Devil

-18-

-Goddess-

Nico surprised me at the random location I had chosen to calm down my battle scars and hide
from the cops. "Are you okay?" she asked as soon as I entered the building. She took one look at me and pulled me into a random room. "I feel like shit on a cracker, but sure, yea," I huffed.

"Somebody get me an ice pack and a first aid kit," Nico ordered to some of the workers here, turning her concerned gaze back to me inside of the boring, broken down warehouse. We sat in a small cubicle that once looked to be a management office. I sat on a desk, Nico pacing in front of me until the first aid kit and ice arrived.

"How did you find out where I was going?" I asked her, allowing her to tend to my minor injuries.

"Don't worry about it," she snapped at me gently, "What happened?"

"Some dude came to the car place tryna jack me up. He came in a group, I killed-

"I'm so glad you're okay," she embraced me in a hug, eyes shut. I allowed myself to melt in her arms, even if for a little while. "I'm sorry about earlier."

"Fuck earlier, I'm just glad you're okay," she repeated.

"You think it has to do with the Lavigne case?" I asked curiously, running a finger over the smooth texture of one of the various bandaids along my arm.

"Probably, that means someone knows we've exterminated the group."

"Maybe a close friend to someone in it did this. Or it could be the girl who lost the fight," I shrugged. "The girl...I just have a strong feeling shes somebody's little sister and nothing more. Maybe a messy bitch, or an instigator, but nothing more. But I'll have some of my guys look into it, just in case," my best friend assured me.

"Nico Tampico," I mumbled, then shot her a smirk.

"What?" she asked me, settling into a rolling chair.

"I don't know, I'm just bored," I kicked my legs.

Nico bit her cheek and I worried about the next topic she might bring up. The little fit I had back at her apartment was starting to feel embarrassing now, and I didn't want to think about it ever again."I think it might be time to visit the daughter. She's at the center of all of this too. What d'ya say?" she asked me, standing up.

My eyes widened, "Right now? The cops might get me."

"No," Nico laughed, heading towards the door.

I sighed out in relief. For some reason I didn't want to meet Lavigne's daughter. It brewed bad feelings in my stomach, and it made me apprehensive and exhilarated at the same time. I wasn't ready, was the bottom line. Maybe I'd even send someone else to go question her. But what for?

"We probably should set up some time this week or next week to drop by. Let her life cool down a bit. Remember, she doesn't know that her father's attacker is dead, or rather, all of them. I should probably check in to see if the father died or not too. If all is well, she's probably back to her normal life," Nico rambled on.

We stood in the doorway as we talked, the only air coming from a nearby air conditioner that wafted a rusted scent. "If her dad's dead, I say we go and ask her a few more questions. She might have clues as to who attacked me. If he's alive, I say we leave her alone and let her live her life," I suggested.

Nico held out her hand with a smirk, "That's a deal."

"That's a deal," I smirked back.

"How long do you plan on hiding out here? The cops will be covered," Nico commented, leaning back against the wooden frame of the raggedy doorway.

"Just another hour," I sighed, "I wanna go back home but at the same time I don't. My parents probably have the house smelling like sex."

"They did birth you," Nico wiggled her eyebrows, "but I get you," she laughed. I shifted my weight as we both noticed the lull in our conversation. "Well, what do you have to do?"

"File some papers, and check out how my products are doing," Nico peeled herself off of the doorway and cocked her thumb towards the doorway in and out of the building. "Well, I should go. You gotta ride?"

"Yeah, I drove it here," I told her. "Oh! Um, I might need to send some reimbursements to this particular lady at a nice auto shop," I laughed, remembering the woman who fixed my car's face as I was running away from my attacker.

"Well, you do that, I'll try to call you tonight," Nico said.

I nodded and watched her leave the building; turning on my heel and entering back into the cubicle.