Escape (Book 1)

Prologue

*Linc's POV*
People speed by in their cars, some honking at others as they hurry to work or wherever it is they're going. I really wish they'd be quiet, though. I'm trying to sleep off a hangover, and the noise just hurts. I squeeze my eyes shut and pull my jacket closer to me, trying to keep warm. I lost my keys somewhere early this morning, so now I'm sitting on the ground, leaning against my apartment door. I finally begin to drift off to sleep when I hear footsteps on the sidewalk heading in my direction.
"Rough night?" The voice startles me awake. I open my eyes and see my brother Michael standing before me. I sniff and wipe my nose on my hand. Then I rub my face, trying to wake myself up.
"I got your message." he tells me. "What's the problem?"
"I lost my keys." I say, wrapping my arms around myself as I shiver. Michael pulls a hand out of his coat pocket and tosses something in my direction. I barely have time to catch, but I do. It's my keys.
"Where'd you find them?" I ask. He points a gloved finger. "Four feet that way." he says.
"I must have dropped them." I say, grunting as I stand up. "How you doing? It's been a while." I say to my brother once I've straightened my back.
"Fine." he replies as he adjusts his faux leather gloves. "How are you?"
I shiver again. "Cold." I say. "Man, I, uh. . .I need to talk to you about something. Maybe we could grab some lunch?"
"I have to get back to work." he tells me flatly. "Speaking of which, I heard you got fired a few weeks ago. What was it this time?"
I sigh. "You really want to know?" I say. "Or are you just enjoying the view from your high horse?"
"You know what I want?" he asks, taking a step closer. "To not have to be the older brother to my older brother." With that, he turns and walks away.
That hurt. But he's right. He's always getting me out of messes. I turn and unlock my door and go inside. I shut the door behind me and set my keys on a shelf by the door. It's mostly dark inside, but there are a few lamps on. But I didn't leave any lights on when I left last night. I walk into my living room and see one of my friends sitting on my couch like he owns the place.
"What are you doing here, Crab?" I ask.
"Long time no see, Mr. Linc." he says with a smirk. "Where you been?"
"Here and there." I reply.
He nods, and can se the look on his face. I know why he's here.
"I'll get your ninety grand, all right?" I say.
"Oh, relax. That debt has already been paid."I furrow my brows. "By who?" I ask. Then I hear a voice answer from the kitchen.
"Someone who likes to do people favors." Great, Crab brought a friend.
I shake my head. "I don't know what it is you think you're getting, but let's be clear about something; it's gonna be a few days before I get the money lined up."
"Let's not kid ourselves, Linc." says the man from the kitchen. "You can't get anywhere near that kind of money." He walks up to me. "So let's talk about what you can do for me."
And what he tells me shocks me. Kill the Vice President's brother?!
"I don't care who the guy is, I ain't killing no one!" I protest.
"I must have missed the part where I gave you a choice." he says. "He does bad things to good people. Think of this as a ninety-thousand dollar bullet. You start fresh, and you keep me from finding out if there's someone in your life you will do something for."

Meanwhile, there were a couple of men watching all of this play out from a window in an apartment across the street. One of the men had a pair of binoculars, while the other held a pad of paper and a pencil.
"Black leather jacket, two buttons down the front, three on each sleeve. One missing on his right-no, left arm. Faded jeans, stain on the left knee." one of them said while the other quickly jotted it down.

*Michael's POV*
I'm sitting at the bar after work with my Jr. executive.
"Okay," he says. "if you had to choose, Vice President Reynolds or Cathy in HR?"
I look up at the TV where the Vice President is giving a speech. "I'll take door number three." I reply as I take a sip of my drink.
"Come on!" he pleads. "If you had to choose."
"The chick in HR." a familiar voice speaks up from behind me. Veronica comes and stands next to my chair. "Michael never cared much for blondes." she says, smiling at me.
"V!" I say, smiling back at her.
"How are you doing, Michael?" she asks, still smiling.
"I'm good." I reply. "How are you?"
"I'm okay." she says. "You know, I'm over at Glazer & Ross. Lawyer number ninety-seven. Benefits are good. How's Lincoln?"
"You guys haven't talked?" I ask her.
"Not for a few years. He kind of dropped off the radar. How is he?"
"He's, um. . .he's Linc." After that, she drops the subject and we talk about other things, losing track of time. A couple hours later, we're both drunk, although she more than me, and we walk to my apartment, which isn't that far. As we stumble through my door, we're both laughing like idiots at nothing in particular. Finally, I calm down enough to speak.
"I should call you a cab." I say as she shuts the door.
"You know how you can tell God is a man?" she asks, giggling. "Shoes." As if to prove her point, she trips in her heels and crashes into me.
"Easy!" I say, helping her stand back up. She looks up at me as she wraps her arms around me and lightly runs her hands down my back. She leans in about to kiss me when my cell phone rings. She looks disappointed as she tucks a strand of her long, dark hair behind her ear.
"I'm sorry." I say, picking up my phone to check the caller ID. It's Lincoln.
"Are you going to answer it?" Veronica asks.
I shake my head. "He'll leave a message." I say, placing the phone in my pocket. "He always does."
She looks back up at me expectantly. I know what she wants, but I can't. I can't sleep with my brother's ex-girlfriend. Something about the whole situation suddenly feels all wrong.
"We can't do this." I tell her.
She nods her head. "I know." she says, looking like she's about to cry.
I reach forward and gently tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I'll call you a cab." I tell her, and she nods in agreement.