Bad For You

17

"And then I shot the gun off right by his ear so Maya could run," Lane said before shoveling another massive bite of Pad Thai into her mouth. She was cross legged, food boxes scattered across the small coffee table she'd tugged up to the edge of the couch where she and Matt sat on opposite ends. The light from the massive billboard outside cast half of his face in shadow and the intensity of his stare as he surveyed her made chills run down her spine. She was very lucky that she called the devil of Hell's Kitchen a friend.

"And after that?"

She shrugged and sat her half empty container between her legs, hands going to her hair to play with the newly chopped edges. She'd gone too short. The deep black strands fell just past her chin in a sharp line and her fingers were stained from her near constant toying with it over the last few hours. "Oh, you know, interrogation, the threat of mental invasion, a touch of aftercare from a pretty girl. The usual." She tried to joke as she left out the feeling of disappointment and loss. She'd been planning to leave anyways but after her...explosive escape, the possibility of ever returning, of reaching out to the twins once she'd settled, had blown up with the half dozen suits she'd self-destructed.

One brow rose up in disbelief but Matt didn't pry, simply sighed and took a bite of his own food, chewing slowly before moving on. "Okay, so now your timeline is condensed and you're running from heroes and villains. What do you need from me to get out successfully?"

Lane smiled and picked up her food container. "For the sake of deniability, just a place to crash."

"Is it going to get messy," he asked as she took another bite.

Che chewed slowly, trying to keep her breathing and heart rate steady. He wasn't technically lying to him but she also couldn't guarantee her words with the recent added task she'd decided on. "Not if everything goes to plan."

"And if it doesn't?"

She smiled and uncrossed her legs, pushing the table away from the couch with her feet so she could stand and walk past him, plopping a playful kiss on the top of his head as she did. "That's where the deniability comes in."

-

The next morning she'd gone out and bought a new laptop and phone, as well as pulling out a large sum of cash to pay for the expedited hard copies of new identities for her and Paloma's family. She had the ability to create the electronic trail but sometimes the need for paper proof couldn't be avoided. She also hoped she wouldn't need to use the identities for Paloma, Dio and Blanca but she wanted to be prepared.

Once she had everything she needed she sent Paloma a text apologizing for being MIA for a few days because her phone had gotten lost and that she'd be stopping over that night with something important to talk about. With everything else done and ready Lane found a coffee shop and fired up the laptop, taking time to find the last person she wanted to see before leaving the city for good.

It took a few hours but she'd expected it to take more so she was pleased. It gave her time to calm down after finding out, in her search for Maya, that several months ago Wilson Fisk had been moved out of prison as was being held in a hotel under federal supervision after several attempts had been made on his life. After helping Matt get evidence to put her father away she'd done everything she could to avoid seeing or hearing his name again. He was out, sort of. And she was sure that he still pulled the strings for most of the city's gangs even from his ivory tower prison. Even though she prayed he still believed she was dead there was a chance he didn't. That he put two and two together and understood where the prosecution's information came from and daughter or otherwise he didn't not take kindly to being made the fool.