Justice is Not Blind ☠ The Punisher

Chapter 8: Familia Ante Omnia

Dani waited in the back of Thompson's car as Mahoney went to go get Karen. She couldn't believe any of this was happening. Body after body was pulled out of the river. In one of those body bags could be her brother. Her jaw clenched as she tried to keep tears from falling down her face. She couldn't do it. Not in front of all these cops.

Something felt off about this whole thing. The Blacksmith, Frank, all of it. Her brother always had a plan. This boat being blown to smithereens could only be a small part of it. He was after the Blacksmith and he wouldn't let that get in his way. Neither would she.

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After she got home and got the necessities out of the way, trading in sleep for more coffee, she went to the one place she truly needed to be. She stood outside the overly modern apartment door of Billy's, though it gave her a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach that she hadn't experienced since she admitted to her first girlfriend, Skye, that she was in love with her.

Billy opened the door and his eyes widened when he saw her. Dani swallowed the lump in her throat. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," he stepped aside and let her in. She hadn't been to this apartment. When he had first started ANVIL, he had a much smaller apartment. Cozy. He had always wanted bigger and better for himself. Dani turned around and before a word could get out of her mouth, Billy had wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so sorry."

Her arms went around his waist as she dropped her head to his chest. How she wished she could just let it all out. All her frustrations, tears, all of it. Despite the quiver in her voice, she replied, "Me too."

He pulled back, brows furrowed. "What do you mean?"

"He was like a brother to you," she replied as she pulled out of the hug and went to sit on the couch. "You, Frank, Curtis... and after Maria and the kids..."

Billy dropped down on the couch next to her. "Dani, you know you can be upset right?"

"Around you? Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected? Please. I gotta save face." Before he could talk this time, her phone rang from inside her jacket pocket. "Hey, Karen."

"Hi Dani. How are you?"

"On my fifth cup of coffee. Wondering if you stick with this journalism thing if you write an article about coffee addiction," said Dani. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I was just wondering if you had Schoonover's number?"

Dani's brows furrowed. "Yeah, I still have it. Why do you need it?"

"I was going to see if I could interview him for an article on Frank. Talk about his life before the trial and all that. I was hoping I could interview you for it as well."

"Yeah, sure. I might know some other people you could talk to about Frank." She looked over at Billy. "But if you're going to go see him, would it be alright if I tagged along? I still owe him a bottle of scotch after his help with the trial."

"Okay sure. Can you see if there is any way we can meet up with him tonight?"

"Of course. I'll call you back soon," she told her before she hung up.

Billy asked, "What was that about?"

"Karen. She wants to talk with Schoonover. I have to see him anyway so I figure I'll ask if I can bring Karen along and she can ask her questions. She'll probably want to talk to you and Curtis too for her article."

"I don't think it's a good idea," he said. "Schoonover I mean."

Dani shrugged. "I don't see why. I promise it'll only take an hour, if that, to talk to him. I owe him for trying to help Frank. I owe you something to and we'll talk about it when I get back." She got up from her seat and started toward the door. She found Schoonover's number still in her recents.