoping he could see the deeper truth in her eyes or the lines of her face, but if he reached for her pulse it would betray her.

And then Eli's lips tugged into a grin, and then she brought her free hand to his jaw and tugged his mouth towards her. But the kiss was there and gone as it had never happened and because there were no easy answers she said:

"Because I know you."