Unwanted Heat

Nicholas

Tonight was another success on the PR image transformation plan that I developed: Kenzie and I were photographed together for the third time in a couple of weeks. I expect our picture to be on several gossip sites by morning if not already. I find myself actually eager to see what the press says about me now. For the first time in two years they have pictures of me with the same woman attending different events. I could not have planned the business dinner better if I wanted to. I had no idea that someone there would recognize me and sell the picture to the media but I’m grateful they did. I have another date with Kenzie on Saturday, although I’m still trying to determine what we are going to do. I want Saturday to be something not business related, just to ensure that no one suspects that she is only accompanying me to business or PFS events.

“Yes… no I understand… completely off the record… call me tomorrow morning and Mr. Parker will be more than happy to make the donation to the fund… of course… ETA less than 10 minutes.”

The one sided conversation Carter is having catches my attention when he mentions my name and more so when he promises I will make a donation to a fund. It’s very rare for Carter to promise donations and typically only when the stakes are high which immediately has me concerned.

“What’s going on Carter?”

“Sir, that was the New York police department, there has been a reported break in at Ms. Rose’s apartment-”

“What?!?! When? Is she hurt?”

“The call was received less than two minutes ago. Ms. Rose called the report in herself. No requests for medical attention were made so my contact doesn’t believe she is hurt.”

“Get me there now, Carter!”

“Yes sir, we should be there in less than 10 minutes.”

“How did they know to call you?”

“I alerted the captain of Ms. Rose’s association with you when you first… when this arrangement began. I’ve had some concerns about the area she lives in so I requested he alert me to any police activity in or immediately around her building.”

“I assume the donation I am making tomorrow will ensure that this is kept out of the press?”

“Yes sir, everything tonight is off the record. Officers responding will not make an official report unless Ms. Rose insists on it-”

“I’ll ensure she doesn’t.”

Damn it! Just as my plan was going perfectly, some fucker has to go and screw things up! I can’t have Kenzie living in an unsafe place; once the media find out who she is, it will only be a matter of time until they figure out where she lives. What will they think if they learn that I’m dating someone who lives in that type of neighborhood? How can I possibly protect her if it’s as bad as Carter says it is? She needs to move out of that building tonight! I can’t have her at risk of being injured or becoming a victim of a crime especially not because of me. This may be a business arrangement but I would never forgive myself if she were harmed because of our arrangement.

“Carter?”

“Two minutes sir.”

Looking out the window of the SUV, I can see the evidence of the crime intensity as we drive past many abandoned buildings. Cars are on the road sitting on cinder blocks, windows of buildings are broken or boarded up, graffiti nearly covers every building and I can’t help but worry that we haven’t even reached the area where Kenzie lives. How is it I let her go home to this neighborhood after our dates? Why didn’t I insist that Carter have someone follow her? Why didn’t I insist that she move into a safer

area when we began our arrangement?

“FUCK!” I’m so frustrated and angry with myself for not preventing this from happening. I should have thought this through better. I’m normally on top of all these small details during business negotiations but this transformation plan was like nothing I’ve ever done before. It never occurred to me that a woman I contracted with through Bridget would live in such a horrible area.

“We’ll park here sir, her building is just ahead,” Carter announces a few minutes later.

We see a police cruiser in front of a graffiti covered building. The building is suspiciously quiet which I’m sure has something to do with the police presence. We walk up the front steps, I look for a doorbell to ring for Kenzie but Carter stops me and pushes the door open; it hadn’t been locked to begin with. Knowing that anyone can just walk into the building infuriates me. Without a locked front door anyone can get into the building, hide out and attack a resident. The thought of someone harming Kenzie upsets me more than I expected it to and I’m not sure why. I don’t know that her break-in was necessarily caused by her association with me but yet

I can’t help but feel responsible.

“If you think of anything, please give us a call,” I hear a police officer say as he steps out of a doorway just down the hall.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“I’ll speak to him and make sure that he has spoken with his captain about how to handle this situation sir,” Carter says.

“I’ll check on Kenzie and convince her that she can’t stay here.”

“Yes, sir.”

After a brief introduction to the police officer, I find myself standing outside Kenzie’s door waiting for her to open it. A few seconds after I knock, the door opens a crack to reveal a very surprised Kenzie.

“Nicholas? What… what are you doing here?” she asks.

“Kenzie, can I come in for a moment please?”

“Ummmm…”

“Please Kenzie…”

“Okay.”

Thankfully she slowly opens the door to let me enter her apartment; it hadn’t occurred to me on our way here that she wouldn’t want to see me. I had completely forgotten that per our arrangement I’m not supposed to know where she lives but none of that matters right now. All that matters right now is that I find a way to fix what has happened.

I close the door behind me and walk into her “apartment,” if it can be called that. Essentially it’s two rooms from what I can see, one of which I assume is a bathroom. Her main room holds a day bed, a dresser with a small television on top and there appears to be some sort of a “kitchen” along the wall which consists of a dorm size fridge, microwave and coffee pot. The room has obviously been completely torn apart, there are clothes everywhere, her mattress has been flipped over and sliced down the middle, her fridge door is open and the contents are now on the floor, her television now has a hole through it.

“How did you know?” she asks.

“The police captain called Carter as soon as the call came in. We turned around and headed here as soon as he called.”

“You didn’t need to come; Nicholas everything is taken care of. The police officer gave me the name of a locksmith that can come tonight to fix the lock. I was just about to call him when you knocked… ”

“Kenzie, you can’t stay here, it isn’t safe.”

“It’s fine, I’ve lived here for over a year now and no one has ever bothered me before. I’m sure this was just random-”

“I don’t think it was random.”

“Why would someone target me? I don’t have anything here with stealing Nicholas.”

“They may not think that. Someone who lives here could have recognized you from our pictures in the press, they may assume because we’re dating that you have money.”

“You think?” her voice is barely above a whisper as the reality hits her that someone may be targeting her specifically.

“It’s very likely.”

“Shit,” she sighs, leaning against a small end table for support. I walk over to her, wanting to comfort her but I’m not sure what I should do.

“I can’t stay here. I’ll wait for the locksmith and then… there’s a motel a couple blocks away I think. They probably have a room I can get for a few nights. I can starting looking for a new place in the morning-”

“Kenzie…” I try to interrupt but it’s obvious she is more talking to herself than to me as she tries to figure out her next step.

“I’ll lose my security deposit here… but I should have enough to cover a new one if I can find something quickly.”

“Kenzie,” I grab her hand to get her attention and she finally stops talking and looks at me with these sad, lost eyes that I’ve never seen on her before now. “You can come to my place tonight, we’ll figure out something

-”

“No!” she quickly exclaims. “I… look, that’s very generous of you, but I’m sure I can find a place to stay tonight.”

“Really, it’s not an issue. I have several guest bedrooms that you could stay in-”

“Nicholas, please… I would rather not.”

“Okay…”