Page 3 of Catfish

Holden’s wrinkled hands seize my forearm, digging into my sleeve with his fingertips. When that doesn’t work, he starts beating on it with his fist, demanding for me to let go.

Yeah, no.

“Perhaps you should be more specific on a date next time,” I offer, watching his face redden.

“Let me go,” he strains, using his fingers to dig deeper through my suit.

I take a sip from my glass, peering over the rim at his wide-set eyes of dark brown and face that has seen over sixty years.

My father used to talk about Holden Montgomery as a god. A man who wanted to rid Connecticut of the lower class and tax the rich to even out the ways of life. Who had dreams of a revolution to bring money into middle-class families and bring down the crime rate.

You know, the normal shit people want to hear.

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized the pedestal that my father put him on was a facade. A way to make me think that high-profile figures were who they advertised themselves to be. That dreams, my dreams, could be accomplished with the help of people like Holden.

Wrong.

“Lockwood,” Holden chokes out, thumping on my arm for me to tap him out like we’re in a WWE match.

I don’t fake beat the shit out of my rivals. I either rip your whole world in half, or I have the media fuck you up the ass for everyone to see.

“Or maybe,” I continue slowly, taking my sweet ass time as I point my index finger at him. “You should stop banging pretty little things who you can barely afford and—”

“Don’t worry about my—” My grip tightens into his windpipe.

Second warning, don’t interrupt me.

“When you borrow my money to support and feed into your little dalliances and not pay me back, it is my fucking business. When you use the money you were given to help people, it is my fucking business.” I put more pressure on his throat to make my next point perfectly clear. “And when you say something that you don’t follow through with, well...that’s making this a whole lot harder for you, Holden. You know I’m not a patient man.”

He taps my arm again, signaling that he gets my point. “Okay. Okay...Lockwood, I got it.”

My eyes constrict. “Do you though? I remember telling you that if I had to hunt you down, it wouldn’t be a pleasant discussion.” He tries to nod, but my hand doesn’t give him much room to work with.

“Yes…I remember.”

Probably not.

I can feel his rapid pulse hit the pads of my fingers, reminding me over and over again that I have to deal with men and women like Holden on a daily basis. That this road I’m on will be a winding and tedious trip, which will require a lot of deep breathing and a therapist in the near future.

“I just want to make sure,” I note, bringing my glass back up to my lips. “That what you remember and what I remember are the same thing.” Taking a sip of the bitter, cheap liquid, I let it scorch my throat and right down to the pit of my stomach.

Leaning closer to him, I smell his untimely scent and the smell of cigars on his clothing. “I want my fucking money, Holden. I saved your ass from jail time when your treasurer reported a million missing from the state’s assets. Do you know what kind of bullshit I had to pull to make that money appear again?”

Holden’s head shakes, still tugging on the sleeve of my suit.

“I’ll save you the boring details,” I allude before finishing off my glass.

“I got...I have it,” Holden croaks.

“Sure, you fucking do.” My fingers release him, prompting his hands to immediately go to his neck.

Bending forward, Holden gasps and tries to catch his breath while I peer down at him with the same distrust in my eyes.

I’m obviously not above choking out an older man. Nor do I give a fuck if it takes him a good five minutes to recover. The big bad wolf of Bridgeport thought he still had fear laced in his name and that I wouldn’t come running for what was owed to me.

His glory days were over thirty years ago. That’s when his name meant something—powerful, devoted, worthy of his position.

Holden Montgomery is now a washed-up brand of old and finished in the world of politics.

---