“What do you want?” I said again. I knew the answer, but I had to play it cool. I was trying as hard as I could to keep myself together when all I wanted was to run out the door screaming.
“Where’s Rex?”
“I don’t know,” I said truthfully.
Michael sighed, then walked closer to me, still holding the knife.
“He’s obviously not here, since this box is too small to properly fit a man his size. Still, we know you’re part of his life, and we’re looking for him. Where is he?”
“I haven’t seen him in weeks,” I said.
“Why don’t I believe you?” Michael stopped within half a foot of me, still running his finger gently along the knife’s edge. “You’ve been fucking him all this time, haven’t you?”
I shook my head. “He flipped when he heard that I went looking for him at your bar. Called me a stalker bitch. I haven’t seen him since then.”
Michael was quiet for a second, then he looked at this goons. “What do you think boys, is this one telling the truth?”
The closer one shrugged, but neither of them responded. They were spooky, how quiet and intense they were. They were completely at odds with Michael’s relaxed posture. They seemed ready to pounce at any moment, two springs of physical energy prepared to unleash themselves.
“Not a lot of support for you,” Michael said, grinning.
“It’s the truth. I haven’t seen him in weeks, I swear.”
Michael took a step closer, filling the small space between us. I could feel his hot breath on my face, and smell his thick musk. I felt my knees begin to shake, and I broke out into a light sweat. The anxiety ran in waves down my spine. Rex had warned me that this would happen, but he hadn’t said how terrified I would be. I could barely think, barely breathe, and barely stand up straight. I didn’t know what I would do if Michael tried to hurt me. I had to keep telling myself that they wouldn’t do anything because I was still a civilian. They were just trying to scare me. They couldn’t risk anything more, at least according to Rex. I had to trust him. I had no other choice.
“Listen to me, you little bitch,” he said. His polite and kind demeanor suddenly shifted, and his eyes were hard and cold. “If I find out that you’re lying to me, I’ll cut you. I won’t kill you, but I’ll hurt you bad enough that you’ll wish I did.”
“I’m not lying,” I said. I could barely stand, my knees were shaking so hard. “The asshole fucking ditched me.”
He smiled at me. “Alright, love,” he said, and then turned and walked back toward the knife block. He slid the knife back into its spot then turned back toward me, smiling. I hugged myself tighter.
“Thanks for your time tonight. If you hear from our mutual friend, come find me at Drake’s. Do that, for your sake.”
Michael nodded to his two goons. They left my apartment without another word. I shut the door when they were gone and locked the bolt. Immediately, I collapsed onto the floor, shaking with fear. I couldn’t cry, I couldn’t think, I could only breath slowly and deeply until I regained my nerves.
Chapter Fifteen
It took a few hours for the shaking to stop. I laid on the couch after they were gone, and quietly drank the bottle of wine, praying they wouldn’t be back. As the night wore on and I grew drunk, I eventually passed and slept a dreamless sleep.
The next morning, I woke up with a start. I felt groggy and paranoid. I was terrified that someone was watching me through the windows. I closed the blinds and wrapped myself in a blanket. The image of Michael, his eyes hard, knife in hand, standing inches away from my face, kept running through my mind. I kept thinking about his lackeys rummaging through my things and felt dirty, like I had to clean all of the clothes they might have touched before wearing any of it.
I knew I had to do something, but had no idea what. I grabbed my phone and flipped through the numbers until I found Rex’s. I stared at it for a while, weighing my options. He told me not to contact him, that he’d be in hiding and it would be too dangerous, but Michael’s visit was too much. I felt truly in over my head for the first time and needed to talk to somebody. He was the only person involved that really knew what was going on. Finally, I tapped his name and held the phone up to my ear, but nothing happened, just a busy signal. I tapped it again, and again I got a busy signal. I hadn’t heard a busy signal in a long time, and wondered what it meant.