He got home from work, it was low paying, only in cash but it kept him off the radar and that was what he needed. He walked up to the third floor, shopping in hand and fished out his keys, he didn’t have a mobile as it could be tracked, he did have a burner phone in the apartment, but that was just for emergencies. He walked past one of the apartments and they were in the process of having a domestic, the guy was drunk again and slapping her around.

But then what did he expect - living in the ass end of Hell’s Kitchen - the block was dirty, the building grubby, and certain parts of it smelled like urine. But it was cheap, and the owners didn’t give a shit who lived in the apartments as long as the rent was paid.

He sighed.

James put the key in, opened it up, and stepped inside.

‘Not my problem,’ he dismissed the noise as he closed the door. He put the groceries down, grabbed the remote and switched the TV on.

“Domestic Disturbance” in this place was more common than “a quiet evening at home.”

It wasn’t his problem.

He growled, went over to the door, put it on the latch and left, he went to the door, while the screaming continued.

Another door opened and a kid looked out.

“Go back inside.”

She nodded.

His foot hit the door, smashing it in, the wood splintered and broke and he walked into the place, looking around the shit state it was in.

James zeroed in on the boyfriend/husband/whatever.

“What the fuck, man?”

“Get out,” the woman screamed at him.

He raised an eyebrow at that, she had a black eye, broken lip and looked fucked up, and the man pulled out a knife.

“You heard her.”

James snorted, “You two have been screaming and shouting for hours. It’s getting boring.”

“Fuck you,” he spat and lunged.

James grabbed his wrist and twisted it around, the man cried out and dropped the knife, the woman had the gall to go for him and he side stepped it, she fell onto the floor. James let go and the man swung for him again, he missed, by yards; James easily dodged it and pushed him backwards and onto his ass.

He walked over to the man, towering over him, looked down and smiled and quickly sidestepped the woman, she fell on top of the man.

“I don’t know what sort of sick shit you’ve got going on here,” James said, “But if I hear either of you screaming like this again, I’ll be back to finish the job.”

“Fuck you,” the man spat, “I’m going to have you arrested.”

“Sure,” James waved him off.

James shook his head and left.

The police did arrive, knocking on his door, the two officers saw the state of the door that the couple had said he had done.

James opened it and sighed.

“Let me guess.”

“Yeah,” one of them said, “He filed a complaint.”

James rolled his eyes and held out his hands, the two officers exchanged looks and handcuffed him.

“Come on, let’s go.”

The door opened, and the girl looked out.

“Hey Mister.”

“Hi kid.”

“Where you going?”

“Downtown,” James smiled.

“Don’t arrest him,” she implored to the two officers, “He’s a good guy, all he wanted to do was stop them screaming at each other.”

“They do that a lot?”

“Every day,” she nodded.

James smiled, “Guess there is some hope left in this shit hole. Thanks, kid.”

She smiled, and then went back inside.

“Come on. We’ll sort this shit out at the station.”

James inclined his head, “You won’t get any fight out of me, officer.”

“Sure.”

They took James down to the car and sat him in the back. He relaxed into the seat and sighed, resting. When they got to the station, he had his fingerprints taken.

So much for being low key.

James was finally put into an interrogation room and sat down. He turned around to the one way mirror, smiled and then turned back to the door. Eventually it opened and an officer stepped inside. She looked him up down.

“You know I’ve got nothing on you.”

“How so?”

“The name you gave on the lease is obviously a false one,” she shrugged, walked over and sat down. “You pay in cash so you’ve got no bank statements of any kind and you don’t even own a phone.”

“People know where I am if they want me.”

She sat back, “In this day and age of technology, why do you remain off the radar?”

He shrugged.

“You know most people that do that have something to hide.”

“I don’t. I just like my privacy.”

“Well, it’s got you under the name of John Doe,” he smiled, “Obviously a pun.”

“Nice to see you’ve kept you’re sense of humor.”

She smiled.

“So why did you attack him?”

“He attacked me first.”

“He claims he was defending himself.”

“Did you see her?” Her eyes twitched, irises constricted. “Of course you did. You know I’m innocent, the two officers who brought me here know I’m innocent, and all of you know that if I wanted to really hurt him, he’d be dead and you wouldn’t have any evidence.”

“That so?”

He inclined his head, she sat back and studied him, “You’ve had training. Military?”

He smiled.

“No, then. Black ops is my guess.”

“Getting warmer.”

She chuckled, “Whoever you are, you are trained to stay off the radar, like I said. Your file is pretty thin.”

He shrugged, but added with a grin, “At least I haven’t lost my touch.”

She sighed, “You’re right, other than disarming him, his story doesn’t check out and they both contradict each other. Not to mention the other witness.”

“The girl.”

“Yeah.”

He smiled, “I might stick around.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if I wanted to, as soon as you set me free I could vanish again.”

“We have your DNA on file now.”

He chuckled, “That means nothing, a guy like me doesn’t get by without making friends. You don’t think I couldn’t have a hacker hack your system and destroy them?”

“We have the best...”

“Sure.”

“Either charge me with something or set me free.”

She frowned. She didn’t want to charge him, and in fact she liked the guy, not to mention that he was easy on the eyes.

She sighed, “Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Hand,” she gestured. He reached up so she could uncuff him.

“Thanks.”

“What do you do for work?”

“Whatever comes my way,” he said in a singsong voice, she smiled and inclined her head.

“Stick around, hero.”

“Sure,” he smiled at her.

James got a cab back. He made his way up the stairs and the door opened as he left the landing on his floor. He stopped and studied the girl.

“Thanks.”

“Sure,” she smiled, closed the door and went back in.

James walked in and sat down. His mobile rang causing him to smile. He flipped it open and scowled at the display showing a blocked number.

“Smith.”

“Heard you got arrested today.”

“Yeah, Billy,” James smiled and went to put the coffee on.

“Anything you want me to sort out?”

He smiled, “No, Billy, but thanks for checking.”

“It’s cool if you change your mind. Let me know, bud.”

“Will do, Billy.”

James hung up and snapped the phone shut.

Later, as he was returning to his apartment from a quick shopping trip, he heard a door open.