The Woman with the Wallet (Costa Family #10)

Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Max

I had no idea what to chalk that momentary insanity up to. I thought my defenses were up, reinforced with rebar and cement. But clearly, that wasn’t enough to keep me away from Miko.

I needed a moat. Filled with fire.

And a fucking chastity belt.

I couldn’t describe the relief when Miko was quick to move on to the next thing when we pulled up to the quaint little cape-style house with overgrown holly bushes outside, their little red berries bright even in the dark early morning hours.

The inside of the house was dark as Miko moved inside in front of me. Normally, I would have bristled at that. But he was the one with the gun. And someone on this job was willing to choke me, hit me, and knock me out. Then, as if that wasn’t bad enough, straight-up murder Henry.

Sure, I was used to breaking into places. I was probably more the expert here than Miko was. But the houses I broke into didn’t usually require me to be armed. The worst I’d ever encountered was a halfway trained security dog who was easily distracted from his job by a treat and some belly scratches, leaving him bounding behind me through the house like my new best friend.

I certainly never had to worry about someone strangling me with a fucking charging cord. I was totally okay having the guy with the gun put his neck out there first.

That said, it was my hold on the back of his suit jacket that had him avoiding falling over a strangely placed ottoman. What can I say? My ability to see in the dark was keen thanks to so many years doing my job.

The common area was small and, as far as I could tell, empty. Of people or corpses.

It wasn’t until we made our way into the primary bedroom that there was a clatter to warn us just a second before the closet door flew open, knocking me back into the wall as a dark form flew at Miko.

His arm whacked the edge of the door, sending the gun flying.

I scrambled toward it, knowing I would be a hell of a lot more useful with a weapon than I’d be without it.

As I crawled across the floor, I heard the crunching sound of fists hitting flesh and my stomach dropped at the idea of Miko being on the receiving end of those punches.

The sounds of their grunts and curses filled the air, their bodies crashing into walls, into the dresser, items scattering all about. I finally saw the gun, wedged under a small desk sitting under the window.

It was as I crawled past the bed that a gasp rose up my throat. Because there, under the bed, was a man.

He was mostly in shadow, but there was just enough light in the room for me to see his wide, terrified eyes. And a finger pressed to his lips, begging that I didn’t give him away.

I didn’t exactly know my move right then.

Save for the fact that I needed the fucking gun.

So I scrambled forward, grabbed it, and turned with my back against the wall, holding it out in case I needed to use it.

But right then, the man wrangled free from Miko’s grip and just… tore off.

“Max?”

“I’m fine. Go,” I said, knowing how torn he felt.

But I had his gun; even if the guy under the bed decided to attack, I was safe.

That said, the guy must have disappeared quickly because Miko was back in under two minutes.

“Sugar?”

“Hey, we have a situation here,” I said as his footsteps moved closer. “Turn the light on with your elbow,” I demanded.

“What’s—“ he started as the light flashed on.

“Get out,” I demanded of the guy under the bed.

He wiggled out, his dirty shoulder of his white tee and hair out first, then his face.

I recognized him instantly. Not from my apartment, but from the images Miko had shown me.

Black hair, brown eyes, kind of scrawny and nerdy-looking.

“Chuck, the fuck?” Miko asked. It was the relief in his voice that had me lowering the gun and focusing on Miko.

He had a small split in his lip, but was otherwise unharmed, save for his rumpled appearance from the scuffle. So most of those hits I’d heard must have landed on the other guy. Miko, it seemed, knew how to fight.

Great.

Like I needed another reason to find him hot.

“Kinda forgot to clean under there last… year,” Chuck said, swatting at the dirt on his shirt.

A little chuckle escaped me at that, making Chuck shoot me a sheepish smile. “Thanks for not selling me out.”

“You looked pretty freaked out,” I said, shrugging.

“Chuck, who the fuck was that?” Miko asked.

To that, Chuck shook his head as he hauled himself up onto his bed.

“I have no idea. I heard someone moving around in the house,” he told us. “Freaked me out, so I just… got under my bed. Then it wasn’t long after that when you guys came in. Who is this?” Then, looking at me, “What happened to your face?”

“I’m thinking a run-in with the same guy who was here to fuck you up,” I told him.

“Oh, shit,” Chuck said, blanching. And the poor guy was already anemic-pale. “You think he wanted to beat me up?”

“I think he wanted to kill you,” Miko said, surprising me with his blunt honesty. “He killed Henry before coming here.”

“What? No. I liked him. We played together sometimes,” he said, waving toward his desk, where his monitor and gaming console were set up.

Miko and I shared a look, both of us wondering if maybe Chuck had some information on Henry’s roommate.

“Alright, listen, Chuck. We can’t stay here. You can’t stay here.”

“Are you taking me with you? Protective custody?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

How the hell had this guy pulled off a diamond heist? He seemed so anxious and insecure.

Miko looked at me, then exhaled hard. “Guess so,” he agreed. “Pack a bag. And your gaming console.”

“Why?”

“Chuck, it’s been a fucking endless night. Just do it. Please,” he added to soften the demand.

“Where are we going?” Chuck asked, hopping up to rush to his closet, grabbing a duffle bag and stuffing random shit into it.

“The city.”

“Yeah? Road trip!” Chuck said, sounding excited, seemingly forgetting about the danger.

Miko nodded toward the hall. I followed him out, handing him his gun back. “You alright?” I asked.

“Worried about me, sugar?”

“I dunno. Might build character to get your face fucked up a little.”

“Like the way I look too much, huh?” he teased, then sighed. “Sorry about the tagalong, but we couldn’t just leave him here to die. He’s helpless.”

“Yeah, about that. How the hell did he pull off a heist?”

“Honestly, because it was so simple. He stole one of the empty bags from the warehouse. I filled it with the fake shit. He brought the fake shit in and put it in place of one of the real diamond bags. Though, according to Henry, he’d been antsy as fuck the whole time.”

“Why is he not at work? Didn’t you tell him to act normally?”

“Okay, all set,” Chuck said, moving out into the hall with his bag slung over his back, his console in one arm, and a fucking stuffed pig under the other. “It’s a pillow,” he insisted when both of our gazes moved in that direction.

“Alright. Need anything else?”

“Think I’m set.”

“Okay, we’re gonna do this fast, in case that fuck is still lingering,” Miko said as we moved as a group toward the front door.

Morning was dawning, casting reds and oranges across the sky, brightening the shadows that could have easily hidden someone just half an hour before.

“We don’t run,” Miko instructed. “You got neighbors that are probably waking up about now. We do a brisk walk. Me and Max in the front, you in the back. Got it?” he asked, looking back at Chuck as he reached for the door handle.

“Got it,” Chuck agreed, still looking entirely too excited about the prospect of a ‘road trip,’ and forgetting all about the guy wanting to kill him.

With that, we moved outside.

Miko’s and my head were on a swivel, looking for anyone lingering around while Chuck lumbered on, clueless of any threats.

But we all made it into the car, and I breathed a sigh of relief when we finally moved away from the curb.

“This isn’t the way to the city,” Chuck said, leaning between the two front seats.

“We have to get our shit,” Miko explained, glancing over at me. “Why the fuck weren’t you at work today?”

“Oh, I, uh, got in trouble.”

“The fuck you mean you got in trouble? You’re supposed to be toeing the line. I explained that.”

“It wasn’t my fault! Not really. I was just doing my job, and someone moved something in my way. I fell over it, sending millions of dollars of diamonds scattering around the floor. It was a whole thing. I was told to stay home until they could decide what to do with me.”

That kind of worked in our favor, I guess.

“You didn’t get a look at the guy in your house?” Miko asked as we drove around for what felt like too long, making me think that he was trying to make sure we didn’t have a tail before going to the hotel.

“I only saw his feet before you guys came in.”

“You didn’t recognize him?” I asked Miko.

“Was too busy trying not to get punched in the face to really pay attention. But, no, I don’t think I knew him.”

“Chuck, did you know Henry’s roommate?” I asked.

“Henry had a roommate? He never mentioned it.”

Great.

Well, we would just have to hope that the Zeno guy could work some magic.

“Did you get enough sleep to do this drive?” I asked when we finally turned into the lot of the hotel, figuring we could delay checkout for a few hours to let him get some rest.

“I’ll be fine. Come on, let’s get our shit so we can go grab some coffee and get back home.”

Get back home .

Those three words should have filled me with relief. Instead, as I climbed out of the SUV, all I felt was an unexpected sort of sadness.

After about a thousand comments from Chuck about the hotel’s décor, the cost of it, and how big a shame it was that we couldn’t spend the day there, we were finally on our way back to Manhattan.

“ So , how’d you guys meet?” Chuck asked in a singsong voice as he leaned between the seats again, even though Miko asked him three times to stop doing it.

“I stole his wallet,” I told him.

“Oh, that’s a fun meet-cute.”

“That was full of diamonds,” Miko piped in, making Chuck’s eyes go round.

“And then I got the wallet stolen from me, and got my face beat up in the process.”

“And strangled?” Chuck asked.

“Yeah, and strangled.”

“Does it make your throat hurt?”

“Yeah. It’s like drinking glass,” I told him honestly, but watched as Miko’s gaze slid to me, eyes concerned, likely thinking about what we’d just done a few hours ago in this very car.

“Hey, that place has hotdogs! Can we… oh,” Chuck said as Miko kept driving past.

“We just had bagels.”

“Yeah, but they were stingy with the cream cheese.”

“We will get something the next time we stop for fuel. What?” Miko asked, catching me smiling at his profile.

“Just a glimpse of what you’re like as a big brother. Or maybe what you’ll be like as a dad someday. If, you know, you want that.”

“I do,” he said, nodding. “Maybe not seven like my parents had, but definitely some kids in the future. You?”

“I’ve never given it a lot of thought,” I admitted.

“You were like a mom to Megs.”

“That’s different.”

“Is it? You did everything you could to take care of her, protect her, keep her innocent and happy.”

“Whose Megs?”

“Chuck, aren’t you due for a nap?” Miko asked, making me have to turn away so Chuck didn’t see me laughing.

“I’m not a baby,” Chuck insisted.

Lo and behold, though, twenty—suspiciously silent—minutes later, I turned back to find Chuck passed out, that silly stuffed pig between his head and the window.

“I’ve known toddlers who talk less,” Miko said, shaking his head as he turned off into a rest stop.

“And now you’re gonna live with him.Wait, is this the rest stop with the kitten?” I asked, sitting up straighter.

“Yep. Why don’t you go look for her while I get some food? Yo, chatterbox, you want to get some snacks?”

They came back a few minutes later, Miko seemingly a few hundred poorer thanks to Chuck’s need to get just about every damn snack and drink on the shelves, to find me leaning against the car, trying my damndest not to look as sad as I felt. Over a damn cat.

“Can’t find her?” Miko asked, coming up to me.

“I saw her go behind the dumpster back there,” I said, gesturing toward the building. “But she just hissed at me when I got close.”

I don’t know what I’d been expecting. That maybe she would remember me? Want to come to me? To, what? Come with me? I didn’t have time for a cat. I wasn’t even sure if Megs or Nicole were allergic.

But, yeah, I could admit to myself, at least, that some part of me did want to take her in off of the cold, hard streets. She, however, had other plans.

“Well, you can still toss food to her, right?” Miko said.

“Yeah,” I agreed, holding out a hand.

I tried to coax the kitten out with the food as Chuck prattled on to Miko about all the things he wanted to see in the city since, amazingly, he’d never been, even though he’d only lived a few hours away.

“Alright. Let’s get going,” I said, giving up when the cat wouldn’t even come out to eat. I climbed into the car and reached for the coffee Miko had gotten me. “I want to meet the guy who had you darkening my door the first time.”