This Girl Is On Fire

Chapter 11 - Part 1

After leaving Darcy Records, Elizabeth returned to the fella's apartment stripping out of her new outfit. So much for impressing the great and powerful Oz! When she was like this, infuriated and frustrated, there was really only one thing she could do. Clean. Dirt was an enemy she could eradicate. She started in the den, dusting furniture that had been wiped the previous day, before she attacked the never ending pile of laundry Malcolm left strewn around the apartment. Really? How many wardrobe changes could one guy have? After throwing a load into the washer, she moved into the kitchen. Elizabeth was in the middle of attending to the faded linoleum floor a second time when Malcolm rushed into the apartment almost knocking her over in his haste.

"Lizzy, you have a visitor."

Before she could complain bitterly how little she'd enjoyed the last visitor Malcolm had surprised her with, Darcy filled the open doorway. She blinked stupidly. It was a shock to see him - just as it had been on that fateful day in her dressing room. Looking at the scowl on his face, she felt an awful sinking sense of déjà vu.

Grabbing a bottle of nail polish and giving her a rather insincere shrug, Malcolm smirked as he pulled the door behind him escaping her wrath.

The ticking of the kitchen clock seemed absurdly loud in the silence that followed her friend's whirlwind exit. As his eyes drifted around the apartment, it was clear from Darcy's disapproving frown that he didn't approve of her new living quarters any more than her last.

Good. It made her perversely happy to know he hated it. But, when the weight of his judgmental gaze settled once more on her, the giddiness evaporated.

Embarrassment quickly followed.

She fidgeted clearly uncomfortable with her attire. The jeans, a tie-dyed t-shirt, a blue bandana holding her hair out of her face and oversized orange rubber gloves protecting her hands were great for her current occupation. Yes, Lizzy told herself, it was not exactly her most fashionable look. But, then again, she told herself sardonically, even when she had tried, she'd never been able to impress the man before her. She doubted strongly she ever would.

The silence was killing her. That damn clock grew louder with every annoying tick. Irritation returned. This man was damnably frustrating. She had to show strength. She could not let him know that he was getting to her.

"Wow! Twice in one day. To what do I owe the honor?" She winced at her own tone. So much in hiding her feelings. With a grunt, she wrung the mop out in the bucket before slopping it noisily back on the floor. He stepped back to avoid having his expensive shoes splashed by dingy water. "Darcy, if you are going to hang around at least you could do is not be in my way."

She was sure that no woman had ever said those words to him.

"We need to have a very frank discussion."

"Do we? A frank conversation, you say?" She used a little more effort than was necessary as she pushed the mop along the spotless floor. Turning, she pushed in the opposite direction. When he didn't start, she turned to face him, leaning on the handle. Patience was in very short supply.

He glanced at the door behind him thoughtfully. "Now that I'm here, perhaps, it would be expedient if Malcolm and Phillip join us."

His request was the final straw. Irked, she plopped her mop back in the bucket. "I know it wasn't stated plainly but I thought we struck a deal today. You'd leave my friends alone if I agreed to do as you wanted. I agreed to put off my vacation. I've agreed to record Wrecked. I think that more than made up for me singing a few songs the other night - "

"My visit here doesn't concern your performance the other night."

"Then why are you here?" She pulled off her gloves. "You won! You've gotten what you wanted from me."

"I've gotten what I wanted from you?" His voice was hard. Then, he jerked his head sideways, a look of sheer incredulousness crossed his face. "You really have no idea what it is I want, do you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Of course I do, I'm not stupid, Will. You want me to record Wrecked." She felt tired suddenly. Exhausted. "What I don't know is why you are here. Now. Because I've already agreed to that."

His presence seemed to grow larger, reach out to her as if he had moved toward her. But, he hadn't moved a muscle. Only his eyes bored into hers. Demanding. The inviting spice of his cologne drifted toward her, reminding her of their night together when she had put her nose against the column of his neck. Her heart beat accelerated in her breast at the sudden reminders flooding her body. The awareness was almost painful. Her cheeks stung with heat. She shut her eyes willing her body not to betray her. He'd always had this effect on her. From the beginning. From their first meeting. It was distinctly unfair. As much as she craved distance from the man in front of her, there was a part of her - one she wished she could excise from herself - that rejoiced at his presence.

"Today, when you were in my office, I lost control of my temper. I said things I shouldn't have." He did not look away from her. She fought to hold her jaw in place. "I said things I didn't mean. I behaved badly. I acted badly. I am sorry, Elizabeth." Darcy apologizing? She resisted the urge to pinch herself to see if she was dreaming. Just when she was sure he could not confuse her more, he laid his briefcase on the kitchen table.

Why couldn't he have said that at the meeting this morning? He was acting so strangely. She was suspicious. "You still haven't said why you want to talk to my friends."

"You know me well enough to know I wouldn't be here unless it was important." His mouth formed a thin, stubborn line. She knew that look. She wasn't going to get anything more from him until she did as he asked.

It was best to get this over with, she decided, heading for the front door, "They're down at the bar."

Darcy stopped her forward progress laying a hand lightly on her arm. Even this slight touch caused her heart to riot, her body vividly remembered the last time they had touched. She swallowed the urge to whimper.

He seemed unaffected. "Perhaps, we could meet up here? There is more privacy. "

Being so close to him made the exhaustion about his eyes impossible to ignore. She hadn't noticed in his office but it was impossible not to now. "You've been running yourself ragged again, haven't you? You haven't been taking care of yourself." Without thinking, she reached up to touch his cheek.

Darcy caught her hand in his before it reached its destination. He looked panicked. "Quit stalling, I need you to go down and get your friends. "

After summoning the fellas from downstairs, the four of them sat rather uncomfortably around the small kitchen table impatient for the impromptu meeting to get started. Darcy looked at her with an inscrutable expression before settling his attention on Phillip. "As a business owner, Mr. Masters, you know it's common practice for an employer to do a thorough background check on their employees." Phillip nodded, but she'd never heard of him doing any such thing with the employees at The Hole. If he had, a lot of the musicians that came through the doors would have never been allowed on stage. "Because of my substantial investment, I hired a private firm to investigate Elizabeth."

"You did what!" She was disappointed and surprised by this information.

"Perhaps, in hindsight it wasn't the best way to go about things, but you weren't exactly forthcoming with the information I wanted."

"What information would that be?"

His pulled on the sleeve of his shirt as if it were not long enough. He continued, sounding defensive. "There were things you wouldn't talk about. Things I had to know."

"What things did you need to know, Will?"

"I think the important thing to know is that Mr. Darcy here couldn't have found anything in your background that concerned him." Phillip crossed his arms across his chest, leaning back on the chair. "If there was, he'd have brought it up ages ago."

"You're right." Darcy agreed. "The same goes for the checks I did on you and Malcolm. Both came back without anything that concerns me."

"Well, that is reassuring." Malcolm was as incensed as she, but Phillip seemed to take this news as expected. He placed a hand on his boyfriend's silently telegraphing the need for him to be patient. In a more temperate tone, Malcolm continued, "You obviously found something, though, or else you wouldn't be here charming us with your presence now."

"Yes, I did." Darcy retrieved a battered looking folder from his leather briefcase. "Have you seen Peter since moving to New York?"

Of all of the things that she had though he wanted to discuss privately with her friends, Elizabeth would never have picked the subject of her ex. She couldn't fathom what anything to do with Peter would have to do with the fellas either. They didn't know him. "We haven't exactly kept in touch."

He weighed her expression for a moment. "Would it surprise you to know he's been to New York since you've been here? In fact, he's been here multiple times?"

Her stomach somersaulted. She shrugged with a nonchalance she did not feel. "There's no crime in visiting New York, Will. People do it all the time."

"Cut the crap, Elizabeth. You know damn well that Peter isn't here to be a tourist. He's here for you!" He pounded his hand on the table and she jumped in her seat. "And, there's something entirely inconvenient about the timing of his trips."

"Inconvenient?" It was an odd choice of wording.

"Yes, inconvenient!" He was studying her. "Especially, for you and your friends."

"What do you mean by that? What does Elizabeth's old boyfriend visiting New York have to do with us?" Phillip asked impatiently, glancing at his watch. She knew he was getting nervous because the doors would be opening soon. He didn't like leaving Daisy in charge.

"His first visit was a few weeks after she got the job here at The Hole." Again, he fixed his attention on her face. "Did you ever tell him you worked here?"

Fear burrowed its icy nails down her spine. She hadn't spoken to Peter since the night their engagement ended. She'd be quite happy if she never spoke to him for the rest of her life.

"Why would it matter to him that she worked here?" Malcolm piped up as he began polishing his nails. He was still angry over his perceived invasion of privacy.

Opening the folder on the table, Darcy held up a dark piece of plastic the size of a piece of paper. "Two days after Peter arrived in New York, a man named Milton Cane was mugged."

They all recognized the name. Milton had been the bassist at The Hole when she first started. He'd simply left one night and never returned, which in itself wasn't a totally uncommon occurrence. No one thought anything about his disappearance.

"Both of his arms were broken. In several places."

"Jesus." Phillip whistled holding up the x-ray to the light. From her spot, Elizabeth saw the damage to both of the musician's elbows. They were shattered.

She barely recognized her own voice when she said, "We never heard anything about him being attacked. Why didn't he contact us? We would've helped him out. Taken up a collection or held a benefit for him. Something."

Again, Darcy was watching her. "I think he was warned not to return to the Hole."

Malcolm straightened in his chair, saying what they all were thinking. "You think this Peter had something to do with his assault?"

"Why would he attack Milton?" Phillip interjected, looking unconvinced.

"I think he wanted to get close to Elizabeth."

She stood drifting to the window, distancing herself from these questions. An unprovoked attack on an innocent man? Yes, Peter could have done that. Memories of his handsome face reddened with rage while smiling manically roared to life in her mind. She gripped the sink in need of an anchor to reality.

"I don't understand this. Why would he have attacked Milton to get to Elizabeth? They barely knew one another. This doesn't make sense. How did he even know she worked her?"

"It wouldn't have been hard to find her. He could've simply searched on the internet and stumbled on The Hole's Twitter or Facebook account. She was featured pretty prominently on both. There's more than Milton's mugging that concerns me." She heard a chair scrape as if one of the men stood. "The morning before he was mugged, Dr. Hancock paid for a ticket for one Max King to fly from Alabama to New York."

She laughed in relief. Darcy'd gone off the deep end with his dislike of Max and The Hole House. Now he was resorting to creating conspiracies where there were none. Two men could not be more different from one another.

She turned to tell him so when he held papers out to her. "I wish to God I was wrong about this."

She took the offered documents trying desperately to ignore the shaking in her hands. One was a copy of Peter's credit card bill showing the ticket purchase and the other was a copy of the police report about Milton's attack. The documents verified what Darcy said. It didn't make sense. How was it even possible that Peter bought Max's plane ticket? The two men were from two different worlds. They couldn't know one another.

"Max is Peter's cousin. Their mothers are sisters." Without having to ask, she was handed birth certificates. "Peter arranged for Max to be in New York after he created the job opening so he could work here with you. A man would only do something like that if he was intending to keep tabs on you."

There was nowhere to look. It was something that Peter would have done. All that checking in, all those questions when she was five minutes late coming home. He had done something to her phone so he could track her every move to and from the hospital. He'd been so angry when she spent time with her parents, or Jane or god forbid a male colleague. She felt that old feeling of shame overwhelm her.

"I don't know if Max knew about what Peter did to Milton, but he paid for Max's apartment, utilities, cell phone services. Everything." He held up other documents, but she shook her head. She didn't need more proof. Goose flesh covered her arms. She felt nauseated. "Then, something happened in July. Max cut ties with Peter. Moved from his apartment, ditched his cell phone. Did any significant happen that would account for this?"

She was overwhelmed by his revelations. Max and Peter were related? Peter had been supporting Max in New York. Who was this man who had pretended to be her friend?

"Think! Something must have happened to account for it." Darcy insisted of her.

"I don't know!" She snapped, "How would I know? I didn't know anything about them being related until just now."

"Didn't Max start giving you bass lessons about then?" Phillip suggested. Elizabeth honestly couldn't remember. She was reeling from the news Darcy had relayed.

"Bass lessons?" Darcy asked.

"Yes, that's right! Remember those nasty soy burgers Doty brought with her to put on the grill. You cooked mac n' cheese and saved dinner. Max repaid you by offering you the first lesson on the bass." Malcolm closed the lid on his polish reconsidering the project. "Not long after that you learned Super Massive. That was right about when Will signed you to the label."

"I guess." The memory of the visit Max paid in her apartment returned. I betrayed you, sweetheart.

"Max had to know that Peter would find out about you and him. He had to know how much danger that would put you in."

"Found out about me and Max?" Elizabeth echoed. It took a few moments for her sluggish mind to work. Oh, he meant their bass lessons. Peter would be furious even with such interactions. If he learned of the one date she and Max had gone on - he'd have flipped out. A furious Peter was quite inhuman. Cruel. Even now, she remembered the punishment for even looking at another man. She'd started wearing bagging clothes to hide her curves. Long sleeves to hide the bruises. Garish lipstick to hide the cuts on her mouth. "You think he knew about us?"

"Of course, he did." Darcy picked up the papers she had dropped. "Your ex's second visit to New York was the night before the fire in your building. He left the very next day."

"You think he started the fire?" Malcolm questioned.

Darcy didn't need to say it out loud. They all could tell from his look. He was positive.

A tremor started low in Elizabeth's legs. The fire. People had been injured. People could have died. Many had lost everything and had no way to replace their memories. Peter had stolen so much from her - now he had even managed to take her songs. She felt tears well in her eyes. Just when she thought she was free of him - just when she thought he was firmly in her past - there was no getting free of him. A helpless feeling settled on her. She couldn't look at Darcy the embarrassment was so great. He obviously knew about her and Peter's relationship. Somehow. She'd only ever told Jane. And, she knew her secrets had died with her sister.

"Elizabeth, he returned to New York today. " Darcy was breathing heavy. "He is booked on the same return flight as you."

How was that possible? Could it be some huge coincidence?

"I know about Jane's cat and what happened to it the day after you moved in with her." His voice was demanding. "Was that something Peter would've done? Is he sadistic enough to kill an animal? Is he twisted enough to burn down a building to try to kill you? Tell me I'm wrong, Elizabeth. Tell me that this man is not the monster I think he is."

Elizabeth hadn't had a panic attack in months, but could feel it fast approaching. Terror stole her oxygen and she slunk to the floor. The harder she tried to take a breath, the further away oxygen seemed to be. Then there was the cool lilting voice of her sister in her head. In. Out. In. Out. Come on, Lizzy, you are stronger than this. Peter is not going to win. You cannot let him win. Not now. Not ever.

"You have no idea what I've been imaging all afternoon," Will's voice was hard and grave.

Peter wasn't a specter states away. Peter had been here. Peter had been to New York, possibly even at The Hole. He could've been in the audience during one of her performances. The very idea that Peter had been close enough to her. That he had gotten so close by using Max.

It was clear her past disgusted him. She could relate. Her past with Peter disgusted her too. Darcy was probably worried it would damage his precious label. Ruin the album launch. Cost him more money. Elizabeth didn't want to see the look of revulsion on his face.

One breath in, one breath out, Lizzy. Jane's voice exploded in her head. She held onto it. One breath at a time. There you go.

She would reclaim herself. The past was the past. It was behind her. She would not return to it. She would not let it dictate her future. She staved off the panic. Keeping it at bay. Peter would no longer win.

Malcolm moved to her side to support her, hugging her to him. "Can't she contact the police? File one of those things, what are they called. A temporary protection order?"

"I doubt the NYPD would be concerned about something that happened over a year ago in another state." Phillip offered calmly, standing as well, but Elizabeth knew he was upset on her behalf. Both men looked to Darcy. "What are you going to do? Peter obviously isn't the sort of man to let the fact she didn't take the flight as expected destroy his plans. He'll come looking for her."