On her way back to the main area of the bar, Jia Crawford takes a minute to actually stop in the bathroom. Grabbing some paper towels, she looks at herself in the mirror. She‘s shocked at how awful she looks. The top left corner of her forehead is a giant bloody bruise, surrounded by cuts. A little blood’s still leaking out of them but it’s starting to clot. That won’t need more than a few bandages. The cut on her cheek’s a different matter. It’s deep and blood from it’s still flowing down her face. She looks like she emerged from a horror movie. There’s dried blood streaked everywhere. Looking down at her hands, she realizes they’re also caked with dried blood.

Horrified that Cassie saw her like this, she starts wetting paper towels and pressing them against the cut. It stings but hopefully it’ll help. With another paper towel she tries to clean the dried blood from her face the best she can. She realizes the hair near her wounds is even caked with blood. At least her dark hair mostly hides it.

When she finally looks remotely like herself she makes her way back out to the bar. She still has a paper towel pressed against her cheek to stop more blood from flowing. A new pair of people in suits are looking over the place and throwing evidence into bags. When Cassie sees her she makes her way over. Seeing that she’s watching the newcomers she says, ”Detectives. Feeling any better?”

“Not really, this is really starting to sting. If you need me to answer more questions I can but otherwise I’m probably going to text my brother and have him come get me. I hate needles but I think I’m actually looking forward to stitches.”

“Just a few, it won’t take long. Want to grab a table? You look a little unsteady, don’t want you falling over on me.”

Finding only a few tables in the place are still standing and have chairs in one piece, they settle in one in the far corner by the jukebox. “Who was this source who asked you to come out here tonight? We may want to question them.”

Jia shifts in her seat. “That’s going to be really dangerous for them. I don’t want to make your job harder but I don’t think that would qualify as making the public safer. They’re part of the public.”

Cassie’s smile wavers a bit but she doesn’t seem upset. “Okay, we can leave that out for now. You’ll have to make it up to me though. Can you identify any of the people who were here?”

“There was one guy named Rocco. My source told me he was in charge. Big guy, bald, looks like he’s had his nose broken a few dozen times. He was the one who sent the rest after me. He’s the only one I got a name from.”

Jotting something down in a notebook Cassie says, “Did he say anything that would give us a clue? We’ll run the evidence but I don’t think we have a lot to go on here.”

“He mentioned San Francisco, I think that’s where the group operates out of. The only other thing I can think of is he offered to let me live if I blew him.”

Suddenly shifting in her seat, Cassie looks uncomfortable. She stares at the ground, not meeting Jia’s gaze. “Well that’s gross.”

“Ya, wasn’t going to happen. He doesn’t have the parts I’m looking for.”

Now Cassie’s completely frozen, blinking a few times, but her smile starts coming back. “Noted, not into blowing bald dudes with bad noses.”

“Or anyone else for that matter.”

Shuffling through a few pages of notes, she seems to be trying to find a come back. “Well, I think I have everything I need.” She pauses for a moment but then she pushes her lips together and her eyes narrow. “That’s actually not true, I need one more thing. Can I get your phone number?”

She has to think about it for a moment. Jia never calls herself. “Sure. It’s 701-555-0138. If you have any other questions you can call me.”

“What if my question was if you’d get dinner with me?”

It takes a moment for Jia to realize what Cassie’s saying. When she does her mouth practically hangs open in surprise. Cassie’s getting so red that she almost matches the paper towel Jia still has against her cheek. When she finally recovers Jia says, “Really? I look like I climbed out of a horror movie and I smell like I drank everything in the bar.”

“Kind of. I still think you look cute though. If you don’t want me to I won’t call.”

Jia blinks a few times. “You know that’s kind of an inappropriate question for a police officer to ask a girl when she’s sitting here bleeding all over the place, right? Is this like, your move? Strike when they’re vulnerable.”

Looking upset Cassie no longer meets Jia’s gaze. “I wasn’t going for that. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I won’t bother you again.”

Grabbing Cassie’s hand, she stops her from standing. “Well I didn’t say that. Actually, I kind of like it. You can call me. Why don’t you shoot me a text now so I’ll have your number?”

Now it’s Cassie’s turn to have her jaw drop. “That was really mean you know.”

“I know, I’m mean sometimes. I’m nice a lot more often though. If you call I’ll have to make it up to you.”

“You’d better.”

A smile spreads across Jia’s face. “You just made tonight a lot better. Until now the best thing that happened to me all night was someone deciding not to shoot me.”

“Could be worse. The best thing could have been someone deciding to shoot you.”

“That would be worse. Then I wouldn’t have been asked out by a pretty girl. Or maybe I would have been, the cheek didn’t stop you. I’m going to text my brother and get out of here. I’m still bleeding and really need to get some stitches. If I bleed out I won’t be able to go on a date.”

With a smile the size of the moon, Cassie waves goodbye. Before she goes, Jia notices the bartender making her way back into the bar. The exchange a glance but nothing’s said. She calls Shin and tells him to get over here with the car so they can get to the hospital. At first he freaks out because he doesn’t want to pull right up to the cops. Then he notices she said hospital and he freaks out even more. She can hear his tires screech down the road and it isn’t long before he’s pulling into the parking lot.

As she slumps into the passenger seat of his car, Shin sees her holding the paper towel to her cheek and her busted forehead. “You said you and Jillian were okay. What the hell happened?”

“I got beat up. It happens. I am okay, I just need a few stitches. It’s bleeding pretty good. Just stop by the ER. They won’t be that busy this time of night. I should be in and out in no time and then we can get home. I have to work in the morning so let’s get moving.”

Soon they’re flying down the back roads toward the hospital closest to their house. It’s not that close, around ten miles away, but she’s not dying and the cool night air feels good against her face. The rest of her body which is still soaked with liquor likes it less. Shin keeps looking over at her instead of paying attention to the road. “Try not to bleed on the car. That’ll cost a fortune to get out and I don’t exactly have the money.”

“Getting the smell of booze out isn’t going to be cheap either.” He doesn’t respond. “You don’t get to say that to me right now by the way. I’m only bleeding here because you got yourself into this.”

Shin turns to face her and she points at the road, encouraging him to turn back. “I told you not to go in there! You’re lucky they didn’t kill you. Why’d they let you go anyway?”

“They heard the sirens. Someone called the cops, no clue who. I thought it was you at first but I don’t think the description they had was yours. At least it had better not be.”

“I didn’t call them. I thought about it but I was afraid that’d make it worse. Whoever did it though, I’m glad they did. Those guys are serious.”

“He made me an offer, but it was gross so I passed. Jillian said she thinks they’ll leave you alone for a while if you stay around here though. They might even forget about you if you don’t do anything stupid.”

“You talked to her?” He glances at her but now he’s mostly keeping his eyes on the road.

“She pulled up right before the cops showed and said she’d try to keep them off you as much as she could but that’d be a lot easier if you stay in Napa. I’m guessing after tonight they’re spooked and they won’t come around here for at least a few months. Just lay low. You can stay with mom and dad too. It’s not the worst thing.”

He groans. “I might disagree. I guess it’s better than dying though. Why was she still there? I thought you were going to warn her.”

“I warned her. Thought she was gone until she showed back up out of nowhere and attacked me. She’s the one who gave me this.” She points at the cut across her cheek.

His hand covers his mouth. For a moment he puts the other on his forehead before realizing at least one needs to be on the steering wheel. “She knifed you? I’m so sorry. I can’t believe she’d do that. I’d never have asked you to warn her if I thought she was going to do that.”

Jia manages to laugh, though it hurts her face. “No, she didn’t knife me. She threw me over the bar and I crashed into a bunch of bottles. A shard of one cut me. That’s also why I smell like I’ve been on a three week bender. I don’t think she was trying to hurt me. She told me to go with it and she went slow enough that she didn’t hit me until the end, right before she took off. I think she was trying to help. Before she jumped in they were all coming at me at once and they might have killed me. The others backed off once she came at me and it was just the two of us.”

Shin presses his lips together and somehow he looks more worried than before. “If they figure out she helped you, they’re going to kill her. We need to track her down.”

Shaking her head, Jia turns to face her brother. “She told us not to come after her Shin. It’s not your job to save her. We don’t even know that she needs saving. She’s part of this. The only reason she helped me was because she’s your friend.”

They quietly drive for a few minutes until they near the hospital. Shin finally breaks the silence. “How did she seem? You didn’t beat on her bad did you?”

“I only hit her a few times and they were all light punches. She got me way worse than I got her. She’s fine. Oh, by the way--” Jia reaches into her pocket and pulls out the paperwork she got. “The bartender gave me this. The only records you were ever in that place so the cops won’t be knocking on our door. I had to let her delete the other records to get it. You’re welcome.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Shin snatches the paper from her and shoves it into his own pocket. “I didn’t even think of that. Oh shit, I don’t want to go down with those assholes. Don’t worry about the records. They’re leaving town anyway, who cares? You’re supposed to keep this area safe, right? I think getting those guys out of town counts. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

As they park outside the ER, Shin stops his sister from getting out of the car. “To be clear, you got no good hits on her? None in the stomach or anything like that?”

“No Shin, I didn’t hit her in the stomach. She said not to.”

He nods a few times. “That’s good. I really need you to help me find her. I’d do it myself but apparently I need to stay around here to make sure I don’t end up dead. She’ll go back to San Francisco, I know it. I can tell you a couple of places to look for her.”

Her cheek’s burning now. “Why are you so obsessed with this girl? I know she’s your friend but she seems like she can handle herself. She sure punches like she can.” Taking in everything her brother’s said in the last few minutes an epiphany hits Jia. “Tell me the truth. Is she just a friend? You didn’t...”

“I don’t want to talk about that Jia. Let’s go in and get your face stitched up.”

“Oh god, you did. Shin you little moron.”

Crossing his arms, he looks down at the floor. “I told you that I needed you to find her. I wasn’t making it up.”

On her way back to the main area of the bar, Jia Crawford takes a minute to actually stop in the bathroom. Grabbing some paper towels, she looks at herself in the mirror. She‘s shocked at how awful she looks. The top left corner of her forehead is a giant bloody bruise, surrounded by cuts. A little blood’s still leaking out of them but it’s starting to clot. That won’t need more than a few bandages. The cut on her cheek’s a different matter. It’s deep and blood from it’s still flowing down her face. She looks like she emerged from a horror movie. There’s dried blood streaked everywhere. Looking down at her hands, she realizes they’re also caked with dried blood.

Horrified that Cassie saw her like this, she starts wetting paper towels and pressing them against the cut. It stings but hopefully it’ll help. With another paper towel she tries to clean the dried blood from her face the best she can. She realizes the hair near her wounds is even caked with blood. At least her dark hair mostly hides it.

When she finally looks remotely like herself she makes her way back out to the bar. She still has a paper towel pressed against her cheek to stop more blood from flowing. A new pair of people in suits are looking over the place and throwing evidence into bags. When Cassie sees her she makes her way over. Seeing that she’s watching the newcomers she says, ”Detectives. Feeling any better?”

“Not really, this is really starting to sting. If you need me to answer more questions I can but otherwise I’m probably going to text my brother and have him come get me. I hate needles but I think I’m actually looking forward to stitches.”

“Just a few, it won’t take long. Want to grab a table? You look a little unsteady, don’t want you falling over on me.”

Finding only a few tables in the place are still standing and have chairs in one piece, they settle in one in the far corner by the jukebox. “Who was this source who asked you to come out here tonight? We may want to question them.”

Jia shifts in her seat. “That’s going to be really dangerous for them. I don’t want to make your job harder but I don’t think that would qualify as making the public safer. They’re part of the public.”

Cassie’s smile wavers a bit but she doesn’t seem upset. “Okay, we can leave that out for now. You’ll have to make it up to me though. Can you identify any of the people who were here?”

“There was one guy named Rocco. My source told me he was in charge. Big guy, bald, looks like he’s had his nose broken a few dozen times. He was the one who sent the rest after me. He’s the only one I got a name from.”

Jotting something down in a notebook Cassie says, “Did he say anything that would give us a clue? We’ll run the evidence but I don’t think we have a lot to go on here.”

“He mentioned San Francisco, I think that’s where the group operates out of. The only other thing I can think of is he offered to let me live if I blew him.”

Suddenly shifting in her seat, Cassie looks uncomfortable. She stares at the ground, not meeting Jia’s gaze. “Well that’s gross.”

“Ya, wasn’t going to happen. He doesn’t have the parts I’m looking for.”

Now Cassie’s completely frozen, blinking a few times, but her smile starts coming back. “Noted, not into blowing bald dudes with bad noses.”

“Or anyone else for that matter.”

Shuffling through a few pages of notes, she seems to be trying to find a come back. “Well, I think I have everything I need.” She pauses for a moment but then she pushes her lips together and her eyes narrow. “That’s actually not true, I need one more thing. Can I get your phone number?”

She has to think about it for a moment. Jia never calls herself. “Sure. It’s 701-555-0138. If you have any other questions you can call me.”

“What if my question was if you’d get dinner with me?”

It takes a moment for Jia to realize what Cassie’s saying. When she does her mouth practically hangs open in surprise. Cassie’s getting so red that she almost matches the paper towel Jia still has against her cheek. When she finally recovers Jia says, “Really? I look like I climbed out of a horror movie and I smell like I drank everything in the bar.”

“Kind of. I still think you look cute though. If you don’t want me to I won’t call.”

Jia blinks a few times. “You know that’s kind of an inappropriate question for a police officer to ask a girl when she’s sitting here bleeding all over the place, right? Is this like, your move? Strike when they’re vulnerable.”

Looking upset Cassie no longer meets Jia’s gaze. “I wasn’t going for that. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I won’t bother you again.”

Grabbing Cassie’s hand, she stops her from standing. “Well I didn’t say that. Actually, I kind of like it. You can call me. Why don’t you shoot me a text now so I’ll have your number?”

Now it’s Cassie’s turn to have her jaw drop. “That was really mean you know.”

“I know, I’m mean sometimes. I’m nice a lot more often though. If you call I’ll have to make it up to you.”

“You’d better.”

A smile spreads across Jia’s face. “You just made tonight a lot better. Until now the best thing that happened to me all night was someone deciding not to shoot me.”

“Could be worse. The best thing could have been someone deciding to shoot you.”

“That would be worse. Then I wouldn’t have been asked out by a pretty girl. Or maybe I would have been, the cheek didn’t stop you. I’m going to text my brother and get out of here. I’m still bleeding and really need to get some stitches. If I bleed out I won’t be able to go on a date.”

With a smile the size of the moon, Cassie waves goodbye. Before she goes, Jia notices the bartender making her way back into the bar. The exchange a glance but nothing’s said. She calls Shin and tells him to get over here with the car so they can get to the hospital. At first he freaks out because he doesn’t want to pull right up to the cops. Then he notices she said hospital and he freaks out even more. She can hear his tires screech down the road and it isn’t long before he’s pulling into the parking lot.

As she slumps into the passenger seat of his car, Shin sees her holding the paper towel to her cheek and her busted forehead. “You said you and Jillian were okay. What the hell happened?”

“I got beat up. It happens. I am okay, I just need a few stitches. It’s bleeding pretty good. Just stop by the ER. They won’t be that busy this time of night. I should be in and out in no time and then we can get home. I have to work in the morning so let’s get moving.”

Soon they’re flying down the back roads toward the hospital closest to their house. It’s not that close, around ten miles away, but she’s not dying and the cool night air feels good against her face. The rest of her body which is still soaked with liquor likes it less. Shin keeps looking over at her instead of paying attention to the road. “Try not to bleed on the car. That’ll cost a fortune to get out and I don’t exactly have the money.”

“Getting the smell of booze out isn’t going to be cheap either.” He doesn’t respond. “You don’t get to say that to me right now by the way. I’m only bleeding here because you got yourself into this.”

Shin turns to face her and she points at the road, encouraging him to turn back. “I told you not to go in there! You’re lucky they didn’t kill you. Why’d they let you go anyway?”

“They heard the sirens. Someone called the cops, no clue who. I thought it was you at first but I don’t think the description they had was yours. At least it had better not be.”

“I didn’t call them. I thought about it but I was afraid that’d make it worse. Whoever did it though, I’m glad they did. Those guys are serious.”

“He made me an offer, but it was gross so I passed. Jillian said she thinks they’ll leave you alone for a while if you stay around here though. They might even forget about you if you don’t do anything stupid.”

“You talked to her?” He glances at her but now he’s mostly keeping his eyes on the road.

“She pulled up right before the cops showed and said she’d try to keep them off you as much as she could but that’d be a lot easier if you stay in Napa. I’m guessing after tonight they’re spooked and they won’t come around here for at least a few months. Just lay low. You can stay with mom and dad too. It’s not the worst thing.”

He groans. “I might disagree. I guess it’s better than dying though. Why was she still there? I thought you were going to warn her.”

“I warned her. Thought she was gone until she showed back up out of nowhere and attacked me. She’s the one who gave me this.” She points at the cut across her cheek.

His hand covers his mouth. For a moment he puts the other on his forehead before realizing at least one needs to be on the steering wheel. “She knifed you? I’m so sorry. I can’t believe she’d do that. I’d never have asked you to warn her if I thought she was going to do that.”

Jia manages to laugh, though it hurts her face. “No, she didn’t knife me. She threw me over the bar and I crashed into a bunch of bottles. A shard of one cut me. That’s also why I smell like I’ve been on a three week bender. I don’t think she was trying to hurt me. She told me to go with it and she went slow enough that she didn’t hit me until the end, right before she took off. I think she was trying to help. Before she jumped in they were all coming at me at once and they might have killed me. The others backed off once she came at me and it was just the two of us.”

Shin presses his lips together and somehow he looks more worried than before. “If they figure out she helped you, they’re going to kill her. We need to track her down.”

Shaking her head, Jia turns to face her brother. “She told us not to come after her Shin. It’s not your job to save her. We don’t even know that she needs saving. She’s part of this. The only reason she helped me was because she’s your friend.”

They quietly drive for a few minutes until they near the hospital. Shin finally breaks the silence. “How did she seem? You didn’t beat on her bad did you?”

“I only hit her a few times and they were all light punches. She got me way worse than I got her. She’s fine. Oh, by the way--” Jia reaches into her pocket and pulls out the paperwork she got. “The bartender gave me this. The only records you were ever in that place so the cops won’t be knocking on our door. I had to let her delete the other records to get it. You’re welcome.”

Shin snatches the paper from her and shoves it into his own pocket. “I didn’t even think of that. Oh shit, I don’t want to go down with those assholes. Don’t worry about the records. They’re leaving town anyway, who cares? You’re supposed to keep this area safe, right? I think getting those guys out of town counts. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”

As they park outside the ER, Shin stops his sister from getting out of the car. “To be clear, you got no good hits on her? None in the stomach or anything like that?”

“No Shin, I didn’t hit her in the stomach. She said not to.”

He nods a few times. “That’s good. I really need you to help me find her. I’d do it myself but apparently I need to stay around here to make sure I don’t end up dead. She’ll go back to San Francisco, I know it. I can tell you a couple of places to look for her.”

Her cheek’s burning now. “Why are you so obsessed with this girl? I know she’s your friend but she seems like she can handle herself. She sure punches like she can.” Taking in everything her brother’s said in the last few minutes an epiphany hits Jia. “Tell me the truth. Is she just a friend? You didn’t...”

“I don’t want to talk about that Jia. Let’s go in and get your face stitched up.”

“Oh god, you did. Shin you moron.”

Crossing his arms, he looks down at the floor. “I told you that I needed you to find her. I wasn’t making it up.”