Eye Candy

Chapter 18 (3 days later)

"Hey". Patrick says walking up to me in the park handing a coffee. "sorry I'm late"

I smile. "I was early". a sudden pause comes in between our eye contact.
"It's good to see you" I tell him taking a sip of the coffee. I haven't seen him in days and I've really missed him. It's hard to say if we're becoming serious but I really feel comfortable around him and feel like I can trust him.

"I'm afraid this is more than a coffee favor than a catch-up" he says in a low, ashamed tone. I brush it off instantly. If he needs help, I'm here.

"Oh okay, what's up?" He looks down at his coffee and stares at me again.

"An old intern of mine has gotten into a bit of a situation and needs help, it's actually kind of terrifying and he's refusing to go to the police."

"What happened?" I curl my eyebrows up, nodding.

"I think he should tell you himself." he puts his hand on my back building me to look across from him. There stand a man with short black hair and dark clothes. We walk over to him, find a bench and sit down.

"Hey, um I took my girlfriend to a hotel I have rented and it was supposed to be fun. I wanted her to feel special, she only gets to visit me once a month or so. The hotel wasn't exactly cheap either." he says.

"Neither of you remember anything else about that night?"

"No, we fell asleep. Somebody must have drugged us. There was wine, we drank that and the next morning Beth was out cold and I..." He pauses, hesitant. I can tell he's scared.

"What?" I ask him.

"I woke up with this" he explains then turns around and pulls up his jacket exposing the deep wounds covered with dry blood. I gasp deeply. "you need to see a doctor." I tell him.

"I went to one. I was more worried if she was okay, but nothing was done to her." he says, glancing at Patrick then at me again.

"Nothing?" I ask. This doesn't make any sense.

"No, they said she was totally fine. Who would do this?"

"They booked the apartment online, I hoping you could tell who came in and out". Patrick says to me. I shake my head.

"You should go to the police" I tell his Friend, ignoring his question.

"You don't understand" he says. "I am this close to getting the job of a lifetime at jakes law firm. They do criminal backgrounds. Do you know how humiliating it would be if anybody found out about this" He shows me with his thumb and index finger almost pinched together. I continue to stare at him as my hair blows in the wind.

"Okay, I can't force you to file a complaint, but what about your girlfriend? She's okay with your decision?" I pause and wait for his answer.

"Yes". he answers. "Please". I look down and feel his and Patrick's eyes staring at me.

I look back up to him. "okay" I nodd. "I'll see what I can find out". He nods as well and looks at Patrick. Me and Patrick get up, grabbing our coffee and begin taking a walk.

"I still think he should go to the police" I explain to him.

"Maybe they can find out if it's some sick prank or something first. Promise if it's anything more than..."

"I'll take it to the cyber crimes unit." I interrupt.

"Yea" he stops walking. "Hey look, I wanted to apologize. I know I bailed on our last date because of work which is a terrible excuse and now I'm coming to you with a favor".