Chapter Fifteen: Shadows and Sparks
Kim stepped out of the black SUV, adjusting her coat as the driver pulled away. The back alley was quiet — too quiet — but she didn't flinch. She was the kind of woman who didn't run from shadows.
She'd insisted on meeting the anonymous tipster alone. That was her rule: control everything, trust no one.
But something was off.
Her heels clicked against the concrete as she walked toward the abandoned warehouse. A message had led her here — promising information about Monika and why she was targeting her again. The closer she got, the more the air changed. It was thick… with setup.
A shadow moved.
Kim spun instantly, pulling a small taser from her coat, but before she could raise it—
"Behind you," a voice warned.
She turned to see Kelly emerge from the shadows. Calm, ready. His presence was like iron — steady, immovable.
"You followed me?" she asked, heart pounding, but she refused to show it.
Kelly walked past her, eyes sweeping the dark around them. "No. I got here before you."
Kim frowned. "How?"
"Because you're predictable when you're trying not to be," he said, voice low. "And you're not as alone as you think."
Before she could answer, a man stepped from the warehouse. Another from behind a dumpster.
Kelly was already moving. He shoved Kim aside, just as the first man rushed with a pipe. A short fight. Kelly handled it clean, efficient. Kim helped too — she wasn't helpless — but when it was over, she leaned against the wall, shaken more than she wanted to admit.
"Are you hurt?" Kelly asked.
She shook her head. "Just pissed."
He smirked. "You get that look when you lose control."
Kim stared at him. "You're not my bodyguard."
"I know," he said. "But maybe you should have one."
---
The Next Day
Caramel leaned against the doorframe of Kim's office, arms folded. "He saved you?"
Kim barely looked up. "I don't want to talk about it."
"But you are talking about him." Caramel stepped closer. Her voice was even, but her eyes were sharp. "You don't even like him."
"I don't trust him," Kim corrected. "That's different."
Caramel forced a small smile. "Is it?"
There was silence. Heavy. Uncomfortable.
Caramel turned to leave, then paused. "For what it's worth… I don't think he's just a guard dog. Maybe you should stop pushing people who actually care."
Kim didn't reply — but her fingers clenched around the pen in her hand.
---
Later That Night
Caramel sat alone on her bed, scrolling through photos on her phone — a few old ones from before things got messy. One showed her at an event, standing a few feet away from Kelly, both caught mid-laugh.
She zoomed in on his face, then locked her phone and tossed it aside.
"Damn it," she whispered. "Don't do this again, Caramel."
---
Later that night, Kim sat alone in her penthouse, eating dry cereal out of a wine glass.
Classy.
She scrolled through her phone, then paused at a photo of her as a little girl — maybe six. In it, she was holding her mom's hand and looking everywhere but at the camera.
Her dad wasn't in it.
Typical, she thought.
He'd left years ago — no note, no drama, just gone like expired milk. Her mom never talked about him, and Kim learned not to ask.
That was the first lesson: don't depend on anyone who can walk away.
She took a bite of cereal and muttered under her breath, "And now I've got two emotionally confusing blackmailer who sends threats like she's auditioning for a Netflix series."
She tossed her phone aside.
"Awesome."