Chapter 7: Edward

Once again, another cruel riddle I cannot solve. Yet, I need to find it. I need the answer even if every obstacle physically bars me from understanding. I have the numbers in my head taunting me day in and day out. They repeat in accounts with no relation to New Beginnings or Waterfront, because every number is trying to bring me back to where I didn't finish.

I did all of that work. How could they not see that? A mistake? A misunderstanding? Numbers don't lie. I don't get things wrong. I know what I have to do even though it's the wrong thing. I can't help myself; I can't help that I'm different. I can't help that I was born. Edward, get it together. This could be your chance.

I see Mr. Stone leaving work, going down this winding road through the slums. I'm invisible, I use it to my advantage. I text Cori, I know she will worry if I don't. 'Going back to my place to pack a few things for the trip'. I don't like lying to her. Then again, I'm living in a lie. I need to know the truth, or at least make the truth known. What if Zach told it wrong?

Mr. Stone is going into a diner, basically closed from how slow it is. This is your chance. I slouch in the sludge of the alley, listening to the rats' scuttle along my ankles. He's there, I duck behind a garbage bin. He's going in, this is your chance! I make it inside the diner behind him, he just set down his coat and suitcase. Just make it clear, make him understand. It was not a mistake.

"Mr. Stone? Um. My name is Edward Nashton, I work at your firm."

He looked up at me with the mirror behind the bar reflecting both of us. This was the first time we spoke, the first time he took notice of me.

"Oh, yes. Hello there," he said back, "You live around here?"

"No. Um. I just wanted to make sure you saw my work on the New Beginnings account? I found an irregular pattern of four digit numbers."

He asked me, "What's your name again?"

"Um. Edward, sir."

"Edward, did you follow me here?"

"Well, no. I mean, yes. I wanted to… to talk to you. About New Beginnings."

"Edward, I told Zach it was probably nothing. A mistake. It was the wrong file."

"Okay. But still, I saw a pattern…"

"Edward, you could get in trouble if you pursue this. That file is classified. You broke rank. You don't want to be in trouble, do you?"

"Trouble? No, sir, I didn't…"

"Do you like having a job?"

"A job? Yes, Mr. Stone, I need…"

"Then forget all about this and do not ever follow me again. I'd hate to have to report you to H.R for inappropriate behaviour. I'm not in the business of making trouble for my employees."

"Um… yes, sir."

"It's okay, Edward. Everybody makes mistakes."

I made it back to my apartment, crumbling away in my office chair. Staring at the bags of my clothes unmoving. The walls laughing at me, the faces in the shadows judging me. You idiot! Why did you follow him? You could have knocked on his door at the office! Like a normal human being! You could have shown him on paper instead of creeping him out! You could have tried to make a connection! But you didn't, because you are incapable. Because you are a fuckup! Because you deserve…

Then my phone rang. I broke from this abyss of my dark home and reached into my pocket, pulling it out to see her. Her name reflecting off my phone and into my lenses. I want to tell her everything but how can I? Let her know how much of a loser I truly am? Make her understand that I was a terrible mistake. She's far too good, far too pure and perfect to carry my dead weight. I don't know if I deserve her. I don't. I don't.

I answered it, "Hey, sweetie."

"Where are you? It's almost ten. Are you okay?"

Tell her the truth, she deserves to know who you are, Edward. Tell her what you did.

"I'm… uh. Still at my apartment. Still grabbing stuff."

"I can drive over and help if you want."

Look around at the state of this apartment. You want her seeing this? Look at all of this clutter, these chemicals, these fucked up things. If she knew what you kept in your closet, she would leave you. You'd deserve it.

"No, it's okay. I'm almost done. I'll be there soon."

Cori was quiet on the other end. Like she knew I was lying. She muttered with such tenderness, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm sure."

"Cause, you know you can talk to me. Is it… something about work?"

She's intuitive. She's smart. She deserves the truth, Edward.

"Everything is fine." Coward! Why do you keep lying?! "I'll be there soon, okay?"

"Okay. I'll wait up for you."

The phone hung up. I was back in this darkness. The oppression of my own thoughts some sickly comfort I keep for myself. I keep coming back to it, but why? I've got the girl. I've got someone who loves me and needs me. She sees me. I should be happy, why am I not? Why am I fucking this up? I should be home with her doing all the things couples do. Laughing and talking and holding each other, that should be my comfort. Why in my darkest times, I recluse into my pit?

I'm laying in bed beside her. My things are all here, things that I need for the first trip out of Gotham I've ever had. I should be excited and sharing that with her. I need to figure this out. If I don't, this will follow me to Nebraska and ruin everything. I won't do that to her, I won't ruin her time with her family. Why won't anyone listen to me? I don't make mistakes. What would he do? What would he say? Then I heard my phone ping on the bedside table. I put my glasses back on and saw a new article by GCN.

Former Convict Stands Trial. Claims Assault by Batman

Is this a sign? I opened it and started to read. Then I felt her little hands up my stomach. She groaned and rolled over to me, I set my phone down.

"Hey." She said it so shrilled; I could tell she was tired.

"Hey."

"What you doing still awake?"

I smacked my lips and sighed, "I don't have an answer."

Cori pulled up her back, looking down at me then kissing my cheek. Should I indulge with her again?Take my mind off everything? I dared to try it. I pulled her into me and kissed her. God, did she kiss me back. She made the simplest things so easy to drown into. When we'd kiss, she'd break for air with the sweetest gasps. Her hot breath on my lips enough to want more and more until all the thoughts faded away. But this time was different, I was using her for my own gain. To distract from thoughts she should never know. It didn't feel right. I pulled away and asked her, "I don't want to keep you awake."

"I'm awake cause you're awake. What are you reading?"

"Would you be mad if I said GCN?"

"Pfft. I'm not loyal to the Times. Can I see?"

I handed her my phone, unsure why, knowing she'd see Batman and not see what I do. Then she got reading, more and more time in silence as if she was invested. She was a writer, an avid reader.

"That's the guy you saw get beat up, right?"

"Yeah."

Cori sat up suddenly, I spooked at it. It was sudden like she saw something.

"Oh, my fucking God."

"What?"

"That's Higgins."

"Who?"

She looked at me, "Higgins. Fucknut drug dealer. He was arrested two months ago for a serious drug felony. Over fifty pounds of drops. He should be serving… God, like ten years for that. He should be locked up. Why is he out?"

"What?"

"Yeah," then she scoffed in anger, "I knew it."

"Knew what?"

"Commissioner Savage."

"What about him?"

She looked at me and handed me my phone, "He's dirty."

Cori laid back in bed, and I scoured the article for a bit longer. A drug dealer supported by the commissioner. Could it be true? Was she just guessing the worst? I looked over the court details. Coincidentally, landed right on my lunch break.

"Mr. Higgins. The police received an anonymous phone call of your whereabouts. You were found with cash and drops." The judge explained before the court. I sat at the farthest pew, keeping tabs of my watch.

The defence said, "Your honour, it's clear that whoever this Bat Guy is, he planted the cash and drugs on my client. Then called it in."

"Bat Guy?" The prosecutor demanded, "You expect us to believe this madness? You're making a mockery of the court!"

Come on, what did he look like? Who is he?

Then Mr. Higgins explained, "The fact is, your Honour, that I am an honest man who was mugged by some lunatic dressed as a bat. You should be after him, not me."

Liar! This is a waste of time. I sat up from the pews as the prosecutor continued to ask Higgins, "Mr. Higgins. You are employed, are you not?"

"Yes, sir. I work at the New Beginnings Animal Rescue in Tricorner. It's a rough neighbourhood, but we try to help the animals there."

New Beginnings Animal Rescue? Again? I sat back to the nearest pew.

"You work for a charitable cause?"

"I've committed my life to giving back, sir."

"Your Honour, Mr. Higgins is a known felon just recently charged for a large quantity of drops, he was suspected of distributing."

"Objection!" The defence called, "Those charges are irrelevant as they've been dropped."

Dropped? Why would they be dropped?

"Still, he was known in the Maroni organization. Do you expect us to believe he rescues puppies now? It's absurd."

Maroni Organization?

"It's true I used to run with the wrong crowd, but that was years ago. Time in the can will change a man. Is that not the point, Mr. Prosecutor? To rehabilitate? To renew?"

"Is that how you managed to drop those charges two months ago? Why you served such a short sentence after your time with Maroni's organization? You rehabilitated?"

"I ain't no rat, if that's what you're implying, Mr. Prosecutor. I took it on the chin. I did my time. I just want a new beginning, is all."

I had so much in my head. Tricorner was a lot darker than it usually is. The streets now revealing haunted corners I didn't know till now. It was after work, but I was so stubborn to figure this out. I looked on my maps app and a part of me was saying.

You could lose your job, Edward. Then where would you be?

I opened the door to New Beginnings Rescue. Immediately I was met with stench of animal waste and flurry of animal noises. There was a security camera by the door inside. One guy sitting at the till. His face was scarred and illustrated in tattoos. Doesn't look like Mr. Higgins.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"Um. Yes. Are you the only one working here?"

"Yes. Can I help you?"

"Does a Mr. Higgins work here?"

"Oh, Mr. H. Yes, but he is not here today."

Then a metal gate cried open from the other room, "Can I help you?"

There he was, Mr. Higgins. I thought he wasn't here?

"Oh, Mr. H. I didn't know that you were back."

Higgins than walked up to me, his voice low and gritty, "You looking to make a donation? Or maybe we can interest you in adopting a pet?"

He brought over a small cage with a rat inside of it. My blood curdled at the sight of it.

"Oh. Um. No, sir. I just wanted to um, see the puppies, sir."

"We ain't got no puppies right now. But we got some big dogs."

What are you doing? You need to leave! You see these two? One wrong word and you could be beaten senseless.

"Um. That's okay. Thank you!" I stumbled out of the Rescue and to the door, before I pushed it through Higgins asked again.

"Hey, have I seen you before?"

I ran through the rain and didn't even see the vehicle pull up until the headlights were blinding me. It stopped and so did I, the driver screaming at me to get out of the road.

"Sorry!"

I ran two blocks, sloshing water into my shoes before I finally stopped and tried to catch my breath behind a pillar off the rail bridge. I was a street over from the Iceberg Lounge. I was in a dodgy place, a dangerous place. One of the worst corners of Tricorner. I need to get home. I'm pushing my luck.

I was soaked head to toe, the questions Cori will have in store for me. Was I really going to lie to her again? Then I heard oncoming familiar voices, strikingly familiar. Their footsteps splashed in front of the Iceberg Lounge and an umbrella opened. Is that… Zach and Mr. Stone? What are they doing here?

A girl walked down the steps from the lounge, it was the girl he rescued.

"You must be Mr. Stone. I'm Ani."

Mr. Stone brought her and Zach together like a devil's dealing.

"Zach this is Ani. She's new here."

"Hi Zach! I'll be taking care of you tonight."

Zach replied, "Yeah, you will."

What is… happening? Something's not right.

My phone rang and I grabbed as quickly as I could to silence it from making any sound. It was Cori, I answered.

"Hey." I hissed, trying to be quiet.

"What… the hell are you doing? Are you outside in this rain?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

"Where are you?"

I was scared, "I need you to come pick me up. Please?"

"Of course. Where are you?"

"I'm outside the Iceberg Lounge."

Cori was quiet on the other end, but her breathing was definitely there, "What are you doing there?! That's where all the prostitutes hang out, Edward!"

"I'm not doing that. No way. Just… come get me and I'll tell you everything. I… need to tell you the truth."

She asked shakily, "Edward, what's going on?"

"Cori, I'll tell you everything. Just come pick me up. This is a bad part of the city and I'm freaking out."

"Okay, okay. Hold tight, I'll be there soon."

I waited under the bridge like a ghost. Watching one after the other come in and out of the Lounge. Watching Zach, Mr. Stone and the girl walk inside. She was a prostitute, clearly. What kind of firm manager takes his employees out to the Iceberg Lounge, an infamous drops spot. Then gets that employee a prostitute. It seemed so dirty and corrupt. Like a plane of tinted glass. I don't understand any of it. The New Beginnings Rescue, Mr. Stone, Zach… their faces were creeping to me, their eyes dull and dead.

Something's not right.

Cori's engine splashed through the puddles, coming in hot like she was on her way to the emergency room. Look what you did, Edward. She's worried.

I came out into the road for her headlights to shine on me. She braked and stopped, unlocking the doors. I was drenched in rain, my hair dripping on my glasses. I opened the door and I could hear her heavy breath. As I came inside wetting her passenger seat she started.

"Oh my God, your soaking. Here," she pulled out a blanket from the backseat and tossed it on my lap.

I took it smiling wearily, "Thank you."

She was quiet, but her face was anything but content.

"Okay. Talk. You're out here in the rain, outside the… worst place in Gotham. You cancelled lunch with me today, you haven't been sleeping. You haven't been talking! You've been acting so fucking weird and I want to know why. Edward, what is going on?"

I sighed and prepared to unload the jumble of these two days on her. I didn't want to burden her with any of this. I felt like I could work secretly to find and answer, and she would remain blissfully unaware at home. I'd keep and protect her in the warmth of her apartment as I'd trudge these slums for a reason as to why. I looked at her with remorse, adoring her black hair tied in a bun, her oversized sweater and kitten pajama pants. She was only wearing slippers. She ran out of her home unkempt just for me. Now I was bringing this darkness to her table. Making it her own.

Don't lie, Edward. No more lies.

"You remember that… account I was working on? With all those four digit payments?"

Cori nodded, "Yeah. What does that have to do with you out here?"

"I spoke with Mr. Stone about it. He told me it was nothing. A mistake. That I made a mistake."

"Wait, he said you did the account wrong?"

"I don't know," I shook my head and took off my glasses, trying to clean the water off with the blanket, "He said I made a mistake. I don't make mistakes, though. Not with numbers. I followed him to a diner the other night, you know when I said I was at home packing? I wasn't, I was at the diner trying to just explain to him that I saw what I saw. He told me he would tell H.R if I followed him again. Told me I could lose my job and said I need to drop the case."

"I saw those photos," she muttered, "You weren't wrong. The math is there. Any branch manager worth their salt would investigate that. He told you to drop it?"

"Yeah… and I couldn't accept it," I folded my hands to my face and rubbed the water away, "I had to keep digging. I went to that hearing with Higgins, that's why I cancelled lunch. I needed to see what he would say. I didn't know that he was managing New Beginnings."

Cori gasped, "Get out. Higgins is in charge of New Beginnings, the account with all the small payments?" She thought for a minute then gasped, startling me as she clasped her mouth. Her eyes went wide.

I asked her, "What?"

"Higgins is a mob boss! He's still selling drops; he's just using New Beginnings to clean the money! Laundering, baby! Which means… oh shit."

"You think Waterfront Industries is the other link? To launder the money? It used to be a front for Maroni."

Cori slapped her hands on her thighs, "It's gotta be. I wanted to get a story so badly two months ago about Higgins' drug bust. Guess who called me and threatened me with jail time? Commissioner Savage. Said if I didn't pull the story he'd charge me with misconduct— just some flexing bullshit. Then Mr. Stone tells you to drop the account, that he'll fire you if you don't leave it alone. That doesn't explain why you're here, though?"

"I… went to New Beginnings to see for myself. The animals are just put in crates, they aren't being cared for. It's just a front. I spoke with Higgins, and… I couldn't be there, so I ran. Ran as fast as I could, I think he recognized me from the court room. I ran here and I saw Mr. Stone and Zach with a prostitute. They went in a few minutes ago."

Cori said excitedly, "You see?! Shady! Shady, shady, shady. I bet you money Mr. Stone is in on it. I know you don't want to think that way about your boss, but it makes sense, right? KTMJ is one of the oldest accounting firms in the city. They used to do the city's taxes. Let me guess, you guys still use paper, right?"

I nodded a smile, sharing a glimpse of her excitement, "Yeah."

"Paper trail! Easy to forge documents and easy to hide evidence. Ha!" She jumped in her seat and squealed, clutching my hands making me jolt. But it was so nice to see her excited. This burden that I wanted to keep hidden, she shown the excitement I wish she had when I saw the Bat Man.

She said, "Baby! Do you know what this means? Do you know what you just stumbled on! You just stumbled on a crack!"

"A crack?"

"A crack in the sidewalk. As journalists, we spend a lot of time beating pavement on smooth, freshly cemented roads being led down by government officials and bribes. Then every once in a while, in a blue moon, we stumble on a crack. The real story. A story everyone would want to hear, right? You got to it! You are… this amazing investigating commando out here in the trenches, literally, digging up dirt for the biggest story in Gotham. You're a fucking legend, baby!"

She gripped me in for a hug, squealing excitedly as she swayed me in her arms. I wove mine over her back and pulled her in, I didn't know how much I needed that hug till I was in it. I held her in close and she sighed against my shoulder, resting her head on it. She whispered, "I'm gonna make the Times soaking wet with this story."

I pulled away then, "What? No. No, you can't write about it. About any of this."

"Can I write about it on Nigma?"

"No! I haven't even scratched the surface of this. I still don't know what it means, it's all just assumptions at this point. There's nothing concrete. Nothing real. I could get fired, you could go to jail. No. I need more to take to the authorities."

Cori dropped her eyes and nodded, "You're right. Sorry," she looked up at me again, "But you're not keeping secrets from me anymore, okay? If you're doing it, we're doing it together. I'll help you every step of the way, and you're not going into dangerous situations like now by yourself. I want to help."

"You'll help me?"

There it is… another room. The lights turned on.

"Of course, I'll help you. You're not alone."

Then another room. All of these rooms, she walks through them and flicks the lights. She's bringing me back to life.

"God…" I sighed, holding back tears. My lip began to waggle as I rested my hand to her cheek. She gently brought hers' up to it. She had a shivering smile, too. Her eyes sparkling with my own. I muttered, "I don't know what I would do without you."

"You won't find out. You're stuck with me, sir."

I couldn't hold back anymore, I breathed out and kissed her. She clutched me in, and the windshield wiper faded, the rain on the top of the cars muffled. All I could hear was our breath. Our own clothes rustling against each other. I was feeling the pressure on my zipper again. I was drowning in it, but I needed more.

I broke from her only to whisper, "Let's go home. I need to show you something else."

She hushed back, "Is it better than cover-ups and conspiracies?"

"So much better."

She giggled on my lips. We smacked them together a few more times before she put the car on drive. She held my hand the ride home, she was finally sharing the same compulsion, the same drive. To uncover the truth. To speak words everyone else was too scared to. Why was I too scared to tell her, anyway? It seemed so foolish now. Knowing that it would only bring us closer together.