Dark Secrets(31)

One was a man- tall, practically a giant with perfect mixed-race skin, light-skinned black with the kind of face that made the word 'chiseled' sound wholly insufficient. And if that wasn't enough, he had stunning hazel eyes and a strong, firm, muscular build.



       
         
       
        

The other was a woman- short, compact, and thin woman with long, shiny black hair, brown eyes, and sporting a solid 'don't fuck with me' attitude that Faith would recognize from a mile away.

And, from the looks of things, she had interrupted some kind of wild argument between them because the woman was wound like a clock which the man apparently found amusing.

As they often did.

The assholes.

"Honey, you're the one barging in. I believe that's our question," the man said. And damn if his voice didn't match his perfect appearance- deep, smooth, sexy.

"This is Enzo," the woman said, obviously pissed at the guy and perfectly willing to girl gang up on him. "And I'm Espen. We, ah, are working here."

"Here?" she asked, brows drawing low. "For Xander?"

"Yeah."

"I thought he already hired two guys."

"He did. But he wanted one more."

Ah. That explained it. They were fighting for the final position.

"Well, I'm Faith and I need to..."

"You're Faith?" Espen cut her off, smiling. "We've heard a lot about you."

"It's all true," Faith smiled. "Is Xander..."

"Thought I heard you," Xander said, coming in from the back room, K at his side. "What brings you down here?"

"I need to hire you, I guess," she said a little begrudgingly.

"Faith," K said, drawing her attention, him with his scary observational skills likely picking up on her being off. "You alright?"

"Ah, yeah. I need... I need some fucking coffee and then I need you guys to figure out everything you can about Danny Faber and then..."

Then what?

What if they found out he was trying to make a move on Vin?

What was her move then? Telling Vin? Likely getting him killed?

"Alright," K said, reaching for her wrist and pulling her with him. "You need to take the emotion out of this for a minute," he told her. K, for all his caring, could easily come off as detached, blunt, or unfeeling. All of that couldn't be further from the truth. He cared enough and dealt enough with women who were either on the verge or had completely surpassed it, he knew the best way to handle things was clearly, concisely, with as little feeling as possible.

"Oh, hey Faith," Ellie, Xander's recently pregnant wife said as they walked into the back where the break room was set up. Ellie was the opposite of Faith in every way- extremely slight, blonde, sweet, soft.

"Sweetheart, can you get Faith some coffee. Black, like her soul," Xander said, kissing her temple as he moved past. "Alright," he said as they all sat down at the break table. "Why the hell do we need to look into Danny Faber?" 

"You know how you said something was off about him," she started, looking at K.

"Yeah."

"Well, Anthony confronted me today..."

"If that mother fucker..." Xander started.

She smiled at that. "No. This was actually the most positive interaction we've ever had. Anyway, he thought something was off too so he pulled his resume and personnel file. Apparently Danny Faber didn't exist before he moved to the City a couple months ago."

"Yeah, that's a red flag," Xander said, nodding. "Do you have the file with his social and shit?"

"Yeah," she said, reaching into her purse and pulling out the stack of folded papers. "Thanks, El," she said as Ellie dropped off the coffee. "Here," she said, handing the stack to Xander who looked it over then handed it to K.

"Know that on the books, you teach boxing, but no one knows more about new identities around here than you."

"If these are fakes," K said, pointing to the copy of his driver's license and social security cards, "they're good. Expensive."

"Anything else weird around Lam? Has he been snooping around or..."

Faith visibly shrank down in her seat.

The security cameras.

He knew exactly where all the cameras were pointing. He knew that the corner she had been standing in right before he fingered her was a blind spot.

That wasn't something normal employees knew. At least not that quickly. That was something you learned after six months when you no longer wanted to bust your ass for someone who didn't appreciate you and therefore looked for ways to slack off and get paid for it.