Jammed (Louis Tomlinson au)

Chapter Nine

The three of them stared at me with their eyes wide. I laughed as I sat down, setting my glass aside on the table in front of the empty setting that was welcoming me in, unlike the people at the table. Of course the woman still didn’t know who I was, so I was getting a great kick out of that. I wondered what she was thinking: if she was afraid, confused, or something else. 

“Sorry to intrude, I just happened to be in the neighborhood. In fact, I went over to your apartment Louis and the concierge in your building told me you were all out to dinner. I just thought we could catch up- some of us.” I made eye-contact with the woman. I was having fun with the story: I hadn’t been to Louis’ apartment, like hell I even knew where it was. It was just a good way to introduce myself, I thought. 

“Is- Is this your fiancee, Niall?” she finally spoke up, her voice soft and weak. So, she was worried. Or at least, she was acting like it. I remembered who she was and what information Mallory and the others in the office had gathered. Of course, none of them but Marlee knew that I was here, but who said I couldn’t do my own investigation. It was my vacation, anyways; I could spend it however I wanted to.

“No, God no. If that was the case, poor poor Niall.” Louis answered for Niall, laughing to himself as I glared at him. Niall stifled some sort of a laugh, and the woman just sat there straight-faced. She probably didn’t like Louis’ answer, because the only thing it told her was that Louis knew me. Of course, he didn’t appear to be very fond of me. But, he was getting very good in his training at the agency. 

“Sorry, I’m being rude. I’m Jancer, a friend of both of these two.” I looked at the two men sitting on either side of me as I spoke ever so politely. The color came back to her face and she smiled lightly at me, relieved to know who I finally was. Well, that is, she knew my name and that I was a friend of her boyfriend. So, I assumed she at least had some trust in Louis. That, or she just didn’t give a damn. 

The three of them hadn’t ordered anything yet, and so after I openly offered to buy a bottle of champagne, Louis opened up to the idea of me joining them for dinner. Not that he had a choice though, but I’m sure he knew that by now. I also learned that his girfriend was in fact the woman known as Sasha Frei: she was pretty and she definitely was full-blooded Russian. Her icy blue eyes and dark brown hair reminded me of an old friend. 

Her figure was small, most of her features the same way. She was cleaned up nicely and didn’t have any scars that I could see that weren’t covered by her purple cocktail dress. So, the Frei family most likely wasn’t a mafia family. But that left her an open target for anyone else in the country, including anyone of the Kaminski line. Easily she could tie into the case: the key to whatever the family needed for whatever sum of money she could dream up.

She most likely could’ve wagered Louis’ survival with them, but who really knows if any Russian can promise anything. You could never trust anyone with a family tie to the damn Soviets: my father had told me that when I was seven. I didn’t know what a Soviet even was then, but I’d had plenty of experience with them now. However, his statement had managed to spread to every ethnicity and every person. Times had changed and there was plenty more to fear in the modern world; plenty more to question with few answers to come. But I had to get answers from her tonight, whether Louis like it or not. 

I really didn’t know how he was feeling about all of this. Last I heard, he and Niall were supposed to be investigating her tonight, but how could Mallory expect the two of them to get anything done in Louis was an emotional mess inside and Niall was drunk of his ass. Of course the situation hadn’t come to that yet, but it could’ve at any time. And to think Mallory actually thought they could do anything without my help.

But, I was still curious about Louis. I didn’t know anything about his relationship with Sasha. He seemed to care for her at least a little though, meaning they had probably been together for a few weeks but weren’t totally serious. Even in such a casual relationship, though, learning that someone you care about is actually someone taking advantage of you is never fun. There’s of course the denial stage, like in any relationship; I hoped Louis wasn’t stuck in that one. If I could put my faith in Niall for helping him out of that one, I would’ve.