That evening, just as it was falling dark outside, Lily sat on the stoop outside of her apartment. She'd been there for hours, waiting most of the day for signs of Richard. He wasn't home, she already tried his door and there was no answer. With no one to contact or ask where he might be, she held on to the hope that she could catch him before he would leave for good. A hope that seemed more irrational with every moment.

The cool evening breeze blew through her hair and rustled her long skirt. It was mostly quiet except for the occasional sound of crickets chirping. She sat, resting her chin in her hands, occasionally chewing a fingernail or twirling a curl. She thought of everything that had happened and wished she could go back to a happier day. In her mind, she rehearsed what she might say to Richard if he returned, but none of it seemed to fit. Jimmy's words earlier that day had hit her hard.

Footsteps echoed up the walkway and Lily's heart skipped a beat. They stopped in front of her and hesitated for a moment. The man looked down at the young woman and found it strange that she didn't look directly at him, but rather to the side and with a confused look on her face.

"Yes," she asked to the wind.

"What's your name young lady?" an unfamiliar voice asked. The accent was thick and Italian, someone she'd never met before. Disappointed and suspicious, she didn't answer right away.

"Did you need something?" she asked, trying not to sound too rude, though she wanted nothing more than this stranger to leave her alone with her thoughts.

The man tilted his head as he looked at her curiously, slowing piecing the puzzle together. He waved a hand in front of her and she didn't react. Exhaling in a huff, he gave a crooked grin. This might make it easier than he had thought.

"You a friend of Jimmy's?" he asked bluntly.

Lily guarded her words, mistrustful of what this person may want from her. People had to prove themselves to her, and this man was no different.

"And you are?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm a friend of Jimmy's too. He has a message he'd like me to deliver to you. Hows abouts' we step inside to talk?"

"Deliver it then," she said curtly, hoping it was news of Richard.

"I think we should step inside," he said in the tone of an order.

"I'm comfortable where I am, thank you," she responded indignantly. "And how do you know I'm the person for your message if you don't even know my name?"

Grabbing her by the arm, the man forced Lily to stand and drug her toward the door. Pushing him away defiantly, she backed away aimlessly. He quickly grabbed her again and threw her against the door, hard. She stopped struggling as he gripped a hand firmly around her neck. Panic swept over her and she froze in place, breathing heavily.

"Listen little girl," the thug growled, so close to her face that she could feel his breath. "Where the fuck is Jimmy? I saw you with him earlier. Where'd he go?"

She gripped both hands around the arm holding her, trying to pry him off, but her strength was clearly no match. She grabbed and tugged at his suit sleeve, nearly ripping the fabric.

"I don't know," she pleaded, a tear starting to roll down her cheek. "Let me go!"

"Huh, well that's too bad," the man threatened with a cold tone. "I wonder if he'd miss you if you were gone?"

Scared for her life, Lily decided to fight back, kicking and clawing harder at his arm, managing to pry it off of her neck slightly. If this man meant to kill her, she at least wouldn't make it easy on him. Desperation took over and she was going to put up a struggle.

"Get off of me!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, "Help!"

He quickly swatted her hands away and pushed her harder into the door, getting a hand over her mouth. She breathed heavily into his hand, still trying desperately to push him away. Pausing for a moment, she felt him make a move to reach for something in his pocket.

"Oh God," she whispered, muffled into his hand, certain he was going for a weapon. But before she could find out, something made him hesitate and turn away, loosening his grip. She took the opportunity to break free, stumbling away from him confused and afraid. As she went to run aimlessly away, she caught the edge of her skirt and fell to the hard wooden floor of the porch.

Backing away while still on the ground she heard the man start to say something before hearing the deafeningly loud pop of a gunshot. A deep thud was muffled by Lily's screams as a spray of warm liquid sprinkled all over her. She covered her face with her hands, hyperventilating, terrified and confused. She had no idea what happened but the only pain she felt was in the hip she'd landed on when falling.

Footsteps rushed toward her and she felt someone kneel and touch her face. Instinct kicked in again and she began screaming and pushing the hand away in a panic.

"Lily, Lily, shhhh... It's alright. It's me," a familiar voice comforted her.

"Oh God, Richard," she cried out grasping to pull him closer.

Stashing the gun back in its holster, he lifted Lily back up to her feet. She buried her head in his chest and clung to him as she'd done many times before. He allowed her just a moment before pushing away.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes, yes I'm fine. What happened Richard? Is he..." the word stuck in her throat.

"Yes," he answered plainly.

"Who was he?"

"I don't know. He isn't familiar. What did he want with you Lily?" Trying to remain calm and strong for Lily's sake was more difficult that it was usually. Richard wasn't one to act out of anger, but it was bubbling toward the surface. He'd rather not think about what might have happened had he not been returning home that evening.

"I don't know. Something about Jimmy? Wanting to know where Jimmy was?" she answered frantically. "Oh God Richard I think he was going to kill me."

Richard turned to inspect the body, finding that the man did have a knife in his pocket. He took it and tossed it to the side, looking around to see that no one saw what happened. The neighborhood was still quiet with only the sound of crickets in the night air. He quickly turned his thoughts to action. They needed to clean up this mess and find out what was going on.

He grasped Lily by the shoulders and went to lead her to the door. "Lily, you need to get inside. You are safe now."

"No! No," she protested. "Please don't leave me alone."

"Lily."

"Please, please," her voice cracked, still afraid.

"Alright." He led her to his apartment, giving her a towel to clean up with as she sat on the bed. He made quick work of hiding the body from plain view and called Jimmy to tell him what happened. Lily listened to the half-conversation, feeling that she'd been drawn in to this scary new reality so far that there may be no going back.