A Different Turn to Make (Alvis and Malice)

Murphy just nodded adn grabbed a bottle from the top shelf of the bar. It was a rich amber colour, and Harrison saw that the label was not written in english. It wqas a strange foreign scrawl, but he had an idea of what it might be when Murphy poured the shot with an almost reverent care. A whiskey so rarely taken from Ireland that the labels were written in the native language. Murphy slid the glass to Heidi with a nod.

"So talk to me about Tug." Harrison said, tearing his gaze away from the shot.
"Tugger is a simple one. If ye want a moment for him, then you might wait 'till tonight. He'll be gettin' a refill on his smokes, and does it alone. If the lass can keep the seller away fer a spell, ye can get yer opening." Murphy explained. Harrison nodded, and looked over t Heidi.
"What do you think? Something you can manage to pull off?"

Grateful, Heidi took the shot. But she didn’t down it. She sipped it. She liked her liquor but she could never down one fully. That hurt too much and she didn’t care to have burn holes in her esophagus. As she drank slowly, she listened to Murphy and Harrison talk, subtly taking her compact out of her purse to do a touch up on her make up. She finished her shot, savoring the lasting burn of the nectar and appreciating it, before reapplying her harlot red lipstick. She then took out a stick of lip gloss and applied a light coat on top of her red lips to give a necessary shine. Popping her lips, she shut the compact and glanced to Harry. “Yup.” She nodded. “Just buy me some liquor later tonight to make it up to me.” She said matter-of-factly, depositing her compact back in her purse.

“I’ll need it.” There were two ways she could approach the seller. But it depended what kind of seller it was. If it was a convenience store clerk, she couldn’t act cracked out. But if it was a drug seller, then she could. And if that didn’t work...well the seduction technique wouldn’t work because that would be too desperate. Some drug sellers didn’t like that. She’d figure it out along the way. Heidi would know once she got a look at the creep.

Murphy noted that she was nursing the shot, and nodded in approval. You didn't just hammer away a drink like that. He'd tossed people out of the bar for that kind of thing.
"Then it sounds like ye have yer plan lad. Idle some time away either here or on the move. But here be where ye find him." Murphy slid a post it note to Harrison, adn he checked out the address. Not hard to get to. Harrison finished off his beer and stood up.
"I'm going to go check out the car. Do whatever you want int he meantime." He told Heidi, heading for the door, not paying her any further attention.

He found the car. It wasn't much to look at. Dusty, a few dents, and looking like something out of the seventies. He sighed, adn popped the hood, looking at it. He smiled then. She might not look like much, but she had it where she counted. Large block, looking like it had been modified for extra power. Gideon had given him access to a fine tool. He closed the hood.
"Like what ya see?" A man asked from under the car next to him.
"Uh, yeah. Who are you?" Harrison asked.
"Mechanic! Keep Gideon's fleet tuned! And don't you worry none about your ride there!" THe man slid out from under the car, revealing a lean, squirrely looking man with grease stained on his face and hands. He reached out and pat the door of the car Harrison had been looking t. "My girl here might not be the prettiest girl at the dance, but she'll put out just second you ask!" Harrison snorted, adn had to chuckle at the sheer cheek of the man. He could like this mechanic.

Heidi watched Harrison and she nodded her head. “Have fun Harry. Miss you.” She pouted, adding more definition to her already red and plump lips by doing so. She never really knew she could have so much fun messing with a man. It was one thing to mess with a girl when she was spread and waiting so eagerly for Heidi to give her release and show mercy. It was another thing entirely to mess with a man like Harrison Trenton, finding those pure blissful moments of satisfaction and clarity when he had that momentary stump. She couldn’t really think of anything better.

That’s not true. She could. But she wasn’t going to.

Turning to Áedán, Heidi cleared her throat. “Do you have any ideas of exactly what kind of seller Tug goes to?”

Áedán nodded at Heidi's words.
"Aye. Buys only from the one man, seller of the finest of mixed smokes. Bit o' the weed, top shelf tobacco, as well as blue lotus and salvia. Tugger thinks it makes him more a man, less a thug to buy from one who answers to Viper direct. But he still be a two-penny thug. Be watchin' yerself anywhere around him. Right 'ard bastard he is." Áedán took a pull at his beer. "The seller be a proper sort of gentleman. Makes a tidy sum in his trade, and Viper keeps him about to give her an air of respectability. Because he moves in the circles he does, be careful with this one lass. He be a bad enemy to make." Áedán point out to her.

"Is she a marked car? Cops looking for it at all?" Harrison asked.
"Nah, not one bit! Shes clean, past a speedin' ticket! But you take care of this here girl! She's a winner you know!" The mechanic demanded. Harrison nodded.
"I'll keep her safe. Safe as I can. I'll treat her like family."
"Good enough for me! Now, you excuse me. I gotta get back to this." He rolled himself back under the car. Harrison went back towards the pub. While thjey mainly served booze, he knew that there was a small kitchen to make people terrible for you greasy food. And he could use a little something right now.

"Murph, Anders still tucked away in the back?" Harrison asked as he came back inside.
"Aye. Want somethin'?" Murphy replied.
"Surprise me. Something solid to get me through the day." Murphy nodded, and went intot he back for a few minutes. Harrison sat back down at the bar, waiting for word on his food, or anything else that might help him on the job.

Heidi listened, intrigued as he explained about this seller. The seller seemed like an interesting sort of man. A sort of gentleman in the trade? She didn’t believe it one bit. There was no such thing as a gentleman.

Pursing her lips a little, Heidi tilted her head and nodded it slowly. “Interesting.” She drawled. “Thank you.” She kissed his cheek and turned slowly, finding Harrison sitting down again. “Excuse me, Áedán.” She said kindly before turning her attention to her new partner in crime. “For clarification Harry, is our target Tugger or his seller?” For once she wasn't trying to start anything. When it came to business with Gideon, she took it serious. For the most part. Sometimes around Harrison, she couldn't help herself. But right now, her butt was on the line. She was on thin ice with Gideon but she was determined and she would not fail.

Harrison looked back to Heidi, weighing her words, seeing if there was anything more to them that might be cause for annoyance. And there really wasn't. That was surprising.
"Tug. Tug is the target. The dealer though, can complicate things. Viper doesn't much care what happens outside of her sphere, but the dealer sounds like he's in her sphere. So if he blows a whistle, raises a fuss, then she's going to go batshit. All of us involved dying would be the best case outcome. So he needs to not blow the whistle. We also can't hurt him. So...that part is on you apparently, so please, for love o Gods, don't fuck this thing up? Okay? For yourself if nothing else." He sighed. "I know asking you to give a shit is a lot to ask, but I'm still asking it. Neither of us are going to go anywhere in this shit storm if we don't keep breathing."

Áedán paused as Harrison talked to Heidi. There was a lot of animosity there, he could tell that easily enough. he wasn;t sure exactly why it was there, what exactly that had passed between them to have them at one another so readily. Or perhaps it was what hadn't passed between them that was the source of everything. It was hard to tell. He'd see how it went, but he was also her driver, and that also meant he was in place to make sure that nothing untoward happened to her when he was on the clock. Grown woman or not, there was a lmit to what could be allowed to pass. Of course, he wasn't really on the clock at the moment, so she was more vulnerable to circumstances than she might be otherwise. Still he had a limit to what he would endure.

She was a bit surprised as well. Not because she asked the question, though it did have the potential of being looked at as a stupid question since Gideon had just briefed them. But she needed to confirm because she had a specific role to this. And that role was where Tug’s seller was involved. Someone had to keep the supposed gentleman occupied while Harrison got to Tug. And as long as one was distracted, it should be easy. Unless of course Tug had a militia of men in case of something like this.

“I got it Harrison. That’s why I asked. I’ll take care of his dealer and you can go for Tug. That will be your in.” She told him. “You don’t have to reiterate to me what’s at stake.” She wanted to say more but Áedán was right there. She kind of didn’t want him to witness just how far she could go in a verbal spat with Harrison. Hell, no one should have to witness it. That was something done between them without witnesses. Although perhaps there should be witnesses. In case he came to his senses and decided to kill her. That could be quite merciful on his part.

“Are we going anytime soon?”

Harrison sighed as Murphy came back out, set a plate down in front of harrison with a fork. Harrison smiled. Boxtys. Perfect.
"Thanks Murph." he said quickly before digging in. Anders was not easily persuaded to cook anything out of normal hours, or to part with food already made. But it was worth the effort when it happened. But Heidi was still talking, and he knew he should at least give her an answer. "Deal aint going down until dark Heidi, and no offense, but I'm not really planning on staking out a spot in a car beside you for five hours or so. Call me crazy like that." He told her, going back to his plate. "See about some food for yourself, or take a nap somewhere, or whatever the hell else you normally get up to." Harrison tucked into the plate again.

He wasn't sure how this was all goign to shake out. He'd seen Tug fight before, and the guy was a seriously tough customer. Short fuse maybe, but Harrison wasn't sure he'd really fought people tougher than Tug. Or if there were people tougher than Tug. It was goign to be an interesting night to say the least.

For a moment, blood rushed to her cheeks. “Oh.” Was all she said before she turned away from him. She looked down at the bar and then around. She was not hungry. And anyways, she wouldn’t eat greasy bar food. Otherwise she would be of no use tonight. “I’ll go for a walk.” She said simply, standing up from the bar and slipping out of the pub.

She took out her pack of cigarettes and slipped one between her fingers, lighting it and taking a walk over to the docks, the same docks where several murders took place. She oddly imagined how her murder would go.

Harrison kept eating. What Heidi did was her business. He coudl feel Áedán staring at him, and ignored it as long as he could.
"What is it big guy?" Harrison finally asked.
"The lady is going for a walk. In the docks district. Does that strike ye as safe?" Áedán asked.
"Nope. But she can make her own call. I'm not her fucking keeper."
"Are ye not?"
"Not until I'm on the job. She gets herself fucked up or killed before the job starts, then I guess I'm working alone tonight." Áedán growled a moment, but got up. He couldn't actualyl fault Harrison, it was a similar line of logic to his own earlier, but it still bothered him that he'd abandon someone he was supposed to be working with later on to whatever fate the Docks offered. Áedán head out the door.

"Well now boys, what have we here?" A voice behind Heidi announced. It was a small mob of young men, five of them, and they were grinning at Heidi as they saw her. And none of them looked like they wished well of her.

Heidi turned around slowly, exhaling a deep drag taken from her cigarette. There was a faint breeze, strong enough to make some tendrils of platinum blonde hair escape from the tightness of her ponytail. She tilted her head, not even a flicker of fear resonant in her icy gaze. “Is that rhetorical?” She asked. “Because no one answered. What you have here is a woman. Smoking a cigarette. There is nothing special or outrageously unique about that.” She took in another drag, a deep one, plume of smoke escaping from her nose before she exhaled out the rest from her mouth. “Do you want me afraid big guy?” She drawled, a slow smile forming on her face, barely restraining the madness within her gaze.

Yes, she was that fucking insane.

The lead man just smirked.
"First mistake was to assume I'd asked you a damn thing bitch. Pat, what do we got here?" He asked the shortest of hteir group.
"Sounds like an uppity bitch to me." He answered.
"And what do we do with uppity bitches?"
"Bend them over pilings and fuck 'em bloody usually. Hen usually roll 'em inot the water, or take 'em back to the club and see how long they last with all of us at once."
"Sounds good to me, eh boys?" There was a rumble of agreement.

The next rumbling sound was from off to their left, between them and Heidi.
"Enjoying yer smoke lass?" Áedán asked her, not acknowledging the existence of the others. The leader of the group paused, taking in the size and look of Áedán.
"Oh, um, Áedán, is she yours?" He asked. Áedán just growled at him. "Right, fucking off now, see you around big guy!" The crew left, not really at a run, but certainly faster than a normal walk. Áedán approached Heidi.

"'tis not safe here lass. Ye shouldnae be comin' this far from the pub alone." He pointed out to her.

Her eyes rolled so hard, they could have been jammed upward into her sockets and never come undone. Well that would have been one way to make these guys run away. Flip her eyeball upward and pretend to be a zombie who was ready to feast on their flesh. She could have done it too but her eyeballs didn’t jam that way in her sockets.

Instead, she continued pulling deep drags from her cigarette. These boys talked too much. They seemed like the kind of terrifying guys who could actually put fear in her heart again but they talked more than acted. And naturally, because they were more talkers than action-goers their plan was flawed and never lived through. Her favorite Irishman came.

Heidi only smiled. “I am, thank you Áedán.” She pulled a final drag from her cigarette before flicking it Darien’s way, just before he and his goobers ran off. Yes, she was allowed to feel like a badass because Áedán basically saved her ass. Though she likely would have still done it before Darien and his goobers made good on their threats.

With a faint shrug of her shoulders, she looked up at him. “I think you’d be the only one to miss me Áedán and even then, I think that’s stretching quite a bit. But thanks for looking out for me. You shouldn’t have to though.” She gave him a pat to his shoulder. “Come on, we’ll go back into the pub. I suppose.” She sighed, offering a small smile as if she was so put out but really not. He did have a point. If she could only care.

Áedán heard her out, wanted to contradict her, but had the impression that he'd be wasting his time on it. She ahd a strange sense of fatalism that he knew that nothing he was doing was going to shake her out of that outlook. Too much had happened to her in her life, enough that it would take something sudden to shake her out of it. If anything ever did. And as much as Áedán did enjoy seeing her, it wasn't his place to tell her how to live her life.
"S'no great problem to look out for ye lass. Long as ye be workin' fer Gideon, good odds ye'll have me about. Long as ye'll have me anyway." Áedán told her calmly, knowing that Gideon tended to have people stick with a given task until it was no longer needed. The familiarity with thigns tended to get better results, and if it seemed like the person was suffering a loss of loyalty to Gideon, well, then a simple test of said loyalty could result in knowing exactly how far you could push an employee.

He did lead her back to the pub.

Harrison whiled away his time, getting himself as ready as he was ever going to be to do this. He was going to be counting on Heidi, adn that was not something he thought well of, not with what little he knew about her. But time was passed, and it was showtime.
"Right then Heidi. Cars outside, let's roll." He said with as much courage as he could muster. Piling into the vehicle, he got it started, listening to the satisfying rumble of a big block engine. Letting out a slow breath to keep calm, he put the car in gear, and pulled away from the pub.

They would be at the meeting place, where things were suppose to go down, in a few more minutes.
"So you got a plan to keep your side of the bargain busy? I don't know how long this is going to take with Tug. He's a fucking hard bastard, so I don't know I can bring him down fast or not." He asked, wanting to get an idea of how much this might come down to the wire.

“I would never turn you away.” He was probably the first decent male human being she had met. More than decent. Now she could believe it if someone said Áedán was a gentleman. Well, she’d believe it a lot more than he telling her this dealer was a gentleman. Perhaps she’d find out for herself soon enough. Walking back into the pub, she stood by where Harrison was, nodding her head. “Let us be off then. Bye Murphy.” She waved to him, deciding to have singled him out for no apparent reason. Either she was losing it or she was pacing herself for what she had to do. Even she really didn’t know but she didn’t show that. She felt confident she could do this. But she wasn’t about to wear that confidence so obviously, lest she fail.

Settling back in the car, she could appreciate the interior and the rumble of a loud feline purr that it made as Harrison took off. After buckling, she sat back, tapping the edge of the window sill with her finely manicured finger nails. White french tips, ombre’d to give it this snowy look and finish, shaped into claws. It was one of her signatures, aside from her icy eyes and platinum blonde hair.

Glancing to Harrison, she nodded her head slowly. “I think so. Áedán told me he is supposedly a gentleman. There are three ways I can go about this. It’s just a matter of feeling him out.” She said softly. “Is big Dirty Harry scared?” She mocked a pout. She just couldn’t help herself. She found him to be perhaps the most beautiful male she had ever seen--now just one of after meeting Áedán--and was repulsed by how her body reacted when she was near him. As if she didn’t just have a lady boner for women but for this…man. She hated that more than anything and (un)fortunately took it out on Harrison because it made her feel better.

Harrison bit back a response. He kenw he was on edge if he was this close to giving Heidi the snap she was fishing for.
"Look, Tug is a bastard. A straight fight, I don't think I'd win it. I've seen him in action a couple of times, and he's the only guy I know that I'd bet on every time, when he's wading in outnumbered four to one. He's got no skills, but he's quick, he's fast, and he doesn't go down easy. And...well, you'd better hope I win. If I don't, then there's every chance neither of us walk away from this. He might not kill you, but he might leave you not able to ever walk again. If he's nice about it." Harrison admit. It wasn't his normal style, but frankly, the best way of beating Tug was with a gun at fifty yards. In the absence of that, he'd have to try adn work something out to be a bit more crafty than usual.

Harrison pulled the car up to the curb, shuttign it down, adn blowing out a long breath. He nodded forward. There were two men standing under a street light. One of them was well dressed, crisply pressed dress shirt and slacks, a tie, his stance ramrod straight, and even from this distance the shine on his shoes was visible. The other man was not anything like him. Taller, broader, and wearing jeans and a wife beater with a knit hat on. Harrison sighed.
"Well, you go draw the dealer off. I'll do my part as soon as I can." He advised her.

He was actually nervous. It was hard to believe that Harrison Trenton could be afraid of anything or nervous. Even more surprising that there could be an opponent he was not entirely confident about in actually vanquishing. That actually had Heidi speechless, just enough to be able to nod her head and swallow whatever sarcastic remark that might have been on the tip of her tongue. She looked at him with perhaps the most sincerity she had ever shown him. She might not be opposed to dying--or losing her legs--but perhaps there were actual people out there, like Harrison, that didn’t want to die just yet. “I won’t let you down.” She said it quickly but loud enough to hold weight behind its meaning, so he wouldn’t miss it but hopefully he wouldn’t make her repeat it because being this sincere was a lot for her to do in front of Harrison.

After he pulled up to the curb, she pulled the mirror down and looked at her reflection. She untied her platinum blonde hair and ran her fingers through it to make it relaxed but still shapely and elegant, like she hadn’t just untied her hair. She pulled her purse over her shoulder and looked to Harrison. “Just...leave if it is complete, even if I am not with you. I’ll find my way.” She offered a wink before getting out of the car. She had the two men in sight and started walking in that general direction.

Heidi began to fish through her purse, pulling out a cigarette and her lighter. After putting the cigarette butt between her lips, she fumbled with the lighter and on cue as she planned in her mind--well really she was just kind of winging at this moment--she tripped and the lighter slipped out of her hands, and fell into the drain vent. Her cigarette almost dropped from her mouth as actual surprise registered on her face and in her icy eyes. “Shit.” She whispered. By now she was standing just a few paces away from both of them men.

Running her hand through her hair, she pulled the cigarette from her mouth and cleared her throat. “Either of you fine gentleman have a light for a gal?” She asked politely and kindly, her eyes actually smiling.

Both men eyed Heidi as she spoke, each in a different way. One eyed her like a piece of meat at auction, something that could be purchased and bought. The other evaluated her like a person, a potential client. The better dressed man reached into his pocket, and pulled a small, compact lighter out, a small, controlled flame coming fron it. It was likem a small butane torch, a straight flame lighter.
"As teh lady might need." He said smoothly, no trace of irony in his voice. "Until next time sir?" He asked the other man. Tug nodded, adn walked away, leaving the two people to their own small drama to play out.

Tug was walking confidently away, lighting his smnokoe. Far more than simple tobacco there, but he was casual in his movements. Tugger moved away fromt eh light, and towards a car that was parked byt he road. It was a classic mustang, a beautiful vehicle, clearly a labour of love on the part of the owner. He as almost to the vehicle when he felt like there was something else at play, like he was being watched.

Harrison stepped forward, praying against all hope that Heidi could handle her end of the deal. If not, he was done and screwed. But that was another issue. Right now he had a simple problem. Dealing with a mn that was tougher than he had any business being.
"The fuck you want?" Tugger managed to say before he felt a hard fist hammer into his face. Harrison was not wasting time, not wanting to give Tug a chance to rally his senses. If he gave it that chance, he was doomed, and he knew it. Tug was a hard bastard, too hard by half. And Harrison was goign to win this, if it was the last thing he did. As Tug rounded to throw a punch of his own, Harrison landed another blow to the face, staggering the man, followed by a brutal pair of hits to the torso, hitting kidney and ribs with the blows. When a fist landed on his forehead, Harrison felt like he'd been hit with a hammer.

He staggered back, Tugger rallying under the assault, and coming up with his arms in a standard boxing guard to keep his chest adn face safe. Harrison didn't falter, and swung into his leg and stomach, making hard hits ith all the force he could muster. A part of him wished he'd had a gun, just able to shoot Tugger and move on. But he was stuck with what he had, just sheer brawn and balls. Harrison managed to avoid a swing that would have broken his nose, and reply with a hammer blow to the chest. Tug actually staggered under the blow, adn Harrison swung again, piling on the pressure. Tug took a few saage blows that would likely have laid low a lesser man. But Tug was a graduate fromo the school of hard knocks, and took took the hits. When he landed a blow on Harrison, it was like being his witha bar of iron. Harrison had to do a double take, making sure tha Tug wasn't wearing brass knuckles or the like, but no, it was just sheer strength adn experience. He began to wonder if he was going to make it out of this on top. But he had to. Gideon was counting on him, and on some level, even Heidi was. There was no doubt that Heidi would catch hel from the Pin if this got back to him. Harrison had to win this. And fast.

A soft smile came over her face replacing whatever feigned embarrassment she applied. Leaning toward the torch, she pressed the tip of the cigarette into and inhaled until a fine cherry red glowed. Pulling back, she exhaled, her gaze lingering on the finely dressed man as opposed to even noticing the brutish one that soon walked away. “Thank you.”

Turning just a smidge, she faced the dealer. “What do you do, if I might ask?” She asked, making idle conversation.
“Take a wild guess.”
“Something about certain substances that you can’t find in a common shop.”
“You’re getting rather warm.”
“I hit the nail on the head.”
“True, but if I were to say you’re piping hot, that could be misconstrued as something both unwarranted and unwanted.”

Heidi smiled and pulled a deep drag from her cigarette before exhaling a thick plume of smoke, for a cigarette that is. It was no cigar after all. “How much?”
“That would depend on how much you want.”
“What will fifty dollars get me?”
“One hit.” He said softly, his lips lifting up at the corners in a controlled smirk. “This isn’t cheap or low quality.”
“And two hundred?”
“A bowl.”
“That’s fine by me. A sample is all I need to test if your goods are as good as they come.”

The transaction was solid, done smoothly and without a hitch. And soon he left without looking back or anywhere else. Shoving the sample in her purse, Heidi flicked the cigarette butt away and walked out of the hidden corner, coming up closer and closer to Harrison’s grand fight.

He didn’t stand a chance. “Bored now.” She hummed to herself, pulled out a small hand pistol and aimed. She wasn’t a crack shot or anything but the target wasn’t far away. And Harry here looked like he could use some saving for once.

Once Tug’s back was turned to her direction, she lifted the barrel and pulled the trigger and watched with deep satisfaction as the bullet embedded into the back of his head. Smiling to herself, she touched the gun back into her purse and walked forward, making a show of distaste as she stepped over Tug’s lifeless body. “Hi Harry.” She beamed. “I’m bored. Can we go now?”

Harrison heard that sound, the flat crack of a small caliber gun going off. There werenèt many of them being used by anyone these days, stopping power being preferred almost to the exclusion of all else. When Tug staggered towards him a moment, and then fell, Harrison looked up to see Heidi standing there, tucking a small gun away. There was a knot of ice in Harrison gut as she spoke. Heidi had shot Tugger. He looked at the fallen man, then back at her as she groused about being bored.
"Do you...no, of course you don't. Jesus H Christ, you are fucking insane, and you're dragging everyone down with you." Harrison ran his hands back through his hair, trying to reckon this new problem. He started to pace away from the body, looking to get distance.

"Tug was muscle Heidi, serious muscle. And he had a whole crew lined up behind him. And they're going to be looking for what happened here. For me. And you." Harrison felt his panic fading, and it was rapidly being replaced by anger. "You stupid bitch! This is all a fucking joke to you, isn't it? A big fucking game for you to play at with your rich bitch money. And just fuck everyone who has to live with it." The anger was shifting in him, swarming in him, trying to find another outlet, something to do that didn't involve wrapping his hand around Heidi's throat and crushing hte life out of her. Right then, it seemed like a fine idea, but he knew it'd only complicate things farther. Still, he stepped forward, grabbing the collar of her shirt, and all but throwing her at the car they'd come in.

"Get the fuck int he car. We have to go. Now." He growled at her, knowing that he was still riding some of hte fight high, and that he was a lot closer to violent action than usual.

Her smile was replaced with something cold, lined with malice. Her lips remained turned up in a smile but it was more sadistic, as reflected by the craze in her eyes. “You’re learning. About time, Harry.” She didn’t seem bothered. In fact, a lot might have been discombobulated when Gideon whacked her across the face with his pool cue. She realized it now. It was reconfirmation. She didn’t care to live and she didn’t care who died with her. She wasn’t such a coward that she’d take her own life. Sometimes she felt she was since it felt simpler to slit her wrists and be done with this world. But she was going to go out with a bang and she didn’t care about the collateral. She stopped feeling a long time ago and not even the very coordinated and organized fucks with girls changed that. It was a momentary high. Like a cigarette.

And if she kept smoking until she died of lung cancer, that was plan B. So far, no one had given her a reason for anything to change.

But seeing Harry this angry when she saved his life, that wasn’t expected. She expected him to be grateful, to maybe swoop her up in his arms and lay a big fat wet one on her lips. Ugh, now she went back to hating him all over again. So much for expecting anything. She knew better. Expectations only led to disappointment. And by the way he grabbed her by the collar of her shirt like she was potentially a twig he could snap, she’d wager he was more disappointed than she was.

Catching her balance, Heidi straightened her blouse and got into the car. She buckled up and sighed, running her hand over her sleek blonde hair but not relieving it from its ponytail. “Honestly, you could have just said ‘Thank you for saving my life, Heidi.’” She shook her head, clearly put off by his lack of gratitude. “Or...perhaps this will teach you that I should be briefed with more details. I don’t expect that from Gideon but I do expect it from you if we’re going to work together.” She said it so casually, berating him, like she was chatting about the weather, all the while looking at her nails to inspect the freshness of her manicure hadn’t been marred by wielding a dangerous gun.

“Ugh, I chipped a nail. Sue is going to kill me after her fine work.” And just like that, she was over whatever impending doom she had created and onto more finer, yet tedious smaller things.

Listening to her whine as they dove made Harrison's blood boil. There were very few things in the world that bothered him more than a rich pain in the ass griping about stupid shit that didn't matter even in the smaller scheme of things. His hands were tight on the wheel, a growing urge to let go of hte wheel and just backhand Heidi inth e face. And likely more than once. But he knew if he started swinging at her, he'd likely kill her before he managed to catch himself. And killing her would only compound the problem that he faced. Gideon was going to want answers for this night. And if Harrison didn't have the one responsible on hand, it was going to go even worse for him.

"Gods, just shut up you idiotic cunt." Harrison finally breathed out, finding that her bitching about her nails was the final straw in his book. He jerked the wheel of the car, pulling down a side street, bringing them into a more remote section of the docks. The dock area was vast, and dangerous in most cases. But Harrison was driving a car that nhad been given to him by Gideon, and that meant people working the docks knew better than to give the people in it trouble. As he jammed on the brakes, he reached out adn got a hold of Heidi's hair, shoving her foreward to hit her forehead off the dash of the car.

Loosing a string of curses, Harrison got out of the car. He rounded to her side, adn pulled the door open, dragging her out of hte vehicle. His fist was clenched, and he almost swung at her, all of his dislike and frustration coming to the fore. He was going to have to do something about it. He knew that he was not going to be physically capable of making much more of a drive with her in close proximity. His hand released her arm that he hauled her out by and switched to wrap around her neck. He tightened his hand, fighting the urge to finish clenching his hand, to see if he could crush her neck completely.
"I should fucking end you. Save Gideon the trouble." He hissed at her. His hand tightened farther. "But I already know he'd tell me that you're not mine to kill." He shoved her away from him, letting her start to fall back on the car. His hand dropped to her blouse as she was moving away, and gripped, the momentum pulling hte garment open, buttons flying free in the night air. "But you are mine to punish." He hissed, following her to the car, keeping close to her. He was going to find some way to get this storm out of his system.

Her eyes actually widened and they were pretty wide to begin with. She turned her head toward him slowly, a menacingly dark glare on her face. “Excuse me?” She had the audacity to bite out. The car had stopped but she missed the jerk with the way he spoke to her. And next she knew, her forehead slammed against the dashboard and she let out a loud groan, her hands clutching it. “That’s going to bruise!” She couldn’t have any imperfections. It would ruin the entire facade!

Heidi watched as Harrison rounded the car and pulled her out. Naturally, her flippant chatter didn’t cease. “Hey! Hey! Watch the blouse! It’s Chanel!” But he didn’t care. Not that she expected him to but for a man with an appreciation for fine liquor, surely he could understand her appreciation for fine designer clothing. Not the case at all.

Arm released, she stumbled back, breaking the heel on her shoe in fact and caught her balance on the hood of the car. She looked down in shock at what he had just done but before she could yell at him for breaking her Manolos, his hand found her throat and it wasn’t the kind of playful thing. He actually squeezed and for that very moment, she seriously got a taste of his strength. Heidi gasped. There it was, the look in her eyes. No longer hate or disdain but actual fear. Just for a moment before she gathered her wits as he released her back against the car. He was not going to control her. No one controlled her. Not anymore. “I am not yours, anything!” She hissed. “And don’t you dare think you can control anything of me.”

All other words of fight were lost on her tongue when he actually ripped her blouse open. She flinched a moment, avoiding the flying buttons when it suddenly occurred to her that she had no barriers protecting her. “I am not yours to punish.” She bit out, pulling her blouse closed. “This was Chanel! It costs more than you could ever wish to make to feed your pathetic family.”

There were not too many thigns that set Harrison off, not completely. His sister was one of them, and the scorn that Heidi was showing to his family in general was enough to escalate things farther. He'd had the idea of just having her stripped to her lingerie and making her walk in front of the car as a way of humiliating her, but now it seem like that was likely to cut it anymore.

His hand came around in a full extension slap that caught her on the left side of her face. It wasn't often that Harrison hit someone like that without some kind of holding back. He had a good view of her head wrenching to one side, had every thought that to a pampered little princess like her it would be like getting hit with a club. His hand caught her hair again, this time shoving her forward, letting her hips hit the hood of the car, and bend her over it. He heard the muffled thump as her forehead hit the hood of the car.

There were certain things that Harrison typically didn't indulge in, lines he didn't cross. He hadn't killed anyone before, beaten them almost unrecognizable, sure, but never outright ended a life. He'd never felt so angry that he was ready to do what he was building up to with Heidi, but the farther along he went with this, the more it was becoming inevitable. There were a very few things he could think of to make sure that Heidi knew exactly what her place in this kind of working relationship was, and he had the hunch that only the most primitive of them was going to work on her. And he was going to make sure of it.

With a hand tangled in her hair, his free hand gripped the back of her blouse, and pulled it back off of her body. There was no regard to preserving the fabric, or her body from the action, and it wasn't likely to be a pleasant thing to have happen for her, especially if she tried to fight it, but the material came free, and he tossed it aside onto the ground.