Enforcer

by Black, Selena

  “Huh?” he let out.

  “The golf clubs,” Brigitte said. “Looking to enjoy some fresh air and relaxation on the course, are we?”

  “Very funny,” her father replied and put the papers in his briefcase. “A lot of valuable networking gets done on the golf course. I…”

  “Uh huh, sure it does,” Brigitte interrupted him and let out a cheeky laugh to show she was teasing. “I believe you. How long will you be away for?”

  “I’m not sure exactly, but it will likely be until the end of the week at least,” he told her. “I have a few things lined up.”

  “So, I get the house to myself for a whole seven days then,” she went on. “Maybe I’ll enjoy some fun of my own.”

  “Try not to wreck the place,” her father said in a droll voice and rolled his eyes.

  “I’m sure the neighbors will call the police if the noise of the party gets too loud for them,” Brigitte joked.

  “It’s so nice to see I raised such a responsible, sensible daughter,” he shot back. “What are your real plans for the weekend?”

  “I’ll be off out to spend some of my hard earned salary,” Brigitte told him when she dropped down on an armchair.

  “That’s your first month of working over already?”

  “It is and the paycheck arrived in my bank account yesterday,” Brigitte told him. “For the first time in a while, I have cash burning a hole in my pocket, so there’s no more window-shopping for me.”

  “Planning to buy anything nice?” he asked.

  “I’ve had my eye on a few things recently,” she answered. “So I’m planning to splash some cash.”

  “My sweet little daughter is all grown up and making her way in life,” her father teased. “I’m so proud, although come to think of it, maybe I should start charging you rent for staying here.”

  “Yeah, good luck with that idea,” she mocked and stuck out her tongue. She lifted the glass to her lips to take a drink and heard the sound of a car horn.

  “That’ll be the taxi I arranged.”

  Brigitte got to her feet and moved over to the window to look out to the street.

  “It is,” she confirmed and turned to see her father already walking towards the door of the room.

  She followed and watched as he collected his bag and the golf clubs. He moved along the hallway to the door then turned.

  “I’ll give you a call when I arrive,” he said.

  She nodded her head and went to kiss him on the cheek.

  “Have fun,” she told him when he opened the door.

  “It’s a business trip,” he said over his shoulder.

  It was the last of the conversation and she watched as he walked to the cab. The driver was already out of the vehicle and opened the trunk to let the luggage be stored in it. Brigitte returned the wave of her father before he got in the back seat to set off on his journey. When the cab disappeared from view, she closed the door and went to the kitchen to make herself some breakfast.

  There was no rush to do anything afterwards and she relaxed at home for a few hours before deciding to get going. It was mid-afternoon when she went upstairs to get ready, but her preparations consisted of simply brushing her hair and checking her appearance in the mirror. Afterwards, she collected her jacket and bag then made her way downstairs to leave. It was a sunny day, so she decided to walk rather than catch the bus and it was around thirty minutes before she got to the mall she planned to do some shopping in.

  Her first port of call was a clothes store on the top floor and she went straight for the red mini-dress she wanted to try on. She found her size, then went to the fitting room and knew she was going to buy it the moment she put it on. It clung tightly to her figure and really put her long legs on display.

  “Looking good,” she teased her reflection as she turned from side to side, but the dress really did look good on her.

  She went to pay for it when she left the fitting room then moved on to a lingerie store. The bottom drawer in her wardrobe was filled to the brim with underwear, but it was a while since she’d bought herself anything new and she decided to treat herself. A smile spread across her face as she wandered around the racks of panties, bras and other lingerie. There was so much to choose from that it was difficult to make up her mind, but she eventually settled for a boy-shorts underwear set, a couple of thongs, a camisole and a pair of white, hold-up stockings. She walked to the serving counter to pay for them and saw the café opposite the store when she walked out of it.

  A drink seemed like a good idea, so she went in and ordered a cappuccino. When it was served and paid for, she moved across to a table next to the window and sat watching the scene outside for a while as she enjoyed her fix of caffeine. The idea of getting dressed up in her new clothes to go out came in her head and she debated calling Sarah to arrange a get together for that evening. Her phone rang while she was thinking about it and she wondered if her friend had been considering the same idea. She saw it was her father calling when she looked at the screen though and smiled as she answered.

  “How’s the golf course?” she teased him.

  “Very funny,” he replied. “I only arrived at the hotel a few minutes ago.”

  “Well, take it easy,” she told him. “It is the weekend, so don’t work too hard.”

  “Sure,” he agreed. “I’ll give you a call sometime during the week and let you know how things are going.”

  “OK,” Brigitte said. “Take care.”

  It brought the brief conversation to an end and she returned her thoughts to Sarah and whether she should call and find out if her friend wanted to meet up. In the end, she decided to wait until she got home and see if she was still in the mood for a night out.

  After leaving the café, she slowly wandered around some of the other stores in the mall and bought herself some makeup, hair accessories and a new pair of heels. She was laden down with bags when it got to almost six o’clock in the evening and she decided to end her shopping spree. Making her way down to the ground floor of the mall, she headed for the entrance and was about to walk through it when she heard the sound of her name being called. A frown creased her brow as she glanced around, but her heart started to run fast when she caught a glimpse of who it was that spoke.

  “Shit,” she cursed under her breath, but there was no way she could pretend she hadn’t heard and keep walking. In truth, she didn’t want to, but knew that was crazy as soon as the thought entered her head.

  “I thought it was you,” Matt said when he got to her.

  “Hi,” she said and put a smile on her face. “What are you doing here?”

  The question sounded silly to her the moment it came out of her mouth, but it was too late to take it back. She was aware of the heat on her cheeks and wished being close to Matt Harris didn’t make her quite so nervous. It was the first time she’d been alone with him since the day they first met and that made her even more anxious.

  “I was passing by the mall and needed to buy some razors,” he said and lifted a bag. “I haven’t been as busy as you though, by the looks of it.”

  “I guess so,” Brigitte said and laughed as she looked down at the bags she was carrying. “I got my first paycheck yesterday, so went on a bit of a splurge.”

  “Quite right too,” Matt said. “You should go out and celebrate.”

  “Yeah, I was considering doing that,” Brigitte agreed and thought about Sarah. “I was going to…”

  “Can I buy you a drink?”

  The question came out of the blue and brought her words to an abrupt end. She wasn’t sure accepting was a very sensible idea considering she worked as his counselor and was one hundred percent certain it would be frowned upon by her bosses. That meant she should really dismiss it out of hand, but she hesitated to do so.

  “I understand if you don’t…,” Matt went on.

  The threat of the offer being taken away made her react before she was even aware of what she was doing.

&nbs
p; “No,” she said to interrupt him. “It’s nice of you to ask and one drink isn’t going to do any harm.”

  “Great,” Matt said and smiled. ‘I saw a bar close by that didn’t look too busy.”

  “Sure,” Brigitte agreed.

  “Can I help with those?” Matt asked and held out a hand.

  “Oh, yeah, I guess so.”

  She looked down at the bags she was carrying again and knew that the one filled with lingerie was in her left hand. The blush of red grew hotter on her cheeks at the thought of handing that over, so she passed Matt the bags in her right hand.

  “It’s this way,” he said.

  Only small talk about their day passed between them as they walked to the nearby bar. Matt reached out and held the door open for Brigitte to walk inside and she looked around to see plenty of empty tables. She walked to the nearest one.

  “Is this OK?” she asked.

  “Sure,” Matt said and put the bags on a seat. “What would you like to drink?”

  “Umm…, a glass of red wine, thanks.”

  He nodded his head and she sat down when he headed towards the horseshoe-shaped serving counter. A few minutes later, he returned and put a glass in front of her and she thanked him as he sat opposite her. He lifted the bottle of beer he was holding to take a drink, then put it down on the table as he looked around.

  “This is a bit less formal than our usual get-togethers,” he said when he glanced across the table.

  Brigitte was aware of him looking directly at her, but dropped her gaze to the table. She reached out to the glass and raised it to her lips to take a sip before speaking.

  “Well, we don’t usually have alcohol,” she replied.

  “I’m not sure Mr. Brody would approve.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Brigitte said and laughed. “I don’t think he would complain too much about enjoying a drink or two during a session.”

  “Sounds like you have a good boss then,” Matt joked.

  “Yeah, we get on well,” Brigitte agreed. “He’s a nice guy and knows his stuff, so I’m learning a lot. Did you go along to the car maintenance class he arranged for you?”

  “I was there on Wednesday evening.”

  “And?” Brigitte encouraged him.

  “Mr. Brody was right,” he went on. “The guy running the course is an expert. I enjoyed myself.”

  “So, it’s something you could see yourself doing in the long run? Working as a car mechanic, I mean.”

  “Sure,” Matt replied. “Makes me wish I’d got involved with it as a teenager, to be honest.”

  “It would have been a smarter choice than running with gangs,” Brigitte told him.

  “Yeah, but knowing that now doesn’t help me back then,” Matt said with a rueful smile. “And running with a gang was an adventure.”

  “I guess I can understand young guys thinking that,” Brigitte commented. “But the adventure is likely to get you killed or…”

  “Serving time,” Matt interrupted. “It’s not really something you think about when you’re young and consider yourself indestructible.”

  “It probably happens to most that get involved though.”

  Matt nodded his head.

  “That’s the truth,” he said. “Most of the guys I knew from when I first got involved aren’t around anymore.”

  Curiosity got the better of Brigitte and she asked the question that came in her head.

  “How did you get involved? The file we have on you doesn’t really say anything about it.”

  “Maybe I shouldn’t tell my counselor then,” Matt joked and smiled.

  “You’re not supposed to keep secrets,” she said cheekily.

  The discussion suddenly felt like flirting and she met Matt’s gaze. She’d known there was a spark of something between them from the very first time they met and there was no doubt she was putting herself in a risky position by agreeing to have a drink. It really wasn’t a smart move, but she wasn’t about to get up and walk away. There was something about the man opposite that intrigued her and he wasn’t trying to hide that he was interested in her.

  “My older sister was the proverbial wild child when she got to her mid-teens and my parents struggled to cope with her,” Matt said. “She started going out with a gang member when she was around seventeen. He wasn’t much older than her, but always had money, wore the best clothes and was already driving a muscle car. It was a 1970 Plymouth GTX.”

  “What age were you?”

  “I was only twelve when they met,” Matt replied. “They used to let me hang around with them sometimes and I would get to ride in the front passenger seat of his car. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I guess he viewed me as a new recruit right from the get go. He used to get me doing the odd job for him. It was only occasionally to start with, but quickly became more regular. I was so naïve that it was probably more than a year before I caught on to the fact that it was drugs I was delivering for him.”

  “And what did you do when you found out.”

  “I was already hooked on the money by then,” he admitted. “I was nearly fourteen and probably earning as much as my dad, so it wasn’t like I was going to stop. My sister’s boyfriend used to go to a boxing gym and took me along a few times to get me involved with that. I was already known in my neighborhood as someone not to mess with and my skills with my fists only improved when one of the older guys at the gym began to train me.”

  “Delivering drugs and learning to fight at thirteen,” Brigitte let out and shook her head.

  “It’s a slippery slope from there,” Matt said. “My sister moved out of the house first to go and live with her boyfriend and it wasn’t long before I left home and joined them. I was still school age, but wasn’t attending and was basically working full time. It eventually earned me enough to get my own place when I was nearly seventeen and I moved on from working for my sister’s boyfriend.”

  “Your attributes were in demand then,” Brigitte commented.

  “Yeah, that’s about the size of it. I was known as someone that could handle himself, but also smart enough to avoid trouble. It meant it wasn’t difficult for me to find work.”

  “And that got you in with the top man?”

  “It was the sensible move,” Matt said. “Not that you really say no to Eddie Millar when he offers you a job.”

  “So, what really happened to end it?” Brigitte asked. “If you were smart enough to avoid trouble, then why did you end up in prison?”

  “A rival decided to send Eddie a message that he wasn’t invincible,” Matt went on. “I’d only worked for him for a short while, but was seen as one of his top enforcers. The rival decided that taking me out was a good message to send.”

  “But it didn’t work out.”

  “It turned out I was better than the two men he sent,” Matt replied. “I put them both in the hospital.”

  “So, you were defending yourself?”

  “I’m guessing that didn’t make it into your files about me?” Matt said and Brigitte shook her head. “They would have done a lot more than put me in hospital given half a chance, so I didn’t really have much choice in the matter. A self-defense plea didn’t get much sympathy from the judge, who wanted to be seen as cracking down on gang related violence.”

  “And you got four years,” Brigitte said and picked up her wine.

  She didn’t realize how fast she’d been drinking as she listened, but her glass was almost empty and she drank the last of the contents. Matt tipped up the bottle to finish his beer.

  “Another?” he asked.

  “I’ll get these,” Brigitte said.

  “We’re going Dutch on this date then?” Matt said and smiled.

  “Who said it was a date?” Brigitte retorted and got to her feet to walk away before any more was said. “Stop flirting,” she berated herself when she was out of earshot, but she couldn’t stop the smile showing briefly on her face.

  “So, what’s your
story?” Matt asked when she returned to the table and gave him his beer.

  “Not much to tell,” Brigitte said self-deprecatingly and dropped her gaze as she sipped at her wine.

  “Don’t be shy, Miss Sanderson,” Matt joked and laughed. “I can keep a secret and whatever you say will be strictly between us.”

  “There’s nothing I’d tell you that would need to stay a secret,” she told him.

  “What about your parents?”

  “I was pretty much brought up by my father and still live with him,” she replied.