I was trapped, and unable to escape. I wanted to run, but I was stuck hiding between the two large and dirty old dumpsters. The surge of adrenaline going through my veins started to make my body shake uncontrollably. I needed to think, but my brain was spinning out of control.

"I want you to come out and talk," said Tony.

He still sounded angry, but that was understandable. There was no way I wanted to go out there.

"If you don't come out, I'm just going to shoot you," said Tony, frustration beginning to show in his voice.

Well, it did not sound like I had a choice. I started to slowly shuffle forward in a crouching position. My legs didn't feel strong enough for me to be able to stand up.

"I'm sorry," I said, quietly. "Please don't hurt me."

When I peeked my head out from behind the dumpster, I could see Tony standing a little way back in the shadows. He was frowning angrily and pointing his gun in my direction.

"Get up," he said.

I tried my best to do as he had ordered, but my legs were shaking too much. I had to pull myself up on the corner of the dumpster, then lean on it to stop myself from falling down again.

"Now, who do you work for?" Tony asked.

That seemed an odd question, I thought he knew where I worked. "I work for your dad, at the coffee shop," I said.

"That's not what I meant!" he shouted angrily. "Stop lying!"

"I'm not lying," I said, with tears starting to form in the corner of my eyes. "You can ask Lucas, he knows where I work."

"Oh I'll be talking to Lucas," said Tony. "In fact, I think we need to go back and talk to Don Salvatore right now. Get back in the car."

I took a few nervous steps out from behind the dumpster. Going back to see Dominic did not sound good, but it didn't look like I had any choice.

"Go on," said Tony, and nodded towards the car.

When Tony nodded though, I noticed him wince in pain. It was like he had forgotten about the knife that was still sticking out from his neck. He gave a sort of frustrated groan, then reached up and grabbed the handle. He gave a quick tug and yanked the knife blade out from his flesh. Then he casually tossed it to the ground behind him.

"Hurry up and get in the car, bitch," he said.

I turned and began walking despondently towards the car. I had a brief thought of trying to run away, but it was just as quickly dismissed. I had a gun pointed at my back, plus I was still wearing heels, so there was no way I would be able to run fast enough to escape.

I was just about to reach out for the door handle, when I heard a loud crash behind me. I froze for a moment, before nervously looking around to see what had happened.

When I looked back, I could see that Tony had collapsed and landed on one of the trash cans. He had knocked the trash can over, and spilled its contents all over the ground before landing face first in the pile of trash.

Too scared to move, I stared for a moment at Tony and waited to see what would happen next. He didn't appear to be moving. The trickle of blood that had been running down his neck had turned into a river. There was a large pool beginning to form that reflected in the dim glow of a nearby streetlight.

I stood and waited for a few more minutes. Tony still wasn't moving.

"Hey, are you okay?" I called out.

There was no response, so I edged closer. When I got close enough to touch him, I reached out tentatively with my foot and gave him a nudge. I still got no response, so I kicked him slightly harder. Nothing happened.

I was contemplating my next move, when I heard something behind me.

"Hey, you okay down there, sugar," a woman's voice called out.

It made me jump in fright, and I spun around to see where the voice had come from. I saw a woman come walking down the alleyway towards me. She was African American, and dressed rather provocatively, with a short skirt and thigh high boots. She was also carrying something in her hand that she was pointing in my direction. I wasn't sure what it was, but it didn't look like a gun.

"I just finished up with my John, when I heard the gunshot," she said. "You get a bad date?"

I didn't know what to say, I was still in shock and couldn't think straight. I had been so scared of getting killed, and now I was scared of getting caught. It was too much for me to handle.

"He t-t-tried to s-shoot me," I stuttered.

"Are you hurt?" the woman asked, as she moved closer towards me.

"I, umm, no. I don't think so," I said.

"Damn, is that your John?" she asked, as she got close enough to see where Tony was laying.

"I stabbed him," I said, quietly.

She crouched down to get a closer look, and reached out to prod him. "He looks like he's dead," she said, in a matter of fact way as she stood up again.

The fear gripped me again. Was the woman going to call the police? She had just caught me murdering someone, there was no way I could get out of this.

"Hey, be cool, sugar," she said. "Us working girls gotta stick together."

"I, err..."

"I had plenty of Johns turn on me over the years, that's why I got the taser," she said, and waved the little black thing in her hand. "We gotta be able to protect ourselves, right?"

"Err, yeah," I said.

"Come on, we gotta be quick. Cops could be on their way," she said.

The thought of the cops coming made me start to shake. The fear came back stronger than before, and the tears started growing larger in the corner of my eyes.

"Hey, focus," she said. "A bad trick ain't worth your tears."

"Sorry, ma'am," I said, but I wasn't sure what I should be doing next.

"Ma'am? Just call me Desirée," she said. "Now pick up the weapon, it'll have your prints on it. Can't leave it behind."

I went over to where Tony had dropped the knife. His gun was also laying on the ground nearby. I was struck with the thought that I wasn't sure which weapon Desirée had meant. I looked up to ask her, but she seemed busy going through one of the nearby dumpsters and pulling out handfuls of newspapers. I shrugged and decided to take both.

I picked up the gun first, and put it in my bag. Though it was quite a large one, it kind of stuck out the opening slightly. Then I pulled out the cloth that I had used to wrap up the knife. The blade and handle were covered in blood, so I wrapped it up again before slipping into my bag.

"Here, take this," Desirée said, as she handed me an armful of old newspapers. "He looks too heavy to move. We're gonna cover him in trash, and hope he don't get spotted too soon."

I started unfolding the newspapers, and laid them carefully over Tony's body. While I was doing that, Desirée started kicking over a couple more of the trash cans. After about a minute, Tony's body was completely hidden from view, though there was now a huge pile of trash in the alleyway instead.

Desirée looked at the pile of trash, then looked over at Tony's car. She seemed to be deep in thought for a moment, then walked over to have a closer look.

"The keys are still in here," she said. "That'll make it easier."

"Make what easier?" I asked.

"I know a place we can take his car, make it disappear," she said. "Just get in, I'll drive."

I got back in the passenger seat, while Desirée got in the driver's side. I began to relax as she started to slow back out from the alleyway. Once the immediate danger disappeared from sight, it was like a huge weight lifted from my chest. But that was when I started to feel the delayed effects of the shock. My head started to feel dizzy and I couldn't think straight. The rest of the drive seemed to pass by quickly, and I couldn't remember clearly everything that happened.

I remembered Desirée telling me she would drop me off a few blocks away, and that I should take a cab home. She also told me that I looked like I needed a strong drink. The last I remembered of her was her leaning over to speak to me as I got out of the car.

"Hey. Remember, I don't know you, and you don't know me," she said. "I drive off and we never see each other again."

"Okay. Thank you," I said.

And with that, she disappeared off into the night.