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Kemi is, of course, ready for the intruder.
A quick scuffle, and she loops bandages around their wrist, pulls them off balance, and with a well-timed kick they fall flat on the floor.
She's quick to capitalize on her advantage, catching their other wrist in a bind and securing the hold with a knee on their chest. Snatching the intruder's knife from where it's fallen on the floor, she twirls it in her hand.
"Nice," she remarks. "Guess I'm getting one nice thing out of this shit. Who the fuck are you?"
The intruder blows a lock of hair out of his face. Her face? Honestly, now that Kemi gets a good look, they're gorgeous. Too bad! They're going to be nothing but an annoying corpse to deal with soon.
"K, I presume?" they say. "I'm an ally."
"Nice try," Kemi says. "I don't do allies. You want to try something else before I cut off a loose end?"
She holds the knife, ready to stab if they try anything, but there's no move except the shallow rise and fall of their chest under her.
"I'm Jae," the intruder says, lips curling into a smile. "X? Does that mean anything to you?"
Shit. Kemi does know them. A killer connected to a string of unsolved murders, gutted corpses, x's cut into flesh... more importantly, one of the others in the arrangement she's just entered into.
"I knew it," she exclaims, slamming a hand into the floor next to their head. "I fucking knew it, they were promising too much!"
Her mind races. If this location is compromised, she's going to have to move her base of operations, change her phone again... she still hasn't ruled out the need to hide a body, either.
Kemi turns her gaze on the intruder, knife glinting in her bandage-wrapped hand. "And they sent you here why, to get what I know? Remove a loose end? Guess what, that goes two ways." Her voice sharpens. "How did you find me?"
X—Jae—squirms, but Kemi knows her knots. No way they're getting their hands free. "It wasn't easy, I can tell you that. I tracked down one of your clients, applied a little pressure—" their eyes find the knife Kemi holds—"and got an address easy enough."
They shrug, as much as they can with her knee pinning them. "You may need to work on client loyalty. I didn't even have to cut him open before he was spilling everything he knew. Don't worry, I took care of that loose end for you."
There's a brightness to Jae's eyes as they speak. Kemi can picture it. Jae looming over some victim, like she's pinning them now. Cutting trails into their skin.
It's an appealing image. Knives. Kemi needs knives. Something to keep intruders from waltzing in like they own the place. Hah! Squirming on the floor, helpless.
She licks her lips.
Jae smiles breathlessly. "You weren't answering my texts. I thought in-person might be a more secure level of contact."
"Secure," Kemi scoffs. "Unless you got your pretty face caught on camera on the way here." Fuck, will someone trace Jae's absence back to Kemi's apartment?
As if Jae can read her mind, they say, "Only my driver knows where I am. And don't worry, he's one of us. The strongest, in my opinion." They smile again, meeting her gaze with an implied threat.
Fuck, shit, Kemi can't just kill Jae, even if they're bluffing. She thinks longingly of her rifle. Maybe, given some preparation, she can line up a shot in a few days. Just enough time that their death won't be immediately traced back to her.
It's just a daydream. Anyone who knows enough to work with X knows the traces a weapon like Kemi's leaves behind.
She can't kill Jae. She can leave them with a little room for doubt.
Kemi shifts the knife to her left hand. "Hold still," she says, tapping the flat of the blade against their lips. "I'm going to give you a security checkup."
Keeping the knife breezing against Jae's face, she crouches lower, frisking their coat pockets with her other hand. Tissues, little makeup kits—cute—and there it is. Kemi flips the phone into her hand.
"See! Do you know how insecure these things are? You've probably got five companies tracking your location at this very moment. Not even password locked! To see everything all I have to do is this."
She waves the phone in front of Jae's face.
"No, now you'll see my Instagram account," Jae complains, deadpan. "I don't keep anything incriminating on there, do you think I'm an idiot?"
"Selfies are incriminating enough," Kemi lectures, waggling the knife in front of Jae's eyes. "One witness with a camera, and you're fucked. If you expect me to believe that we're allies, that gets me too."
"That's what the hood is for," Jae says with an aggravating amount of self-assurance for someone pinned on the floor. "And I don't leave any witnesses."
"It's shortsighted," Kemi retorts. She waves the phone in the air, scrolling through the photo library. "See, selfie, selfie, selfie, selfie with the view from your window? I could track you down with that, line up a shot from those opposing apartments. Selfie—ah."
Jae smirks. "Don't judge, it makes good money for a side gig."
Huh. Fuck it, Kemi would pay good money for this, if she had a secure way to do it. She compares the photo on the screen, silky red ropes securing Jae in an alluring position, to the killer restrained on her floor. Maybe more bandages would be a nice touch.
"Soooooo," Jae says, drawing out the word. "You've gotten a good look. Are you going to do something about it, or..."
Kemi considers. She smirks, tossing the phone to the floor and giving it a solid blow with the knife handle. It cracks satisfyingly.
Also satisfying is Jae's appalled gasp.
Jae hisses, thrusting their weight suddenly to the side. They roll as Kemi cries out, stabbing wildly with the knife.
It catches fabric, but in a moment she's the one flat on the floor, Jae's still-bound wrists heavy on her chest. A knee on her arm prevents her from stabbing again.
She pants for air, realizing with a flip of her stomach that Jae has been holding back. Meeting the killer's dark eyes, she laughs, wild.
"Knives," Kemi gasps. "Next time it'll be knife traps first. Security!"
"What the fuck are you talking about," Jae demands. "If my hands were free you'd be begging me not to gut you. God, why?"
"I did you a favor!" she tells them.
"And I bet you wouldn't care at all if I hunted your phone down and smashed it in. You'd probably thank me. I thought we were finally getting somewhere—I can't fucking believe this." They sigh, aggravated. "If I let you up, will you try to stab me again?"
"I'll give you your knife back," Kemi offers. "And let you live! I was pretty sure I'd have to kill you until a minute ago."
"You're lucky I'm not going to kill you." Jae's eyes narrow, as if they're reconsidering. A moment passes. Then they sigh.
"Fine," Jae agrees, and Kemi feels the weight lift.
She obligingly releases her hold on their knife, then reclaims her bandages from their wrists. Catching her breath and brushing locs of hair out of her face, she sits up, watching Jae pick up scattered makeup kits and examine the new cut in the sleeve of their coat.
"It's good style," she offers. "The whole 'X' thing. Bit messy, but I guess I can see the appeal. Nice knife too, perfect balance."
Jae glares at her. "It's my knife, and of course. I wouldn't use anything that isn't high quality." Kemi watches a bit wistfully as the knife disappears into a hidden holster. Jae reclaims their broken phone, pressing buttons fruitlessly. "I still can't believe you did that."
"Get something more secure to replace it and maybe I'll text you back next time," Kemi says.
"I don't even have your number!"
Kemi crosses to her desk, keeping her eyes on the killer, and scribbles out a quick message. "Here you are," she informs Jae. "My number. Text me. Not using my name. Burn it afterward."
Jae accepts the note. "Pleasure to meet you," they say sardonically.
"Likewise!" Kemi returns. "Text first next time and it might go better!"
Jae exits.
Shit. Kemi does not want a next time. Although it had been a novel experience. Her heart is still pounding from the threat of Jae's weight on her, from the rush of having them helpless under her. Not so helpless after all! And amazingly, no one had ended up dead!
...maybe, if Jae gives warning first, Kemi would be open to a next time. Between allies.
First, she needs to do something about her security. Definitely involving knife traps.