The Untold Story

37. But every truth comes with a price

Song: Kaleo - Way down we go

(Fair warning, it's a long one.)

"How did you even know where I live?" Nathan asked. The sound of a door opening across the hall, jerked him back to reality and he quickly pushed his door closed behind him, eyes and gun still on Lily.

"You were running around with my daughter, Detective. Can you blame me for finding out where you live, your family history, blood type et cetera," Lily replied, waving her fingers in the air as she counted off her list.

"And you had a key to my apartment made? That's crossing the line," he said, taking a quick glance around the apartment as he lowered the gun to his side. Nothing else seemed out of place, but he tightened his grip on it nonetheless.

"That would be a bit much, even for me," she replied, following the movement of the gun. She quirked an eyebrow at him, but he made no move to put it away, leaving her slightly impressed that he wasn't intimidated by her.

"Then how did you get in here?" he asked, approaching her slowly. 

His opinion of her had been a roller coaster; with major professional respect for her at times and suspicions of murder at others. Looking at her now, he didn't really see her as the type to get her hands dirty with someone else's blood.

"I asked the landlord to let me in."

"And she just did?" Nathan asked, astonished. He stopped a few steps away from where she was sitting on his couch, leaving the coffee table as a barrier between them.

"She owed me a favor." Lily shrugged. "A lot of people owe me a lot of favors," she added, smirking.

If there was ever a reason to leave Pinehive, Lily's sphere of influence was it. In the back of his mind he wondered if she knew just how close he and Natasha had become, and whether that was the reason she was there. 

"Does Natasha know you're here?" He immediately thought of texting her, then remembered his battery was dead. The charger he kept at home was somewhere in his room, but he wasn't about to let Lily out of his sight to look for it, so he put the phone back in his pocket, resolving to call her later.

"No. I've been avoiding her," Lily replied. 

She at least had the decency to look guilty as she said that.

"Don't you care what she's been going through?" Nathan asked, angrily.

She narrowed her eyes. "I don't like you implying that I don't care about my daughter, Detective."

"I'm not the one implying it. Your actions are. She was arrested for murder, again, and you didn't bother to show up."

"All I care about is her safety and she told me she's staying with David, so I know she's safe. I'm trying to do the right thing. If I see or speak to her, I'll lose every bit of courage I've gathered for that, like I've been doing for the last twenty-two years."

Nathan frowned. Natasha was twenty-two years old; was that a coincidence or was Lily referring to something that involved her?

"What're you talking about?" he asked.

"Before I tell you that-" She reached for her bag and pulled out some papers and a pen. "I need you to sign this." She held them out to him and after a moment's hesitation, he took them.

His frown deepened as he scanned quickly through the pages. "Why do I need to sign a non-disclosure agreement?"

"It's insurance," Lily replied.