Contractor (25 page)

looked liked a rip-off Rolex. "Wanna hang

out? We were just about to take the train out

to some clubs."

"No thanks."

Richard gave Daniel a look. "It’ll be

more fun than wasting time on campus. Come

on."

"We’re busy."

Richard reached forward. "Don’t be so -

"

Daniel grabbed his wrist. "She told you

to take a hike," Daniel said. "Get hiking."

"Oh yeah?" Richard tugged his hand

free. Daniel let it go. "You gonna make me?"

"Daniel," Rachel said, "don’t -"

Daniel placed a light hand on her

shoulder. He looked at Richard. "If you keep

treating her like she’s sitting at a bar in a

bikini, then yeah, I will make you. Move."

"Dude, really? I could take you with one

arm behind my back."

Daniel yawned. "No. You really

couldn’t."

Richard cracked the knuckles of his

good hand against his side. His friend moved

up closer. "You’re starting to piss me off,

asshole. Why don’t you go shut yourself back

in your dorm like a good prep?"

"You’re both acting like total morons,"

Rachel said. She looked at Daniel. "I’m a big

girl, thanks. I can handle him."

Daniel gave her a plaintiff shrug. "But

he’s acting like a giant faggot."

The punch came while he was still

turned away. Daniel caught it with one hand

without looking.

"Chivalry aside," Daniel added, "I don’t tolerate bullshit like that." He shoved back,

hard.

Richard fell back a few steps. He shook

his hand loose.

"Go away," Daniel said. "I’d really hate to make you look like a pussy in front of a

girl."

"You little shit!" Richard shouted. He

came back with a haymaker.

Daniel was practiced enough that his

senses reacted to the threat without thought.

He casually watched Richard’s fist moved

through the air, bit by bit. His grunt of effort

seemed to drone on forever.

Daniel mulled over several cruel

options, but in the end, decided on mercy. He

dodged the punch by stepping in and hit

Richard’s chest with his palm. Richard

doubled over and gasped like a fish, trying to

get air back in his chest.

"That was the last warning shot," Daniel

said. "If you try it again, I’ll send you to the hospital."

Richard heaved a few breaths, still

holding his hand to where Daniel had struck.

"Fuck this." He spared a last parting glare at Daniel, and then he and his lackey walked

away.

"Sorry," Daniel said, "but that guy is exactly the kind of person that pisses me off."

He shrugged, palms facing up. "I was kinda

an asshole, though. He probably had a rough

week with his finger broken." Rachel was

staring at him. "What? Something I said?"

"You can actually fight." She

straightened. "I thought you were trying to

impress me."

"Did I come off as that insecure?"

Rachel brushed her hair with her hands.

"Well, no. That’s why I was…annoyed, I

guess."

"Have a little faith." Daniel gestured

down the path. "Shall we?"

He expected questions, but she didn’t

ask him anything else about his skills. They

reached the store in a few minutes. Daniel

grabbed a coke and met her outside. They sat

on the edge of the curb and sipped their

drinks. It was late; so near campus, the city

was relatively quiet. Tall lamps stained the

street with a yellow glow.

"So you lived with Eleanor?" Daniel

prompted.

"We were raised in the same

household."

"Must have been a handful."

"Well." She took a sip of her ginger ale.

"I don’t really have much to complain about.

We pretty much had whatever we wanted

whenever we wanted it."

"How’s the lap of luxury?"

"Not all it’s cracked up to be," Rachel

said. "I’m glad to be out of there. It was a big house. Didn’t stop it from being stuffy." She

glanced at him. "What about you?"

"I live in Aplington, Ohio. Small suburb

town outside of Cleveland."

"You’ve got a small family," she said.

"Yeah. I guess."

"…mind if I ask you a personal

question?"

"Shoot."

"…it kinda sounded like you took care

of your bother," she said. "What about your dad? James?"

"He got really depressed. Lost his job.

Holed up in his room." Daniel looked out to

the street. "It was pretty hard for a while, but I got through it. We got through it."

"What happened to her?"

Daniel hesitated.

He looked at her. Her eyes were patient.

He felt a sudden urge to tell someone,

anyone that would listen.

"…my mom and dad went on a date,

spent the day in New York City. I was home

with my brother. They got mugged taking a

shortcut through an alley to where they’d

parked. She was shot. The ambulance didn’t

make it in time. But the worst part is that the

guy should have been in prison already. They

caught him before on car theft, then cut a deal

with him. He was in a gang, so they got him

to feed the police information. But he went

rogue after a few weeks." Daniel worked a

finger through the lock of hair on his

forehead. He stared at the asphalt. "It’s why I

want to be a prosecutor. I’ll make sure guys

like that get what they deserve. No deals. No

putting lives at risk in the short run betting on

long-term gain."

"That’s very noble," Rachel said. She

worried at her fingernails. "I’m sorry."

"I appreciate it," Daniel said. "But don’t feel bad for me. The world’s not working

very well, but that doesn’t mean I can’t

change it."

He stood and offered her a hand up. She

took it. "You’re kind of awesome, you know

that?" she said.

"Tell me something I don’t know."

Rachel rolled her eyes. "I just can’t

compliment you, can I?"

"Not a chance in hell." He grinned.

"Want to explore?"

Rachel looked at him, then up at the sky.

It was black with late-night clouds. "Now?"

"It’s the best time. It’ll be an adventure."

She shrugged. "Why not?"

Daniel walked with her back towards

the school. He ducked through the gate of the

parking garage. Their steps echoed and

clacked off the cement. Everything was cast

the same grimy grey, tinted somewhat by the

dim overhead lightning.

Rachel stuck close to him. "This is kinda

creepy at night."

"Well, the theory is as follows," Daniel

said. "We go to a scary place, you get

scared, and I let you cling on my shoulder."

Rachel stuck her foot out in front of him to

trip him. He nimbly stepped over it. "You’re

going to have to do better than that."

Rachel huffed and folded her arms. They

reached the stairwell. The rusty door opened

with a long creak. They trudged upward.

"I’m actually surprised you’re just hopping

on board with me," he said. "We’re all alone out here."

"It’s not like you’ll try anything."

"How do you know?"

"I think you’re secretly a nice guy," she

said.

Daniel put a finger to his lips. "Shh.

Don’t tell anyone."

"Come out of the closet, Danny. The

world is ready."

Daniel cast a hand over his forehead.

"I’m just projecting my kindness on others!

Forgive me!"

Their laughter echoed weirdly in the

stairs. They stopped laughing.

Daniel opened the door to the second

floor. The garage stretched past them. It was

silent. The air smelled faintly of gasoline and

cooling engines. Deep shadows lingered

between the cars and columns.

"Ok," Rachel said. "Now it’s creepy."

"My shoulder’s free any time you’re

ready."

Daniel expected another attempt at

injuring him, but she wrapped an arm around

his. "I don’t like dark places," she murmured.

"We can leave if you’re chicken."

"Shut up and walk." She held on almost

too-tight. He pushed his smile away.

They rounded the end of a big pickup

truck. Daniel froze. An awful sensation

crawled down his skin and swirled in his

stomach. He tugged her back behind the car.

She slapped at his hand. "Dan?! What -"

"Stay here." Daniel glanced back around

the bed of the truck. He drew his head back

almost immediately.

"What is it?"

"Just stay there!" He swallowed back

hard to stop the bile. "Do you have a cell

phone?"

"Yeah."

"Call 911."

Rachel stormed around the end of the

pickup. "What the hell are you -"

She stopped dead. He felt compelled to

follow her gaze.

A body was crushed into the cement

between two cars. Blood was everywhere.

The head had been twisted all the way

around. From the length of the hair, he

thought it might be a girl, but her body was

so broken and battered it was hard to tell.

A shimmer caught his eye in the

shadows under a tire. A tuft of black fur was

caught under the truck. It was dented slightly

in the same spot. Daniel stared at it.

Rachel’s hands flew to her mouth. She

took a step back. Daniel moved himself

between her and the body. "Rachel. Rachel!"

Her eyes refocused on his face. "Are you

ok?" he asked.

She gave him a shaky nod. "…ah."

Daniel kept one arm around her, steered

her back around the truck, and reached for

his cell phone.

****

They were taken to the police station

and thoroughly questioned. It was clear

they’d just stumbled across the scene of the

crime, so the police were pretty easygoing

through the whole process. After extracting

all the details, they’d politely ordered Daniel

to keep it all under his hat. Apparently,

having their investigation stay clandestine

would allow them to be more effective.

One too many officers told him not to

talk. Something felt off. Maybe he was just

feeling a little paranoid, but he didn’t want to

let it go.

He sat on a bench in the front office of

the police station while waiting for Rachel to

finish giving her statement. A bit of online

research with his phone quickly bore fruit.

He found a report about the sexual assault

and murder of a young woman near the MIT

campus. The article mentioned that her body

had been viciously beaten. He wasn’t able to

find more information, but that only

confirmed his suspicion that this was the

second occurrence of something the police

were keeping locked up tight.

But that wasn’t the thing that bothered

him the most. No. That black hair didn’t

belong to the victim. It didn’t belong to a

human. What the hell was going on?

Rachel stepped out from the glass-

walled inner sanctum. She lowered herself to

the bench next to him. "Feeling a bit better?"

he asked.

"Yeah, I’m fine. Just shell-shocked."

Rachel inhaled. "It was…nightmarish."

"Yeah." Daniel folded his arms behind

his head. "I think I’ve had enough adventure

for one day."

"…Eleanor’s coming to pick me up. We

can give you a ride home if you want."

Daniel didn’t respond. Rachel shifted a bit

closer. "Thanks for waiting for me."

Daniel smiled at her. "Have a little

faith."

She smiled back. "…hey, you know…

maybe I could give you my number?

Raincheck on the adventure thing."

"No," Daniel said.

"…oh." Rachel blushed furiously. "Uh,

um…"

Daniel cleared his throat. "If you give

me your number, I’ll be asking you out on a

date, not to hang out."

Rachel processed that for a moment.

"You’re too slick for me. You know, I think

Elly might actually be a good -"

"Elly this, Elly that. What about

Rachel?" Daniel waited until she met his

gaze. "I’m asking you for your phone number

because you sang ‘What is Love’ with me

while we washed dishes. The bitch queen

has nothing on you." Daniel folded his arms

and crossed his legs. "Besides, I like

redheads."

"…you’re kinda blunt."

"As a baseball bat," Daniel finished.

"Would you rather be baffled with bullshit? I

can do that too."

Rachel flipped her cell phone out.

"What’s your number? I’ll text you."

He told her, and she texted him. He

flipped opened his cell and looked at her

message.
What is love? :P

"Cute," he said. "I give it a four out of ten. Apply yourself."

"Now he’s rating my text messages."

"Ah, I forgot," Daniel said. "The only person I know that gets internet memes is

Jack."

"What’s a meme?" she asked.

"Don’t worry about it. Man things."

"Did you just say
man things
with a

straight face?"

"Yeah. You know." Daniel waved his

hand in the air. "Mathematics, science.

Engineering. The modern world as we know