Borrowing Amor

Katie stared at the two black trash bags sitting in front of her apartment door. Her heart sank. Not again. She’d been evicted before, but not in the middle of a Colorado winter. Even without paying her gas bill she had been warmer than what the streets could offer her. With a resolute step, Katie approached the apartment manager's door further down the hall. At the last second, she hesitated, then gave two short raps.

"Come in," a muffled voice called.

Katie pushed the door open and found Scarlett in the living room, bent over in the position of Downward Dog. A dangerously thin woman demonstrated the yoga pose on the TV behind her. Scarlett glanced at Katie, her brows crinkling, as if she had been expecting someone else. "Oh. It's you." She turned back to her exercise video.

Anger surged through Katie. The woman was kicking her out of her home in the middle of December and she had the audacity to continue on as if Katie didn’t matter. "What happened to the rest of my stuff, Scarlett?" she demanded.

Scarlett transitioned to Warrior One. "You're two months behind in your rent. I sold what I could to help recover my costs, which you agreed to when you signed the lease." She stood and faced Katie. Sweat beaded Scarlett’s brow. "Honestly, I didn't have much to work with. Not a single piece of furniture—not even a bed."

"I was only gone for the weekend. You could have waited and at least given me some warning. Besides, I told you, I have some money coming in."

"That's what you say every month. I can't afford to have an apartment occupied by someone who isn't paying."

The hostile approach wasn't working. Scarlett was used to dealing with bottom dwellers like Katie; she needed to approach the manager from a different angle.

Katie sighed and let her shoulders sag. She tucked her blond hair behind her ears. "I'm sorry, Scarlett. You're right. It's not your fault that I couldn't come up with the money." She collapsed onto a chair and mustered up a few tears. "It's just that it will be Christmas in two weeks, and if you could just wait until the new year—"

Scarlett snorted. "Don't try that on me." She stooped until her face was level with Katie's. Her expression was void of compassion and only held contempt. "Now get out or I'm calling the cops."

Katie shot to her feet so fast, Scarlett tripped backwards. She glanced at Katie, apprehensive, and pulled out a gun that had been concealed under the coffee table. Katie immediately retreated until she reached the front door. "I didn't mean any harm. I'm leaving." She turned and bolted back down the hallway to her apartment.

The two trash bags were so light, they had to contain mostly clothes. Katie dropped the bags next to her car, her hands still shaking from the encounter with Scarlett. She had learned to put on a good show, but if anyone knew how terrified of confrontation she was, they would eat her alive. Katie unlocked her car, but then glanced at the trash bags. Dread replaced her anger and she ripped one of the bags open. "Please say you didn't take it," she mumbled. She fished around in the sea of clothing until her hand brushed paper. She pulled out a ratty book and held it to her chest. Anna Karenina. It was the only book she had ever loved—her comfort, even on nights that included sleeping on a park bench.

Katie placed the book on the passenger seat and tossed the bags into the back of the car. Other than the book, the car was the only true possession she had in the world—the only thing she hadn't been able to give up. She had sold her soul rather than give up that car. It was her means of escape. When things got too hot, too rough, she left. She started over again. Until Colorado. Katie was stuck here, and it was time to go make another deal with the devil.

The car chugged to life and she made her way to the last place she’d thought she'd ever go—voluntarily, that is. The police station rolled into view and Katie parked a couple of streets down. She stared at it, hands gripping the steering wheel. After a few minutes she took out her burner phone and dialed the forbidden number. It was more of a 'don't call me, I'll call you' type of relationship. That was the only reason he’d given her the phone in the first place. But she didn't have a choice.

The phone rang so many times that Katie almost gave up. He picked up on the tenth ring.

"What do you think you're doing?" his gruff voice growled. His voice echoed, as if he were in a stairwell.

"I'm sorry," Katie said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "It's an emergency. I got evicted and have no place to go."

A pause.

"So?"

Katie's breath hitched. "That means I'm on the street, Teddy. I can't do your dirty work if I freeze to death out here."

"You're resourceful. You'll figure something out."

The same anger that had reared with Scarlett pulsed in her chest. "Did you hear me? I got nothin'. My apartment manager sold all my stuff. I'm not working for you anymore if you won't help me."

As soon as the words left her mouth, Katie clamped her lips shut. Stupid. She wished she could take it all back, tell him that she didn't mean it.

The damage was already done.

"We both know what will happen if you stop working for me," Teddy said. His voice was eerily calm, and it was more chilling than if he had screamed at her. "I'll text you when I need you next. In the meantime, don't get yourself killed."

The line went dead.

                                                                              * * * * *

Katie eased herself through a basement window and landed with a soft thud. A flashlight sprang to life, blinding her. It didn't waver, forcing her to cover her eyes. "Daniel, stop it. It's me."

"I know it's you," he said. "But you shouldn't be here."

She let out a heavy breath. "Everyone keeps telling me that today. My apartment manager kicked me out, Teddy doesn't want me coming to him—and now you."

The flashlight clicked off. Spots danced before Katie's eyes, so she kept them closed.

"You talked to Teddy?" Daniel asked.

Katie nodded. "Yeah, I misjudged the situation. I figured if he thought he might lose his money bank, he would help me find a place to crash."

Daniel let out a single barking laugh. "You thought Teddy would help you? He doesn't help anyone but himself."

Katie opened her eyes and took in the scrawny figure before her. Faint beams of sunlight illuminated his dusty blond hair. It was a lot shorter than it had been the last time she'd seen him. "Yeah, well, I'm sick of it. I didn't run away just to become someone else's puppet." She slid to the floor, her back to the cellar wall.

Daniel's arm slipped around her shoulders and she leaned into him. "Have you even kept track of how many times you've run?"

Katie rolled her eyes, but managed a small smile. "All of them."

"So, what do you need from me?"

Katie glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

"Come on," he said with a smile. "You only risk coming here when you need something."

Katie looked Daniel in the eyes. She couldn't trust him. But he was the closest thing she had to a friend in this miserable city. If he wouldn't help her, no one would. "I need a new ID."

Daniel pulled back in surprise. "What, you're running again?" he asked, his voice dropping to a whisper. "You can't run. Not anymore. If Teddy found out, he'd kill you."

"No, he'd have me arrested for all the crap he's had me pull. But at least I'd have a place to stay and three square meals," Katie said. "Either way, I'm better off because it will mean I'm not working for that scum anymore."

Daniel jumped to his feet. "You don't get it, do you? He. Will. Kill. You. You are a liability." Daniel shook his head. "How can you have spent so much time on the streets and still be so naive? You don't trust a single person, and yet you think he's just going to send you away to watch TV behind bars?"

Katie's heart dropped into her stomach. He was right. She stood. "Then you better make sure that fake ID is so good that he will never find me. Because I would rather be dead than work for that man another day."

She held Daniel's gaze until he looked away. "I hope you know what you're doing," he muttered. He turned to a blanket that covered some junk in the corner. When he whipped the blanket off, she realized the stuff it hid was anything but junk—it was state-of-the-art equipment.

"Where did you get that?" she whispered, impressed at Daniel's resourcefulness. When she saw his cocked eyebrow, she felt her cheeks heat up. In this line of business, everything was on a need-to-know basis, and this was definitely not something she needed to know.

"I've seen your other IDs," Daniel said, ignoring the question. "They were good. But we need to mix it up a little." He flipped some switches and the machine came to life.

"What do you mean?"

"You've always had a drastically different name on your IDs." Daniel pulled out an old laptop. "Teddy will be expecting, and looking for, that. We're just going to change the last name, and tweak things like your age. It will make it harder for him to track you down."

For the first time, panic settled in. She had been on the run from cops before, but not from someone like Teddy. Not a dirty cop. He had resources and didn't worry about protocol. "How long do I have until he realizes I'm gone?"

Daniel glanced up from his laptop. "I need a couple hours for the ID. You should split town right after that. You'll have a few hours at best. He uses informants to keep track of his 'workers.'"

"Have you ever done work for him?"

Daniel studied Katie for a moment before allowing his gaze to drop back to his computer screen. "Go drive around and act normal," he said, once again ignoring her probing questions. "I work better alone, and it might buy you some more time."

With a single nod, Katie climbed out the window. She drove to a park and wandered over to a picnic table where she opened Anna Karenina. Normally, it was her escape. She would get lost in the story, blocking out all the crap going on in her life. But not today. Her heart wasn't in it. And for a brief moment, she wondered if she was going to end up like Anna. Broken and defeated.