I give Arie a gentle nudge when the light changes. “How about some coffee? Would could pop into this shop on the corner for a second.” But she looks at me like I’m insane.
“Do you have any idea how messed up I’d be later if I drank coffee right now? I’d like to sleep this century. Besides, it’s getting late. We should get Chloe home so she can get to sleep.”
I look down at Chloe through the little window in her stroller cover and see she is happily wide awake, but I have a feeling that Arie won’t abide me arguing with her. Yet, I can still see the man in my periphery, and he’s getting closer, inching his way through the crowd as if he’s trying to get as near to Arie as possible without being seen. Except he’s clearly not all that skilled at whatever his job is, because I made him in a minute flat. Arie, however, is oblivious.
We round the corner and I can s
ee my building in the distance, but I don’t want to give this guy, whoever he is, any information in terms of where Arie lives. Maybe I’m being paranoid, but everything about this guy is screaming “trouble” and I’m not about to let trouble just walk through the doors to my apartment.
I take Arie by the arm with one hand and grip the stroller beside her with the other. “Let’s keep walking. Maybe toward Bergdorf? We can get Chloe some new clothes,” I say as I keep my eye on the man. Arie gives me another withering look.
“Are you crazy? I don’t want to go shopping. And did you miss the part about Chloe’s bedtime? What is wrong with you? Who buys baby clothes at Bergdorf anyway. She’s going to grow out of them in ten seconds.”
The years certainly haven’t made her any less stubborn.
“Yeah, okay, fine. You’re right. Listen, I’m not ready to go home. Why don’t you take Chloe back to the apartment and I’ll go for a little walk? Work off some of this excess energy?”
Arie raises an eyebrow, and then shakes her head. “Whatever you say. Just don’t make a racket when you get back. She’s a light sleeper and it’s hard enough to get her down as it is.”
“What? How do you know that?”
Arie just keeps walking. “What? I didn’t say… She took a nap this afternoon. I noticed. Go take your walk.”
I don’t have time to linger on that exchange. Instead, I wait until Arie and Chloe are a few steps ahead of me, then I double back to where Track Suit Guy is standing next to a street light, watching. He’s so focused on Arie, he hasn’t noticed that I’m right next to him, so when my hand closes around his throat, dragging him into the alley, his eyes go wide with alarm. All of his faux cockiness is gone.
I slam him up against the brick wall of a high-rise and lift him off the ground by his throat, growling in my most intimidating voice. “What the fuck are you doing following us you piece of shit?”
The fear that was in his eyes initially disappears, and is replaced with arrogance. He smiles, and points to my hand, which is squeezing his windpipe and making it impossible to talk. I appreciate the complication and lower him to the ground, but I press my hand against his rib cage.
“If you so much as blink in a way that pisses me off, I will crush your ribs and make your heart explode, do you understand me?”
He reaches up and rubs at his throat where I’ve left a deep red handprint. “I could have you arrested for assault.”
I snort. “And I could have you arrested for stalking. So, let’s cool it with the idle threats, huh?”
He shakes his head. “I’m just a man talking a walk. You’re the one who came up to me out of nowhere and put his hands on me… Mr. Cochran.”
I feel my blood run cold with a combination of fury and confusion. “How the fuck do you know my name?”
“I know a lot of things, Mr. Pierce Cochran. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll mind your business where it comes to me and my associates. Understand?”
I feel a wave of my old, reckless self come back, and I slam him against the wall again. “Did you just threaten me? I know you didn’t just threaten me. No one could possibly be that stupid.”
The man reaches up with both hands and shoves my hands away from him, never losing his overconfident smile. “Listen, kid. You’re in over your head. Just stay out of our way and you and your kid won’t get hurt. It’s not complicated.”
I don’t have time to say anything else. A black sedan flies up along the side of the street and the man saunters off, then jumps into the back seat, before the car speeds off. And I’m left standing in the alley, completely baffled as to what the hell just happened.
Arie
“Arie, I want to know what the fuck is going on and I want to know right now.”
Pierce has just stomped back into the apartment, and he looks furious. His hands are shaking, his face is red, and I get the impression he wants to punch a hole in the wall. The only thing stopping him is the fact that Chloe is still awake and watching him carefully. It’s like she knows exactly what is going on and is just waiting to judge his next move. I’m sitting on the couch, and I grab a pillow to hold for comfort, even if it’s only emotional.
“Maybe if you tell me what you’re talking about, that might help,” I say, trying to play it as innocent as possible until I know how much he knows. He crosses his arms, clearly impatient and not in the mood for games.
“Oh, I don’t know, Arie. Some goon in a tracksuit just threatened me and my daughter, in extremely vague terms. He was following us down the street for blocks, watching you, specifically. So, I’m going to ask you one more time, Arie. What the fuck is going on? What have you gotten yourself, and by extension my family, into?”
I start running scenarios in my head. He’s going to kick me out. He’s going to turn me into the cops. Can he turn me into the cops? He’s going to hand me over to the Cannizzo family. I’ll have come this far only to lost Chloe again. What the hell do I say?