Devil Mine Pt. 01

Upstairs Balthazar stood looking at the door, trying to understand what happened. He turned to go get another drink and saw the envelope. He picked it up and turned it over in his hands.

"Shit." Understanding finally dawning on him. He grabbed his keys and headed for the door.

Em had washed the makeup off and was in the shower when he got to her door. He worked the lock quietly then slipped inside to wait. It wasn't long before the bathroom swung open letting a swirl of steam into the room.

She tucked a towel around herself and walked to her bedroom.

"Em." Balthazar's voice wrapped around her from behind.

She spun around and almost bounced off his chest. "What are you—"

"You forgot this." He held the envelope up between them.

"Oh right," she murmured.

"You're uncomfortable."

"For being paid for sex?" She looked up at him. "Why would that make me uncomfortable?"

"The money is for the time you spent on your hair, makeup, and then posing. Not for the rest of it." He took her hand and put the envelope in it. "The rest was just two people who got lost in a moment."

"Ah I see." She looked down at the envelope with a frown. "Well, thank you then."

"No, thank you for doing that for me. It was a huge help." She took a step back and bumped into the door jamb. "Em." She looked up as his hands cupped her face. "I'm still lost."

*********************

Balthazar woke several hours later to the faint sound of his phone buzzing. It was buried under his jeans near the doorway to Em's bedroom. He looked at her with a smile. In spite of the heat and humidity she was curled up against his chest. She was beautiful in the glow of the street lights sneaking through the curtains. With a frown he eased himself out of the bed carefully. She murmured softly but didn't wake.

He scooped his jeans off the floor, went to the washroom, flipped on the light, dug the phone out and clicked the screen on with a sigh. He'd been anticipating this. A text from a very old friend letting him know that his hiding place had been found. He cursed softly as he read the next line. He had till sundown the next day to return.

He slipped his jeans on quickly and went back to the bedroom to get his shirt. Em hadn't moved. He leaned over her to kiss her cheek gently, then turned and left her.

He rushed up to his apartment, showered and packed a few things. Several precious minutes were spent scrolling through the camera that had been on the rig above them. He found an image that seemed almost perfect and printed it off while he was getting dressed. He snagged it from the printer and flipped it over to scrawl a message on the back. After grabbing his keys he headed for the door, then turned back to grab the camera off his desk and shoved in his bag. If he wasn't able to come back he wanted something of Em to hang onto.

He went down the stairs as quietly as he could and stopped at her door to slide the picture underneath it. He rested his hand on the wood for a moment, then turned and headed downstairs to disappear into the night.