6 Arc One (5)

It wouldn't have been a surprise had Nicholas woken up once more in the changeroom. His head throbbed enough for him to believe it was possible to die from being clocked in the face with a Glock, and his body ached much like it had the previous two times he died.

Instead, when he slowly opened his eyes, Nicholas found himself still in his apartment.

A chair had been brought from the dining room and placed in the center of the loungeroom. It was only after Nicholas realised he was quite effectively tied to that chair, that he also realised the loungeroom carpet had been covered with white plastic sheeting— the type used by painters to protect homes from paint splatters.

Thinking about it, and what they might need to protect the carpet from, the plastic sheeting was even scarier than the row of tall muscly men standing in line against the far wall. Each one wore a uniform of black suit, black shirt, dark glasses, and buzz cut. Once again, the original's memories told him that this men were supposedly from a private security company that Gabe had invested in a few years back. The original had even run the numbers and checked over the sale contracts before Gabe had finalised the deal.

Knowing where the men were from, didn't explain in their presence in his apartment. Or his current situation.

It also didn't explain why his best friend was sitting in front of him, arms along the back of the couch and looking unexpectedly nonchalant about Nicholas being tied to a chair.

"Gabe?" Ouch. Speaking made his head feel like a tiny gnome was mining his brain, but what other option did he have? "What's going on?"

"Oh Nicky…"

For the first time, Nicholas watched a dark gleam shine in Gabe's green eyes. In the back of his mind neon signs lit up screaming "Disney Villain! Mission Abort!" but the inappropriate thought was thankfully prevented from showing on his face by overwhelming confusion. He had the memories from the original… they were best friends… Gabe had never even killed a cockroach… Had his presence in this body unexpectedly changed their friendship?

"Why did you do it?" Gabe leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Maybe it was a position to invite Nicholas to talk but poor Nicholas still had no clue what was happening.

"Do what?"

Rather than directly answer, Gabe picked up a tablet from the couch and showed Nicholas a grainy video. The footage was obviously taken from the red light camera outside the shopping center where Nicholas and Louisa had spent the morning. There was no sound, but Nicholas' memory from his first attempt at this mission filled in the audio and he could hear the tyres screeching. This time, there was no convenient cannon fodder to throw the female lead out of the way and Nicholas closed his eyes rather than watch the car make contact with the women he'd come to like during his time in this world. He didn't need to remember her looking like a broken ragdoll tossed into the gutter.

"Why did you do it?" When Gabe asked the question for a second time, his voice sliced through the still apartment air like a hot blade through butter.

"I didn't… I would never…" Nicholas stared wide eyed at his best friend. Surely he didn't think that he, Nicholas, his best friend from childhood, would have ever been a part of something so horrific?

"Louisa was my friend!"

"Your friend?" Gabe scoffed and the men standing behind him shifted uneasily. It was obvious they knew what was coming and weren't entirely comfortable remaining in the room. "Or your rival?"

"Huh?" Nicholas' heart stopped. Gabe knew about the original's long time crush?

"What do you take me for? I wasn't blind to the puppy love in your eyes. Or the way you panted after me the summer I started working out."

Disgust was clear on Gabe's face and made his features sharp under the artificial lights.

Nicholas felt pity for the original well up inside him. Nothing in the original's memories suggested that his friend knew about his crush. The original had worked so hard to bury his love beneath the accepted feelings between 'bros' and had believed himself successful. It was just as well he had taken over, Nicholas mused. It would have broken the original to know that not only did his friend discover his illicit feelings, but those feelings were the root of a suspicion that would turn Gabe against him.

"So?" Nicholas lifted his chin, refusing to roll over like the dog he'd already been compared to. "You know how I feel about you. But you should also know how I feel about Louisa… and I have never seen her as a rival."

"If not a rival, then why did you do it?" Tension filled Gabe's body, drawing his shoulders taut beneath the black silk shirt.

"Do what? What did I do? I can't defend myself if I have no fucking idea what you are talking about?" Shouting felt good. Not as good as getting out of the duct tie strapping him to the chair, but it helped clear his mind, cool the confusion that was making it hard to think.

"It was your car." The tablet was picked up again and several pictures flicked through before it was shown once more to Nicholas. "The car that you conveniently reported stolen two days ago, just happens to be painted over and used as the weapon of choice in a hit and run that kills my wife?"