NOVA “Money must be tight, Nova. Thought you’d left all of us and this life behind you.” Detective Kahn paces in front of the stainless-steel table I sit at, his shoes making a gentle thump on the concrete. I give him a shrug. “I did too, but special agent Nova has such a nice ring to it. Just not ready to give it up.” I add after a beat “Money too, but everyone has their own reasons.” Detective Kahn’s mouth pulls up at the edge, and he leaves the room. He returns with a manilla folder in his hands and slides it across the table to me. Three black and white photos of men stare back at me. “These are them?” I ask, my eyes analyzing their features. “Yep. Take em’ out.” “Aren’t you forgetting something? My brows arching, Detective Kahn lets out a sigh, and reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a rumpled napkin. He scribbles something on it and then slides the napkin to me. I take it, turning it over. Its my cut of the cash reward. The number written is sufficient. “When do I begin?” “Your belongings are already waiting for you in your new location.” BRIDGET “Hey babe, did you see we have a new neighbor?” Setting my pairing knife on the kitchen counter, I venture towards the bay window. “She’s older,” I say. “And kind’ve short.” Across the road, a woman in a winter coat is bringing boxes into the house. Ben comes to my side, watching her. “Huh. Guess the Anderson’s place did sell.” He plants a kiss on my face, aiming for my lips but missing entirely and heads into the bathroom for a shower. I take one more lingering glance at the woman when my phone vibrates in my back pocket. Pulling it out, a new message stares back at me and I suddenly feel lightheaded. **V: **Time to pay up sweetheart. Your lover boy made a _particularly _large bet last night.   I type back a quick response. **Bridget: **I’ll wire you the money today. **V: **Tick Tock. I don’t like to be kept waiting. I check my bank app, checking the account I’ve set aside for paying back Ben’s illegal gambling debts, wondering how much he bet last night. My blood runs cold. _Empty. _The account is completely void. “Shit, shit, _shit,_” I mutter to myself. When I glance back out the window, the woman is now staring back at me, her face expressionless. Pulling the curtains shut, I glance once more at my phone and then to the casserole sitting on top of the oven. NOVA The cold room puts an ache in my fingers. Blowing into my hands, I rub them together trying to lessen the pain, when a knock sounds at my front door. Standing in the doorway, is the young woman from across the street, who stood in the window earlier. She’s holding a covered dish of some kind and I usher her inside. She wipes the mud from her boots on my rug, and I grimace. “I’m Bridget,” she extends her hand out and I shake it, then take her casserole and set in the kitchen. “My boyfriend and I live across the road.” “It’s nice to meet you, Bridget,” I motion to the casserole. “Thank you for – Oh! It looks like you have company.” Bridget turns to see a white van pulling into her driveway and I can’t help but notice she brings her hands up to her neck, in a protective way. “Were you expecting someone?” I ask. She shakes her head, her attention completely fixated on the van. After a few minutes, the van backs out of the driveway and drives away. I catch the way Bridget dips her head, her breaths coming out twice as fast compared to a few minutes ago. Bridget is seated on the couch when I bring her a cup of tea. The shakiness in her hands settles against the warm porcelain. Sitting on the other end of the couch, I take a long pull of my tea. She hasn’t said more than a few words since the van left her driveway. “I don’t like Benjamin.” My words hang in the air for a seemingly long time, and then Bridget turns towards me, surprised. “Ben,” I repeat. “Your boyfriend. I don’t like him.” Bridget rises suddenly, her tea sloshing over the cup, onto its plate. She steps backwards towards the wall, reaching for what I assume is a knife of sorts. “Put the knife away, Bridget.” I take a step towards her, and she pulls her knife to her chest, the blade extended. “Who the hell are you and how do you know Ben?” The blade is angled towards me, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. I take another step towards her, reaching into my jean’s pocket to reveal my badge. “My name is Nova Fletcher. Special agent Fletcher.” BRIDGET My knife’s handle is sweaty in my hand. Nova is staring intently at me, her hand extended, gesturing for my knife. “No,” I whisper. “I’m not going to hurt you, Bridget,” she says to me. “The opposite, actually.” There’s an earnestness in her face that I feel suddenly inclined to trust. I sigh, pushing the blade back into the handle, and I place the knife in Nova’s hand, while making note of every door within my gaze that I could use to escape. I sit back on the couch, further away from Nova this time. “So, you know about Ben’s…and how I’ve been…” my words trail off. I hug my knees to my chest, wondering if I should be divulging this information to a stranger, secret agent or not. Nova nods, pointing behind her to the closed laptop that sits on the table. “I know about his illegal gambling addiction.” She pauses and sighs. “And that you’re paying off each debt. You’re putting yourself in danger by doing that.” Her stare becomes both quizzical and empathetic. There’s one question she doesn’t have the answer to, but one that I do.   I take a deep breath. “At first the bets were small. So small, he paid them back without issue. But over time they got bigger and…I wanted to…because he isn’t a…because I love him.” my words are jumbled, and I can feel Nova’s stare burning a hole in my forehead. Silence stretches between us, and I wonder if she’s waiting for me to divulge more information. My stomach is in knots for revealing as much as I have already. “Why do you care about Ben and his illegal gambling?” I ask. After a beat, I add “or me, for that matter.” I can’t tell if I imagine it or not, but for a moment Nova’s jaw clenches and I sense a sense of hesitation when she looks at me. “Money,” she says. “There is a substantial reward for the execution of three men, one whom I’m sure you’re already familiar with.” The text message exchange from earlier circulates in my mind, and Nova gets up and comes back with a manilla folder. She hands it to me, and inside are three black and white photos. “Do you recognize any of these faces?” I shake my head, “wait,” I say. “This one. Him.” I hold out the last photo, nodding. “He was at the local coffee shop once. I never spoke to him, but I saw his face in passing.” Nova scribbles down everything that I can remember about the man. With my mind empty of any remaining details, she sets the pad of paper off to the side. “Are all of your debts currently paid off?” She asks. A pit forms in my stomach and I stare in the direction of where my untouched tea cup sits on the coffee table. “What was the amount of the wager?” She asks. There’s no judgement in her tone, and I tip my head against the cushion. “Ten thousand.” After a moment, she adds one last scribbled note to her pad. Grabbing the picture of the man that I do recognize, I stare at the pixelated features of his face. There is no sign of mercy in his eyes. He’s the kind of man that would have no remorse for killing someone. Especially me. “Is he –“   “Dangerous? Very.” The pit in stomach has now turned into a wave of nausea. “Am I going to die?” I can’t help the tears that fall down my cheeks. Nova scootches next to me, pulling me towards her chest. “No,” she whispers, stroking my hair. “I won’t let that happen. Not ever.” In this moment, Nova doesn’t feel at all like a stranger, and I wrap my arms around her waist, holding her tighter. NOVA The following morning, I sit at my kitchen table, with my laptop open, and I reach for another forkful of the casserole Bridget made. The door opens, Bridget kicking her boots off before tossing them off to the side. “I just got your text. What is it?” “Did you do as I instructed last night?” I ask, pointing to her phone in her hand. She nods, and sits down beside me, the chill air sending gooseflesh down my arms. “And?” “They were resistant,” she says, “but agreed to meet me. I said noon.” In the driver’s seat, I peer over as Bridget taps away on her phone’s screen, her brow furrowing before softening. “Must be important,” I mutter to her. “It’s just Ben. He’s picking up another shift at the hospital tonight,” she says, her eyes never leaving the screen. She laughs at something on the screen and I realize she _is_ happy, and my heart swells a little. I turn the radio up and let the music fill the space for the rest of the drive. BRIDGET The coffee shop parking lot is fuller than usual, and that helps to ease my heart rate. I walk more behind Nova than beside her as we enter inside. From here, nothing appears out of place. “Everyone on the ground!” Gunfire rings out into the air, everyone dropping to the ground. “Nova! Get down!” I cry out, my face level with the floor. More gunfire rings out, and I cover my ears, my body shaking. Minutes later, when I glance up, bullet casings scatter the floor, along with Nova’s hand gun. Two men at the corner lay face down, blood dripping down their temples. The third man is nowhere to be seen. And neither is Nova. NOVA “Drop the gun, Francis.” The man across from me, shakes his head, his gun firmly aimed at me. “Not until I have what’s owed to me.” “I’ll wire you the money she owes you, just –“ the words catch in my throat. “Leave her alone.” “Not a chance. She’s in too deep.” “_Please. _I’ll pay any amount-“ A single gun-shot fires out against the trees, causing the birds inside to scatter in a wave. BRIDGET “I’m innocent!” I cry out, as police officers handcuff one of my wrists to a stainless-steel table. “I didn’t do it!” The police officer eyes me before turning his attention to his colleague who whispers something in his ear. The police officer moves his fingers forward, and says “alright, bring her in.” I turn and relief washes over me as Nova steps into the interview room. “Nova!” I cry out, using my free arm to grab her hand. She gives my hand a firm squeeze, her gaze on the police officer across from us. “My daughter is innocent.” Her words are tight, and I glance up to see her eyes are glassy. A man comes and releases my hand from its cuff, and I rub at my skin. And then it hits me. _Daughter._ __ I turn to face Nova. _The couch. Her interest in my safety. ‘I won’t let anything bad ever happen to you.’ I don’t understand._ __ “I would’ve done anything to meet you.”