The President's Daughter (Original) ✔️

31. Tattoo

I draw in a deep breath as Reynolds hits the pedal. It must've been thirty minutes before he stops. I quickly open the door. "Hey! Where are you going?"

"Give me 5 minutes."

"Hell no. You're going to explain to me right now," Reynolds snap. I turn to Sean and Sarah besides me, my hand resting on the open door.

There's no way I can tell them. If they did, they'd never allow me to go after him. "I know him," I begin. "I just want to talk to him for a few minutes."

"Does he know you were following him?"

"Of course. He told me to do so at the hospital," I say casually. Turns out lying is easy when I'm really determined not to mess it up.

Reynolds looks to Sean for a few seconds before stepping out of the car. Sean wordlessly moves from the back and into the driver's seat. Sarah stays put.

"You can't come in! He gets nervous with authorities," I protest as I turn and watch the man walk into an alleyway. "Just stay at the end of the block. He's harmless, trust me." I don't wait for an answer. I quickly run into the darkness, into the alleyway and ignore my heart pounding in my throat.

Much to my surprise, Reynolds obeys and leans against the brick wall with crossed arms. "You have two minutes," He calls out.

There's a door on the side of the brick wall. I open it a bit, ever so slightly, until I see stairs peering into the darkness. Quietly closing the door behind me, I slowly descend down the stairs. I stop at the edge of the stair wall and peer around it. Under the dim light, there are 8 men together, some sitting on chairs, some on tables and others standing. I can make out the guy with the ponytail and tattoo, his feet on a chair as he leans forward with his elbow on his knee.

"...Had enough of this," The tattooed man from the hospital is saying. "We need to end it,"

"What did Vice say?" A deep voice close to the wall asks. A shiver runs down my spine and I press my back against the wall, my heart racing at a dangerous speed. No. No. No. No. No. I heard wrong. I definitely heard wrong.

"He isn't too enthusiastic. But trust me. He'll come around."

"What's his problem?"

"He doesn't think it'll work. But it will. If he kills Prince, that's it. Our problem is solved. Because of his girlfriend, he's untouchable." Fear enters me as a terrifying theory comes to mind. It can't be true. It can't possibly.

"We do it tomorrow night." Another man's voice.

I hear Tattoo Guy laugh. "Are you suicidal? No. There's a party on Saturday at Don's place. I'm putting my money on it that Prince is going. We can get Vice to lure him outside. If he won't kill him, then we step in. But he needs to lead him out. That way, he's the only one that would be seen leaving with him. We do it now, it's gonna be too risky. We can't fuck it up."

"We need a backup plan in case Prince doesn't show up," Another man says. "It's too obvious and he'll expect heat. Just get Vice on board and we'll figure the rest out, I know he'll want this more than most of us here anyway."

"You're right," Tattoo Guy says. "His friend was also fucked up because of Prince. He wants revenge."

"Do it quick, then."

I hear the scrape of a chair. "I have to go," Tattoo Guy says. "I've got another business to take care of."

I turn quickly and try to head up the stairs as fast and quietly as I can. I will my heart to relax, but it has a mind of its own. I trip blindly, making a loud clang as my face hits the stairs. I freeze in fear.