Page 56 of After Effect

“Finchy?” Lilly stared at me through tired, half lidded eyes.

‘Lilly!” I ran to her side and started undoing the ropes that tightly bound her wrists and shoulders. Traces of rope burns remained in their place. Though nothing worse than we had done ourselves after a night of… post-show celebration. “Are you okay?”

She looked down at a foot enwrapped in a cast, and she gave me that perfect Lilly Cisneros smile. “Okay compared to being dead, maybe.”

“That’s about where my standards are.” I couldn’t help hugging her. I hugged her even harder as she groaned and laughed under the increasing pain.

“So can you fill me in on what in the actual fuck is going on here?” Lilly finally started asking the tough questions.

“It’s a long story.”

“Cliff notes? Are they… Mafia or something?”

“Something like that.” I nodded, though the frown on my face surely gave away my feelings. “Are you alone?”

“I don’t know. There was this big guy and this little surfer looking guy, but they haven’t been around for a minute.”

“Okay.” I glanced around, but there was no trace of them. No suspicious shadows, no obvious places to hide. I was certain they were nearby, but they were far away enough that I could at least attempt to get Lilly out of there. “Are you strong enough to wheel yourself out of here?”

“I can try.” She forced a half smile.

“I’ll give you a push.” I sent her a wink, then took hold of her chair. But I hadn’t even managed to get out of the container before I turned to see Baek standing before me.

“You made it. And she’s here, too. You really are inseparable.” Baek stood with his hands in the pockets of his tailored slacks. His normally perfectly styled hair was lightly dishevelled, and his white button up shirt beneath his suit had traces of dirt. He was rougher than I’d ever seen him. Somehow it made him seem more human, as well.

“So what did you mean about revenge?” I needed to know how much he knew. More than that- what he knew that I didn’t.

He took a deep breath. “I doubt we have a lot of time to discuss the specifics. Help me load these boxes, and I’ll talk as we go.”

“Boxes?” I looked around, having not even noticed the crates and crates of what I assume were records or CDs. I guess I had been so transfixed on Lilly, everything else seemed unimportant. “What’s in them?”

“You don’t need to know.”

The usual short response. I wasn’t putting up with that anymore.

“It’s time for some honesty, Baek.”

He sighed, then approached the first box. “Heroin. Now help me carry these.”

My expression flattened. Well… I guess that’s better than human organs. Lilly looked back and forth between us, a look of complete and utter confusion on her face.

Her dumbfounded face finally landed on me as we each picked up a crate. “So wait, you’ve been running drugs for the CEO?”

“I told you I’d fill you in later.” I started hauling the box toward the parking lot, following behind Baek.

Lilly followed behind me in her wheel chair. “Is this how you got me that radio spot? The headliner position at the Roxy? The free Ducati?”

“Later.” I shook my head again. She finally shut up, which didn’t feel as reassuring as it should. I stopped long enough to give her my uninterrupted eye contact. “Yes, I fucked up. Yes, I did it for you. And no, it’s not your fault.”

“Okay.” She put her head down as we continued toward the lot. Baek had a large box truck, ready to be loaded, where he placed his crate before heading back in for the next one. Lilly waited in the lot, while I hurried to catch up to Baek.

I went straight for my biggest question. “How’s Mark Corbin involved in all of this?”

“He’s the fixer.” Baek was frank.

“What does he fix?”

“He cleans up the inevitable messes.”

---