1
I'm Not a Bad Guy
Savannah
Two months ago…
Iwheeledouroversizedgarbage can along the side of the house, intent to beat the sunset. Thanks to a mist-like drizzle, the air was especially humid. I heard a vehicle splashing through the puddles in the street. As I maneuvered the bin onto the driveway, I saw a black BMW sedan parked cock-eyed in the drive. A well-dressed man stood next to the front quarter panel of the car.
I moved the trash can in front of me. It made for a lousy line of defense, but it was better than nothing, since I’d left my cell phone inside.
He moved closer. This man stood a couple inches taller than me, had quite a bit of bulk, though he also had a gut. The overcast sky was dimming quickly as dusk gave way to nightfall. He wore dark, aviator-style sunglasses, which not only made me uneasy, but considering the lack of sunshine, they also seemed pretentious, though the glasses went well with his crisp, charcoal gray dress pants and his short-sleeved black polo shirt. He had brown hair, cut close on the sides and parted to the left up top. His chiseled cheeks sported a five o’clock shadow. If it weren’t for how uneasy he made me feel, I might find him attractive.
I opened my mouth to ask if he was lost, but he spoke first. “Heard your mother died.”
Seeing as Mom had passed away one month and ten days ago, I found that opener to be abrupt, forward, and incredibly rude.
I tried to control my rising temper. “May I ask who you are?”
A dark brow rose from behind his sunglasses. “Surprised you don’t know. I’m Frank Darren.”
My mind tripped over his first statement. I’d never seen this man in my life, why would he think I should know him?
I powered onward. “And how did you know my mother?”
A small grin tipped up his lips. “We did business together.”
I cocked my head to the side. “You work at the—”
“I’m not a coworker of hers. She took out a loan with me. A very sizable loan.”
“Well, I’m sorry to hear that, but now that she’s gone, there’s no more money to be had. Even her credit card companies forgave—”
“Save it, Savannah. In my line of work, her debt is now your debt.”
I gripped the metal bar on the backside of the trash bin to steady my nerves. “That’s ridiculous. Besides, I’ve been through her bank account, she didn’t have any large sums of money stashed away. How much could she possibly owe you?”
His arm snaked behind his waist, and he yanked an envelope out of his back pocket. “She took out a loan for thirty-five thousand dollars.”
My eyes went wide while my stomach felt like it had dropped to my ankles. That couldn’t be right. Hell, I didn’t even make that much money in a year! Mom earned about forty-two grand, but she was gone.
My brain latched onto that fact and kicked my mouth into gear. “Mom died over a month ago. You can’t get money out of a dead person,” I cried.
A smarmy grin slid across Frank’s lips. He pulled off his sunglasses, revealing cunning brown eyes. “That’s true… for normal debt. This isn’t normal, Savannah. I need my money, and bein’ your momma’s daughter and knowin’ what your Daddy does—”
At the mention of my dad, I couldn’t stop myself from interjecting, “Before the funeral, I hadn’t talked to Dad in years! He hasnothingto do with me.”
Malice flared in his eyes at my interruption, and he continued as if I hadn’t spoken, “That meansyougotta pay up. What’s hers is now yours.”
Mom had done drugs in the past. It was how she and Dad met, but she’d cleaned up her act when I was seven and my sister, Catalina, was in the womb. Which was part of why she and Dad split. He opted to get dirtier by fencing stolen property.
I couldn’t imagine why she owed Frank Darren thirty-five thousand dollars.
I felt trembles moving through my body. “I don’t have that kind of money, Frank!”
He sauntered up the drive at an angle. I stood immobile, realizing too late that I should have shifted to the other side of the trash can.
He eyed me up and down. “Hot piece like you, I’m sure you can figure something out.”
