The Story of Blood and Roses

"I belong to no one... remember... no one... don't let them get to you... shoot yourself before they get to you..." she mumbled to herself. I couldn't make out most of it, but it was evident that everything that had happened to her and she'd done had taken a toll on her and she needed medical attention as soon as possible, but it wasn't safe. She'd need to be put down if she became dangerous.

How would Anthony react to that? She has a pretty big role in the mob. She took care of all legal businesses and advertisers. Without her, the economic receipts of the mob would be handicapped.

I got her everything that she needed when she woke up and then left to see if the cabbie was still waiting outside. Much to my surprise, he was.

He had probably fallen asleep while waiting. I jogged to his side and knocked on the closed window insistently until he jolted awake and stared at me for a moment. Being caught off guard, he took a few moments to compose himself before rolling the glass down and poking his head out of the door.

"Any news?" he asked her in his rough voice.

"She passed out a few minutes back." He nodded to himself before he pulled his keys out from his pocket and leaned forward to start the engine.

"Sir," I interrupted. "I really need you to tell me what she told you. This is important. If she's in some sort of trouble, then you should probably tell us." The man huffed and considered my offer.

"Miss, I don't know who you are and what the two of you are involved in, but I wonder both of you come out alive. I don't know how pretty women like you get tangled in these things."

"These things?" I asked, bewildered about his implications. Did he know about the mob or something?

"The girl couldn't even stand when she stopped the cab. There was a man with her, looked like a sleaze. He hugged her and kissed her. I don't know if there was something, but when I asked her where she needed to go, she pulled out a paper from inside her dress and handed it to me." He seemed horrified that I was listening to the story without much surprise on my face.

"Can you tell me where you picked her up from?" I asked him in the softest voice I could manage. He looked away in embarrassment. "You need to tell me." It sounded like a demand when I said it. He flinched away and answered anyways.

"The red light district," he choked out before he reached out to turn the engine on again. Satisfied with what I'd found out I let the cabbie drive away. I did memorize the number on his license plate and tucked it in the back of my mind to pull out on a later date when I needed to track down the man again.

I might need him for further information later when I'd let Anthony know where the cabbie had picked her up from.

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[She was at the red light district. Cabbie said that there was a man who dropped her off. Didn't offer much more. –Mia.]

I sent the message and then went to the garage to take my car out. As I drove towards my house I felt my phone vibrating and knew that it was Anthony who had texted back, but waited until I was safely tucked into my blanket to open the message and see what it was about.

.

I had taken a long hot shower and ordered supper from the local deli and was snuggling into my pillows with my cell phone on the nightstand. I was curious about what he had to say, but there was a lingering possibility that ate away at me.

'What would become of the plan to annihilate Nolan and therefore Darcy if Cienna and her petty issues come in the way?'

I shoved the ideas aside and reached for the cell phone.

I had three messages waiting for me on my cell phone.

[I'll see to it that she doesn't get out of the house anytime soon. Ethan will go to check Cienna's apartment to see if he can find anything inside her apartment. worry about Cienna, I'll handle the situation. Think about Nolan. –Anthony.]

[Send me the number of the cab. –Anthony.]

I smiled at his faith in me. He somehow knew that I'd have noted the number and kept it in my memory. It was a wonder that he'd asked because he could have simply checked the recordings of the security cameras outside the gate to find out the number of the cab. A subtle way of letting me know that he trusted me? Maybe.

I had one more message left.

[I just saw Cienna. Can I snoop around her accounts and find out her secrets now? –Sean.]

I laughed a bit and shook my head. The boy seemed excited to find out that Cienna had relapsed even after the warning she had received the last time around. I had warned him to stay clear of the matter, but he seemed to be unmoved by my words. I did understand that it took a lot of courage on his part to write out the message and actually send it to me after I had snapped at him as I had, but I think it would be a good thing if he was really interested and got to the bottom of the matter.

Thinking it over, I decided that I was not the right person to sanction the task of him investigating the matter.

[Ask Anthony. –Mia.]

The reply came back instantaneously.

[Thank you so much. You're the best person I know! –Sean.]

I tossed the phone aside and curled into myself to get some sleep. It came easily.

.

I was woken by an odd humming next to my hip. I jumped up to a sitting position from my sleep and frantically looked around, trying to get my bearings right. I realized that the cause of the buzzing had been my phone and hunted for it in the mess of my bed sheets to see who was pestering me so late at night.

I found it after a few frustrating minutes and squinted at the illuminated screen for a long time.

[1 new message.] It said.

With a growl, I unlocked the phone and tried to read the message in my sleep induced haze.

[Cienna is awake and catatonic. Sean is euphoric and has gone out of his way to seek my permission to spy on Cienna. Ethan has found some disturbing things in her apartment. He's shouting the house down and planning on ambushing the red light district. Sean has locked himself up in the computer room. This place has turned into a madhouse. Chase the sun this morning, and reach the mansion before they kill me or make a mental patient out of me. Morning can't come fast enough. –Anthony]

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