“What happened to your mother?” Matt asked.
“She was the original hippy and motherhood didn’t really suit her,” Brigitte admitted. “She tried to settle down and live what most people would consider a normal life, but it wasn’t for her.”
“She walked out on your father?”
“Yeah,” Brigitte said. “It was when I was four years old and to be honest, it didn’t come as a complete shock to him. The writing was on the wall long before it happened.”
“Where did she go?”
“Travelling the world my father told me,” Brigitte went on. “She’s probably holed up in some commune somewhere for all I know. A card turns up at the house every so often, but we don’t really keep in touch.”
“That’s a shame.”
“I’ll survive,” Brigitte said. “It’s not like I really remember that much about her.”
“What does your father do?”
“He worked for a multinational company while I was growing up, but gave it up a few years ago to start his own company.”
“An entrepreneur then,” Matt said.
“He’d talked about doing it for years, but didn’t want to give up the security of a good paycheck at the end of every month while I was growing up.”
“Sounds like a devoted dad.”
“I owe him a lot,” Brigitte said. “When I graduated from college, I helped him out at his new company. He has things running like clockwork now though and things are going well for him, so it was time for me to strike out on my own.”
“And now you’re stuck with waifs and strays like me,” Matt joked.
“I’m used to it,” Brigitte replied and laughed. “I’ve done a lot of volunteer work in the past. It was part of the reason I applied for the job. The chance to help people was something I wanted to do.”
“There’s more worthy causes than a bunch of ex-cons,” Matt pointed out and took a drink of his beer.
“Yeah, but they deserve a chance just as much as anyone,” Brigitte said and shrugged her shoulders. “And if you get an ex-prisoner onto the straight and narrow, then you’re also helping the people that might have gotten hurt if the person returned to crime.”
Matt leaned back in his chair and took another drink of his beer before speaking.
“So, what do you reckon are my chances then?”
“Well, that’s really up to you,” Brigitte said. “We can provide you with the help to set things up, but it’s your commitment to changing your life that will ultimately determine if you’re successful.”
“OK, but you must have an opinion on the chances of the people you work with.”
Their eyes met and, for once, Brigitte held his gaze.
“You seem pretty switched on and smart,” she said. “I’d say you had a decent chance if you keep away from the likes of Eddie Millar.” She paused, then couldn’t stop herself going on. “Have you seen him or anyone associated with him since your release?”
“No,” Matt replied.
The moment stretched out as they continued to stare at each other, but his gaze remained steady and didn’t waver at all.
“Then I’d say you have a chance,” Brigitte said and looked down at her drink.
She was aware that she was trembling and picked up the wine to take a long drink. It emptied her glass and she could feel the effects of the alcohol settling in her veins.
“My round,” Matt said and got to his feet to walk away from the table.
Brigitte was on the verge of refusing the offer, but he was gone before she managed to say anything. She watched him walk up to the serving counter and slowly shook her head.
“What are you doing?” she questioned herself, but didn’t really have an answer.
She’d been aware of the connection between them during the official weekly meetings at the government building and that was with Mr. Brody in attendance. Now she was alone and drinking with a man she knew she should stay a million miles away from.
“You’re still here though,” she muttered under her breath and kept her eyes on Matt.
Sarah’s comments about bad boys coming out of prison slipped into her mind as she stared and it made her screw up her face. The sensible course of action when they met in the mall would have been to thank Matt for his invitation then politely decline. The smart thing now would be to drink up and go home before she got completely out of her depth, but she still wasn’t sure she would do it. She was being drawn inexorably into something she might be unable to control, but the scary thing was that kind of excited her and she liked the feeling.
There was no point in trying to pretend she wasn’t attracted to Matt and was in no doubt he was having similar feelings about her. The trouble was she didn’t know where it was heading or what it would lead to. She tried to clear the thoughts from her head when she saw him returning to the table and smiled when he put the glass down in front of her.
“We shouldn’t be doing this,” she said, but still picked up the glass to take a drink.
“You’re probably right,” he acknowledged. “Then again, it’s like the adventure I wanted when I was a teen. You know something is wrong and you shouldn’t be doing it, but that draws you towards it.”
“You’re not a teen now,” Brigitte pointed out.
“Yeah, but sometimes the craving for something is too much to ignore…, no matter what age you are.”
The flush of heat tinged her cheeks when she saw the way he was looking at her and she was in no doubt what it was he wanted. She let out a slow breath as their eyes met.
“You don’t always get what you want,” she said.
“True,” Matt conceded. “But that doesn’t stop you from trying for it.”
Brigitte was aware of the rising tension between them and suddenly wanted out.
“I…, I need to go to the ladies room,” she said hesitantly and looked around.
“Over there,” Matt said and pointed.
She saw the sign for the restrooms and stood up quickly to walk away from the table. The blush of red still showed on her cheeks when she looked at herself in a mirror above the sinks and she let out a long sigh.
“Should’ve said no to the invitation,” she told her reflection.
She was caught in conflicting emotions, however. Even though she was telling herself she should have said no, she knew that she couldn’t have. Being with Matt was a risk that might very well lay waste to her life, but what he said about craving something so much it was impossible to ignore resonated in her mind.
“Stupid…, stupid,” she muttered as the thought of being with him filled her mind, but there was no clearing it away.
She switched on the water to splash some on her face then grabbed some paper towels to dry herself. After throwing them away, she checked her appearance in the mirror and ran fingers through her hair. The door opened as someone else came in and Brigitte tried to compose herself before leaving the restroom to return to the table. Matt leaned forward and smiled.
“I hope I haven’t kept you from anything this evening,” he said.
Brigitte shook her head.
“I was thinking of calling a friend, but never got round to it,” she admitted.
“Their loss is my gain,” he said and his smile grew wider.
The simmering tension was there between them again and she lifted her glass. She was drinking too fast, but it was a way to cover her nervousness and she couldn’t stop herself.
“What were your plans?” she asked.
“Nothing really,” he replied. “I probably would have had a drink in a bar near my apartment and gone home to a quiet apartment.”
“Yeah, I should really get going as well,” Brigitte said.
She picked up her glass and downed the rest of the wine and the hit of alcohol made her head spin slightly. Matt emptied the beer bottle and put it on the table.
“How will you get home?” he asked.
“Oh, it’s not too far from here,” she told him. �
��I’ll probably walk and get some fresh air to clear my head.”
“I’ll walk you home,” he said.
“No, you don’t…”
“I’d feel better if I did,” Matt interrupted. “It’s my fault you’re here and you shouldn’t have to walk home in the dark on your own.”
Brigitte rubbed the back of her hand on her lips as she contemplated the offer. The fact that her father left for a business trip meant the house was empty and she was all too aware that arriving there with Matt might lead to a temptation she couldn’t resist. The thought of that was both alarming and exhilarating, with the conflicting emotions filling her mind again. The easy thing would be to say no to his offer although not for the first time that evening, she went against her better instincts.
“OK,” she said and picked up the bags at the side of her chair when she got to her feet.
Matt did the same and the pair of them moved towards the door to leave the bar. The cool of the evening made Brigitte shiver and goose bumps sprung up on her skin. She rubbed a hand over the jacket sleeve on her upper arm as she came to a stop on the sidewalk and turned to look at the man beside her.
“So, where do we go?” he asked.
“It’s this way,” Brigitte replied and set off for home.
Chapter 8
“Well, well,” Billy said and a lecherous smile stretched across his face. “Look who’s trying to get himself some pussy.”
The window table in the small coffee shop he was sitting in gave him a decent view of the bar entrance and he watched as Matt spoke to the blonde girl beside him when they came out of the place. The pair of them set off and Billy dropped his gaze away from them as they moved in his direction.
It had been a long, strange day and he was only beginning to understand it. When he got to Matt’s apartment building early that morning, he ended up waiting a couple of hours before seeing the man come out. He was almost at the point of giving up when he did, but was now glad he’d stuck around.
Matt’s usual start on the days that Billy watched him was to go to a nearby café and have breakfast. On this occasion, he did something different and set off walking at a brisk pace. He got a piece of paper out of his pocket every so often and it became clear that there were probably directions on it that were showing him the way to somewhere he’d never been before.
Billy was intrigued, but kept his distance to make sure he wasn’t noticed as he followed. Matt finally came to a stop at the end of a street in a smart neighborhood and brought out a pack of cigarettes. He lit one up and it was obvious he was keeping one of the properties under observation.
There was no way of knowing what was happening and all Billy could do was put himself in a position where he could keep his eye on things without being seen himself. That made things boring and he’d cursed when he dropped the last of his cigarettes when it was finished and crushed it under his boot. He wanted to go and buy some more, but didn’t want to risk the chance of missing something. It was another hour or so until things got underway again.
He saw a young, blonde woman coming out of a property and Matt suddenly moved away from the end of the street to get himself out of view. When the woman set off in the direction of the center of town, she didn’t realize she was being followed by a man, who was in turn being followed himself. It was a ludicrous situation, but Billy was keen to find out what was going on, so he would have some more information for his bosses. When the street was clear, he quickly moved along it to make sure he got the blonde woman’s address correctly, then followed on to see where it got him.
The woman eventually went in a mall and Matt followed her. Billy saw no point in doing the same and decided to hang around close to the entrance to see if they came out again. A nearby store enabled him to buy a pack of cigarettes and he settled down for what he expected might be another long wait.
That turned out to be right, but he was surprised to see Matt and the blonde woman coming out from the mall together when they reappeared and it was only then that he began to understand. He remained close behind them, but they didn’t go far before walking inside a bar. It meant yet another wait, but he decided to do it in a little more comfort and went in a nearby café from which he knew he would be able to keep an eye on things.
When he saw the two people he was following coming out of the bar a while later on, he was even more sure that what he was thinking was right. Matt’s purpose for following the woman was to engineer a supposedly accidental encounter that might lead on to something else. It looked like his plan was working.
Billy lifted his gaze after they walked past the café and was sure they were heading to the blonde woman’s home. It was certainly the direction they were walking in and he debated whether it was worth his while going after them. He lifted the cup in front of him and gulped down the coffee in it before hurriedly getting to his feet and leaving the café. He glanced along the street to see that Matt was still in sight, but the silent vibrating in his pocket stopped him from following. He brought his phone out and looked at the screen to see it was a longtime friend of his.
“What can I do for you?” he started when he answered the call.
“It’s more what I can do for you,” Sonny replied.
Billy looked along the street and started walking to keep Matt and the blonde woman in view.
“OK, I’ll bite,” he said. “What can you do for me?”
“The rumor is you’re looking for information,” Sonny said.
“I might be,” Billy replied.
“Yeah, well I might have the very address you’re looking for,” Sonny went on. “So get your butt along to the Rockyard Roadhouse and we can talk.”
Billy cursed when the line went dead. If Sonny was talking about Brett Collins’ address, then he needed to go and see him. He came to a stop and watched the two people now far in front of him disappear from view.
“Hope you enjoy her, you fuck,” he muttered crudely then spun around to walk in the direction of the Rockyard Roadhouse.
The sound of the music came to him when he approached the place. It wasn’t a bar that he frequented often, but he knew the layout and saw it hadn’t changed at all since his last visit when he walked inside. That didn’t really surprise him. The table in one corner was surrounded by a group of leather jacketed men shooting pool while the juke box in another was where many of the women congregated to choose the tunes being played.
Almost every table was occupied, but Billy couldn’t see the man he wanted when he stopped to scan them. He moved towards the long counter, but there was no sign of Sonny there either. Hopping up on a stool, he got the attention of one of barmaids and ordered a beer. It was being served when a hand clapped on his shoulder.
“Don’t forget about me.”
Billy recognized the voice of Sonny and ordered another beer.
“Long time, no see,” he said.
Sonny moved in beside him, but didn’t get up on a stool. Instead, he leaned against the bar. He waited for the bottle to be placed in front of him and took a drink before saying anything.
“Is the rumor true?”
“That I’m looking for information?” Billy said. “Yes it’s true, but I need to hear what you have to know if it’s what I need.”
“What’s in it for me?” Sonny asked.
“You’ll stay alive,” Billy replied.
Sonny straightened up and didn’t hide the surprised expression on his face as he looked before letting out a laugh.
“Yeah…, good one,” he said then leaned on the bar again.
“I didn’t come here to play fucking games,” Billy complained. “Do you have Brett Collins’ address or don’t you?”
“So it is true then,” Sonny said.
“That doesn’t answer my question,” Billy went on.
“There’s no point in me saying anything until I know what the information is worth.”
Billy let out a laugh and shook his head.
“I told you alread
y,” he said. “Do you know who it is that wants the address?”
“Nope,” Sonny replied. “And I don’t care. All I…”
“Well you should care,” Billy interrupted. “It’s Eddie Millar.”
A frown creased Sonny’s brow as he straightened up to look at the man sitting beside him again, but it disappeared when he let out a laugh.
“I get it,” he said in an amused voice. “You threaten me with Eddie Millar to try and get the information for free. That’s not going to happen.”
Enforcer Page 10
