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Jacob Talbot startles. “Oh, fuck, you scared me. Who is that?” His eyes widen as he recognizes me. “You? What are you… Fuck, hey, man, I don’t want any trouble.”
“Neither do I. What’s in the briefcase?”
“I… I don’t think that’s any of your business.”
I sigh, draw the gun from my belt, and point it at his head. “Is it my business now?”
Talbot goes pale. “Please don’t shoot. I have kids.”
“You want to see them again, you keep your voice down and get in the fucking car.”
***
Ava
I watch as Alessandro strides back to me, holding the briefcase. He passes it to me through the window. “We’re going to hang onto this for now. You okay driving? Mr. Talbot has agreed that I’ll ride in his vehicle, and you can follow.”
“Okay. Where are we going?”
“To his apartment. We’re going to have a chat.”
He crosses the street again and gets into the backseat of the BMW, behind Talbot. I imagine that the whole time they’re driving, Alessandro will be holding a gun at his back. They pull out, and I follow them through the city to a block of high-rise apartment buildings. The BMW goes into a garage, and I park next to it.
“Up to your apartment,” Alessandro orders Talbot, fully giving off that “dom” aura now. “Babe, you mind taking the briefcase?”
Chapter Forty-One
Ava
Talbot fidgets as we ride the elevator up to his apartment. “First of all, I just want to say—”
“Shut up,” says Alessandro. “We’ll speak once you’ve invited us into your lovely home.”
We get to the 16th floor, and the admissions officer takes us down the hallway and into his apartment. It has this funny vibe, like the furnishings are nicer than the place itself demands. There are display cases on the walls filled with figurines and autographed sports jerseys.
“You ever consider selling some of these?” Alessandro asks, pointing. “Would be an easier way to pay what you owe than Photoshopping an innocent student using drugs.”
“I’ll get right on that,” says Talbot, now looking thoroughly spooked. “Whatever you want.”
“What I want is for you to get Ava Gagliardi back into Bover City University.”
“I told you,” Talbot says, “it’s not that simple. I already showed them photos of Ava using cocaine. How am I going to explain that away?”
“Show us the pictures,” I demand.
Talbot glances at Alessandro, who nods his head. “Do as she says.”
He scurries to the desk in the corner of the living room and boots up his computer. An anime girl in a bikini greets us as his desktop background.
“The pictures,” Alessandro prompts him.
Hand shaking on the mouse, Talbot navigates to a folder filled with images. He starts to sort through them, and I see that the files are organized by last name.
“What are these?” I ask, frowning. “Wait, open that one up.” I point at random to one of the files.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with you,” he protests. “I really don’t see—”
“Open it,” Alessandro growls.
