Now I had to wait and see when or if the agents would get back to me, and what I would need to do to get immunity from the charges. Would they make me wear a wire, testify in court, try and make me buy drugs from Quarry? I didn’t have the first clue what this was going to mean, but I knew that it wasn’t going to be any fun.
Maybe it would do me some good to get away from Boston, I thought, as I got to the door of my apartment building and took out my keys. I must have been lost in thought, not even noticing what was going on around me, because suddenly a voice spoke from just beside my ear.
“Hey, stranger.”
I startled and turned to see Brooklyn standing next to the front stoop. She was laughing.
“Shit,” I said, shaking my head. “I didn’t even see you there.”
“Kind of preoccupied, huh?” she asked, tilting her head to the side and raising an eyebrow. She was dressed in a short skirt, high heels and a t-shirt that didn’t leave much to the imagination.
“I’m good,” I replied, smiling at her, but not being too friendly. I didn’t like that she’d shown up at my apartment out of nowhere. What if Lindsay had been with me?
“You look good,” she said.
“Uh, thanks, I guess.” I wanted to open the door to the apartment building but didn’t want Brooklyn trying to follow me inside.
“You don’t seem very happy to see me, Justin.” She puffed out her bottom lip in a fake pout.
I turned to look at her. “I wasn’t expecting you, that’s all.”
“I was in the neighborhood. Was I wrong to stop by and say hello?”
“No, you weren’t wrong.”
She frowned. “Then what is it? Why are you being weird?”
I sighed. “I’m just busy—I’ve got a lot going on right now.”
“Like what?”
“I’m going on a trip tonight.”
“What about training?”
I looked at her. “Is this an interrogation or something?” I took my key and slid it into the lock, opening the door to the apartment building. “Because I’m really not in the mood to be interrogated.” I almost said interrogated again but wisely left off the last word.
“Justin—” Brooklyn started towards me.
But now I was walking inside. I turned and faced her, making sure to block the doorway. “Like I said, I’ve really got to get going.” I started to close the door, not caring anymore that I was basically shutting it in Brooklyn’s face.
“Wait a second!” she yelled, her voice getting loud and almost panicked.
I stopped. I didn’t say anything, just looked at her.
“Please,” she said, and her eyes were suddenly desperate. “Please—I really need to talk to you, Justin.”
“I thought you were just dropping by,” I told her.
She looked down, then flipped her hair, looking up at me with an embarrassed half-smile. “Okay, so I lied about that part,” she said. “I didn’t want to come off like a freaking stalker.”
“Brooklyn,” I sighed. “Are you sure this can’t wait?”
“It’s important, but also kind of private.” She glanced around.
“There’s no one out here,” I said. “You can’t just tell me whatever it is you need to tell me?”
“Can’t we just go inside? Are you that afraid of me?” She laughed, like I was being ridiculous. “Just give me five minutes, okay?”
Everything in me said that it would be a mistake to let her into my apartment, but now I was already in the building, so it would be a slap in the face to force her to stay outside. She was still Quarry’s daughter and the last thing I needed right now was to have her going back to him and telling him what a mean guy I was.
“Fine,” I said, regretting it instantly. “Come inside. But I really can’t talk for more than a few minutes.”
“I heard you the first five times you told me that,” she replied.
Then why won’t you take the hint? I wondered.
We walked up to my apartment and went inside. Instantly, she seemed in a better mood. “Where’s your roommate?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Work.”
“I kind of thought you and I might be roommates someday, you know,” she said, walking around like she owned the place. She went into the kitchen and I followed her, my annoyance growing by the second.
“I don’t think us being roommates would be such a good idea.”
She turned suddenly, her eyes intense. “Why not?”
“Because, it’s usually not a good idea to live with someone of the opposite sex, especially not someone you…”
“Slept with? Fucked?”
I folded my arms. “Yeah. Exactly.”
“Oh.” She tossed her hair again and then went to my fridge and opened it. “You need to buy some more food, Justin.”
“Brooklyn, what the hell are you doing?”
She closed the fridge and gave me a sad face. “Why are you being so mean to me?”
“Because, I’m losing patience. I told you I don’t have time to screw around.”
“Oh, right. You’re going away on a trip.”
“That’s right.”
“Where to?”
“That’s none of your business. So what did you want to say?”
She glared at me. “Are you going with someone?”
“I’m not getting into this with you.”
“Why? What are you afraid of?”