Hellcat

Chapter 70

Allison's POV

My condo was silent as I thought of what happened last night. Sam had already gone back to his apartment to get ready for work. By the time on my microwave, he should be at the Bulletin already.

Something gnawed at my gut as I stood at my stove, making myself a grilled cheese. It wasn't guilt, exactly, though I felt that too. It was some kind of... wrongness. Like being with Sam last night was a mistake. But why? Sam cared about me. He was kind. He was sweet. He was a good person without any baggage. He didn't have a darkness in him that I knew Matt had.

But I had a darkness in me too. Arguably, I had more darkness in me than Matt had in him. And Sam was good. He had no darkness, only light. But it just didn't seem to fit anymore. Not when Matt had returned. Not when I knew he was alive. But Sam and I were good together. At least, I thought we were. I knew we could be, that was for sure. We had been so far. So why did it feel so wrong?

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a knock on my door. Confusion ran through me as I stepped away from the stove and headed for the door. Peering through the peep hole, I saw Karen's familiar and tired face on the other side. Sighing, I opened the door. Maybe I would talk to her about the confusion running through my head like a race car.

"Hey," I greeted her, stepping aside to let her in. She hesitated for a moment, and I noticed it, watching her more closely as she stepped inside. "The FBI think we worker for Fisk," she responded, standing just a few feet into the living room. Well, that wasn't the conversation I wanted to discuss.

"I know," I huffed, heading to the stove to flip my grilled cheese. "Want one?" I asked her, gesturing to the sandwich. She shook her head, confusion on her features. "You know?" she asked me. Nodding slowly, I turned, leaning my hip against the counter while crossing my arms, spatula still in hand. "Agent Nadeem sent some goons to drag me to Matt's yesterday. He asked a lot of questions," I grumbled.

She nodded before heading to my dining room table. A heavy sigh escaped her as she propped her elbows on the table, hands tangled in her blonde hair. We were silent for a long time as I finished making my sandwich. Her heart was pounding in her chest and I could almost smell the nervousness coming off of her as I sliced my sandwich in half and moved to sit at the table with her. I had barely taken my first bite when words came sputtering out of her mouth so fast that I almost missed what she said.

"IsawMattthismorning."

I froze at the string of words, staring at her with a half-chewed bite of sandwich in my mouth. Blinking rapidly, I forced myself to finish chewing before I would choke. Once I swallowed, I let out a small cough, eyes averted to my sandwich. "Sorry, what?" I asked her slowly, careful to not let my emotions enter my voice. I think that deadly calmness just made her more nervous.

Taking a deep breath, she pulled her hands from her hair and continued. "Matt came to me this morning." Taking in what she said, I slowly nodded. "Do I want to know what he wanted?" I asked, choosing my words carefully. Karen nibbled at her lip nervously. I sighed, realizing I was only scaring her more than she already was. "Hey, whatever it is, I want to know," I spoke softly, reaching across the table to rest my hand on hers. She gave my hand a gentle squeeze before taking another deep breath.

"He wanted my help," she explained with a sigh. I nodded; eyes locked on my sandwich. I wasn't hungry anymore. "Makes sense since he only went to Foggy to steal his Bar ID." I could feel her watching me, studying me carefully for any signs that I would blow up and start screaming. Or was she more worried that I would break down?

"What did he need help with?" I asked carefully. Her hesitation made me think it was something that maybe I didn't want to know. But really, it was something that only made me angry. "He said Fisk paid someone to shank him. A man named Jasper Evans. He's supposed to be locked up with no parole, but he'd free now. At least, according to Matt." I gave a small nod, thinking this over. "So, Matt wants to get at Jasper Evans, make him flip on Fisk." Karen nodded in response, remaining silent.