Page 46 of Because I Need You
“If I knew the answer to that question I’d leave her alone.” My eyes snapped to his. “At this luncheon, there was a guy, probably around her age, he had blond hair, slicked back, light blue eyes, almost see-through, and a scar that went from his hairline down to his ear. Ring any bells?”
“No.” Mike frowned, thinking about it, then shook his head. “Could be one of the Russians?” He said, then added, “Or the Mexicans?”
“Nah. This guy was American through and through.”
“You think he’s involved in this?”
“No.”
He sat back and watched me for a moment. “This is about Isabel.”
“She was spooked by him,” I said. “I saw her right after she’d been tied up and had a gun pointed to her head. I know when she’s terrified. That’s what she looked like at this luncheon when she saw him.”
“Maybe his eyes were familiar? Maybe he was part of the robbery.”
“No. This guy, whatever he does, it’s legit. Why was she spooked?”
“How the fuck am I supposed to know?” He nodded at the bar. “Ask her.”
“I did. She wouldn’t tell me.”
“Go ask them.” He nodded at the guys behind the bar.
“I already asked them, genius. They don’t know any men with blue eyes.”
Mike rubbed his jaw. “Fuck, man, I don’t know.”
“You said she’s fierce. Not one to fuck with, to be exact. Why?”
“No. Fuck no. I’m not going there.” He started to get up. My fucking best friend. That alone made my stomach drop.
“Please.”
His eyes widened slightly. He sat down again. Mike was watching me warily, but I wasn’t going to say it again. He got one plea from me. That was it.
“You’re never going to fucking tell her I told you this,” he said. “You never mention it — period — because if you do, she’ll know where the information came from and that’s not gonna go over well with me the next time you see me.”
“I’m not going to tell her anything. I just need to know.”
Mike let out a laugh, shaking his head. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Shut the fuck up. Just tell me.”
“This isn’t going to get you any information about whoever you saw today. I really don’t know who that could’ve been.”
“Out with it, Mike.” I was getting impatient and no amount of channeling my inner Russo was going to help matters.
“There were a few incidents. This was back when she was in college, since I hadn’t seen her around in a while. I was closing up the shop when I heard a woman scream,” he said. My fists clenched on my lap. “I ran toward the scream because, well, it could’ve been anyone, a friend, a cousin, my own mother. By the time I got there, she’d managed to kick the man on top of her in the nuts. He ran away when he saw me, probably knowing I’d take him down easily.” Mike paused, rolling his eyes when I shot him a look. “Okay, when he saw the barrel of my gun pointed directly at his chest.”
“Did he do anything to her?”
“He didn’t get to, he said. “That was how it was, though. I couldn’t tell you how many stories just like that one we heard weekly, daily sometimes.”
“Fuck.” I exhaled, but it did nothing for my anger. I pictured her in that situation. I pictured my sisters. I wanted to kill every fucking asshole who would ever do that to a woman. “What’s the other incident?”
“Ah.” Mike laughed, scratching the back of his neck. “Some guy pulled a knife on me when I was closing the shop. This was maybe six months later? There were a lot of new faces here, some who moved from rival areas.”
“So, someone pulled a knife on you,” I said, so he could get back to the point.
“So, he pulled a knife on me, and this fucking girl, Isabel, comes out of fucking nowhere and disarms him right in front of me. I didn’t even have time to react. It was like, movie shit, vigilante shit. I told her to never do that shit again, but she saved my fucking life that night.”
“Who was the guy?”
“Some gang banger.” He shrugged. “He was shot a few days later.”
“What a coincidence,” I said. I couldn’t even imagine a scenario in which Isabel would overpower anyone, but it felt good to know she did. “That’s it?”
“She had one more incident after that, with two female gang members. Isabel ended up with a black eye and something else, a broken rib maybe? I don’t know. I heard it from Luke. One of the girls who attacked her ended up with a cut from here.” He pointed at his shoulder blade and ran his hand down to his elbow. “To here.” He shrugged a shoulder. “No one around here fucked with her after that.”
