A Descent into Darkness

MIA

I step back into the apartment with groceries to see Eve pacing while on the phone.

"Okay, thanks Dad," Eve tells the person on the other end of the call, before hanging up. She looks at me. "There's a York Regional Lab Assistant who owes debts to the wrong people, meaning the Salvinis. He's going to find your prints in the system and replace them with those of some random homeless person."

"Thank-you!" I drop the bags and then run over and hug her tight. "Thank-you! You're the best!"

"Yeah, well, don't thank me yet. It doesn't come at no cost. My father is many things, charitable is not one of them."

I sigh. "I figured as much. Let me guess. He wants me to put my particular set of skills into practice for him?"

"That would be correct. They do a favour for you. You do a favour for them."

"I guess I can't blame them for that. What do they want me to do?"

Eve shrugs. "There's this stripper at one of Salvini's underground strip clubs, not sure if she's a witness, a mistress, or what, but they want you to kill her. Someone will be by in about an hour and drop off an envelope with details on who she is and where."

"I see," I bite my lower lip at the thought of that.

Eve looks at me, confused. "Why do you look so hesitant? You killed a guy over how quickly he came. That doesn't scream like someone with a strict moral code."

"It's not about who she is, though I will admit I hope they don't just want me to kill her because she's a stripper, I've never liked the idea of targeting one group more than the other. It's just that targeted hits have never been my thing."

Eve laughs. "Well, I guess this one is. Because let me tell you, Erin Kowalski, if my father does you this favour, and you flake out on him, you're going to get that feeling of helplessness I bet your victims have had."

"I'm not flaking, just processing it. When does he want it done, anyways?"

"Well, my father says she's working tonight, so..."

"Tonight? I guess COVID be damned."

"Why are you acting so hesitant? You literally took me on a walk yesterday with the explicit purpose of finding a way to kill during the pandemic. Now you get to do just that, and sleep peacefully tonight knowing that your fuck up at that motel isn't going to lead to ETF busting down my door while we sleep."

"True. I guess I'm just hoping I don't fuck it up." I then try to lighten the conversation. "I guess I only get one chance to make a good first impression on my girlfriend's father. Though why an underground strip club? It's not like they're illegal."

"I think you know just as well as I do that it's a sex club. That and all the legit strip clubs will be closed soon for the pandemic."

"So why not just say that?"

She shrugs. "I don't know. Plausible deniability? I've always been taught to refer to the businesses as their less incriminating terms. Strip club. Pharmacy. Hedge fund. Law firm." She looks at me. "Or storage lockers."

I nod. "Fair enough."

I collapse on the couch. "Ugh. I can't believe all this drama stemming from some infatuation I had."

Eve sit's next to me and cradles me tenderly. "Hey, it's not all bad. Think about it. Without that infatuation you wouldn't have met me. Or would you have? I often wonder."

I look her in the eye as she holds me. "What do you mean?"

"So, if I understand right, you were at the club that night because you had to pay this hacker of yours for information on the psychiatrist that was going to help Nate?"