Coffee & Criminals

10. Coming Clean...Kinda

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Clancy asked. "I don't know, Florence...maybe you should talk to your parents about this. I'm not sure this is such a good idea. How about I turn this car around and we get some ice cream? Doesn't that sound like a better idea?"

"I'm sure." I cleared my throat, trying not to sound nervous. Clancy already doubted my plan. "No, I have to do this. It's the right thing, isn't it? I'm doing this for us, Clancy. For the Espresso House and my parents. My parents have no backbone. They're so terrified of Wolfe Sterling, they'd bend over backwards if he asked. I'm not going to let him do this. I can't, Clancy. I have to do this...right? It's the right thing, isn't it?" I asked again, freaking myself out a bit. "Right?"

"Baby, you do what you need to."

"What I need to do? I need to kill Wolfe Sterling. That's what I need to do. What I want to do is different."

"Unfortunately, murder is still illegal in the United States, so that's out of the question. So what exactly do you want to do, Florence?"

"I want help."

"Alright." Clancy said quietly. "If it helps, then I'm all for it. Just make sure you know what you're doing, Florence."

"I do." I sounded a lot more sure than I felt. Truth was, I had no idea if this was a good idea or not. Taking the standpoint from what position I was in, I hoped it would be worth it. What if it wasn't, though? I couldn't help but ask that question. Well, if it didn't work out the way I planned, then I was dead. Literally. I had no doubt that Wolfe would literally murder me in my sleep if he ever found out what I was doing before what I was doing actually fell into action.

What I was doing was the right thing...or so I hoped. Clancy was nice enough to take me. As we drove to the police precinct, my nerves increased in jitteriness. I could barely sit still. Other than for moral support, that was another reason I had asked Clancy to take me. I was too scared to even think straight, let alone operate a motor vehicle. Besides, she was the only one I could trust with this. It's not as if I didn't trust my parents. It was just that they would never agree to me doing something like this. Clancy was hesitant, but didn't argue. She didn't think it was a good idea even if she didn't come right out and say it. I was beginning to think that as well.

I couldn't take any more of Wolfe Sterling's egotistical personality and his friends. After Elliot Josiah joined them at the table, the Crowns spent exactly one hour and 23 minutes disturbing the peace, scaring the kids with sudden noises and exclamations, and smoking despite Clancy asking them not to several times until I finally lost my temper and forcefully confiscated all the cigarettes. Brice had accidentally knocked into a woman, causing her to spill a scorching hot cup of coffee all over herself, and Wolfe was generally being the dickhead that he is by making cracks at my short height and asking for refills when his water glass was clearly filled to the brim. After that terrible afternoon, I wouldn't be surprised if no one ever came back to the Espresso House. Our reputation was well on its way to being completely tarnished.

As if that wasn't enough, my mother and father did absolutely nothing about it. I don't know what Wolfe Sterling told them yesterday, but whatever it was, it had scared my parents enough to keep their mouths shut. They wouldn't tell me either. It "didn't concern me" was what I was told. I didn't have the energy or the courage to ask Wolfe about it but I doubted he'd even tell me.

If my parents weren't going to do anything about them, then I would. 

"Are you still set on doing this?" Clancy asked as she pulled up to the parking lot to the 71th Brooklyn police precinct. The bleary drab brick building matched the angry clouds that had been hovering over New York since yesterday night. There were a few cars on the parking lot and a nice little bench near a cluster of bushes. "Or have you changed your mind? The ice cream offer is still available."