Skip leaned his leather chair against the window sill and read the paper. "DEAD MAN FOUND ON SHORE" The headline news in thick black letters. Skip took special interest in this. The man had been shot and apparently drowned. There was a blurry black and white photo of the scene below the story. Skip relaxed a little when he saw that it wasn't one of his men or his enemies. Still. It was unsettling. What if it [i]had[/i] been one of his men?

A knock sounded at the door. "Who is it?"

"A visitor." A muffled voice came through the thick wood of the door. 

"Obviously. Whaddya want?" Skip was trying to make the irritation in his voice noticeable.

"To say something." It sounded like a woman.

"Jesus Christ. You know the door [i]opens,[/i] right?" Skip practically shouted. "Quit with the ambiguous shit and tell me what you want!" He shook the paper violently to straighten it out and propped his feet up on the desk.

"I know. I just wasn't sure if [i]you[/i] did." The girl from the night before walked in. Skip set the paper down on the desk and sat upright in his chair "You know... Like, if you were super sociable."

"Well, I can be." Skip said in a much nicer tone. "I'm sorry if I insulted you. I just get a lot of stupid salespeople. I'm sick of it." He stood up and moved to a cupboard. "Want a drink?" He took a crystal bottle with matching tumblers out and set them on the desk. He motioned for her to sit down. She did.

"Why not?" She smiled widely. Skip poured the alcohol into a glass and handed it to her. "Thanks."

"Not a problem." He put the bottle back in the cupboard without pouring himself a glass. Instead, he poured a different drink. The woman eyed him curiously, but didn't ask.

"I wanted to thank you." She sipped and put the glass down. "You know, for the money." She looked at the floor. 

Skip smiled at her. He was about to say something when one of his men came in. "Skip, we got big trouble!" Skip looked up at the guy.

"What kind of trouble?" He glanced back at the woman. "Hold on. Wait here."

"They're outside." The man said, his words rushed together. The man led Skip out of the room.

***

Ashland watched as the men left. She wondered what a hatter could have done to get himself into "big trouble." Did he accidentally give a man a woman's hat? She chuckled a little. 

She sat and stared out the window. It was another dreary day. Gray skies on the brink of dumping more rain on the already soaked sea-side town. She zoned out, thinking about the stack of money waiting for her on the bed. When she came back to reality, she was staring at Skip's glass. She was curious as to why he had to drink something other than what he gave her. She glanced behind her to see if he'd come back yet. He hadn't. As a matter of fact, shouting could be heard in the distance. 

She looked back at the glass. The liquid inside looked almost solid as it sat, unmoved on the desk in front of her. She glanced back again before picking it up and bringing it to her nose. Maybe it had medicine in it? She smelled it. It smelled sweet. Non-alcoholic. 

There was banging and yelling coming from the stairwell. It was getting closer. Ashland quickly put the glass back and stood up, nervousness washing over her. Skip and his man tumbled into the room and slammed the door shut just seconds before two other men crashed into it.

"Let us in, Skip." A grisly voice sounded from the other side.

"Or we'll huff and we'll puff and we'll blow our way in!" Another voice, higher pitched, said and the broke into laughter.

"Shut up, Rick." the grisly voice said, followed by a thump and groan of pain from the other voice.

"Ashland." Skip almost hissed. He was trying to keep quiet. He pointed at the wall. Ashland looked at the wall Skip was pointing at. It was covered in heavy drapery. She pointed back to make sure that he meant to point at it. He nodded. "There's a door."

Ashland rushed to the wall and pushed the drapery aside. Low and behold, there [i]was[/i] a door. She opened it and started to walk through it. She stopped when she could hear a slight popping sound through the pounding of the men trying to break in. She looked back at Skip and his man. Skip had a bloody nose and the beginnings of a black eye. His friend had a knife sticking out of his shoulder.

"Go!" Skip wasn't hissing anymore. The pounding got more intense.

"Come with me." She said, quieter.

"Just go, Skip." The man said. "I'm gonna bleed out anyways.

"Dammit, Nathan! You got stabbed in the [i]shoulder.[/i] You'll be [i]fine."[/i]

"Just [i]go.[/i] You're the important one." The man argued.

[i]"Fine."[/i] Skip stood up and made a run for Ashland and the door. He slammed it shut once he got through. He grabbed her arm and started running down the stairs in front of them. He was practically dragging Ashland along.