Minka
MINKA
“ I ’m heading to the Mayor’s office.” I slide out of Frank’s car, since he so generously happened to be at my front door after walking downstairs this morning, and look up at the building the mayor and all his minions operate out of. Conveniently, it’s not terribly far from my own office. Then, I bring my focus back to my phone. And Aubree, on the other end. “I’ve gone to her place, and she wasn’t there, and I had Callen call her office, kind of incognito, just to see who would answer. She said it was Fifi, so…”
“So she’s in robot mode. Got it. You realize robot-Fifi and you are not a good mix, right? She wants space, and you don’t do emotions all that well. Add in that she’s working for the enemy, and you’re walking into his territory. This is a pot boiling with tension and an argument just waiting to explode.”
“Yeah, but those explosions between me and Fifi tend to lead to something real. She’ll be mean, and I’ll be mean. It’s what we do. But after the mean, will come things that matter, and those things that matter tend to resolve whatever issue we’re facing.”
“And just so we’re clear… you’re aware, prior to now, she was employed by you and not willing to be overtly disrespectful to her superior. Thus, the level of mean she stooped to was likely cloaked by her desire to keep her job. Now that she works for Lawrence, she no longer suffers from that dilemma.”
“Are you worried about me?” I move up the concrete stairs, the wind whipping my hair back and a cold chill sprinting beneath my jacket—not even the thin, ratty one I typically wear, but a thick, black coat that belongs to Archer.
He wouldn’t let me leave the apartment without it.
I look up at the glistening multi-story building and realize, although I’ve been on these steps in the past, I’ve never moved through the doors.
Can’t, when a woman is desperately attempting to avoid the mayor who spends a large chunk of his time here.
“I consider your concern endearing, Doctor Emeri. It’s sweet.”
“I’m not trying to be sweet! I’m trying to save you from a tongue-lashing I’m not sure you realize may be coming. She’ll be hurting today, and you’re just walking in there, all willy-nilly. You call me a flower child, but you’re the one being na?ve today. So much for the badass and brave v?—”
“Don’t say that word,” I growl. “Ever. It’s one of those things that will forever remain unsaid between us. And I’m checking in on a friend.” I step through the automatic doors when the sensor notices my approach, then into a lobby brimming with crisp air and the scent of vanilla. The smell is immediately noticeable to me because my building smells like Mr. Clean lives there. “What floor do they work on?”
She hesitates for a beat before exhaling. “I’m not telling you. Consider asking the receptionists.”
“Is Fifi not the receptionist?”
She snarls, dangerous and low in the back of her throat. “You deserve whatever beating she gives you. No, she’s not the receptionist. And asking the receptionists to speak to someone not on the ground floor is unlikely to end well for you anyway. They’re literally trained to keep people away from those higher up.”
“But I’m a higher up, too,” I tease. “I’m the chief medical examiner, after all.” I spy a trio of the exact kinds of Barbies Cato would go gaga for, so I turn in their direction and smile as they glance over. “I’m hanging up, Doctor Emeri. Will you be at Fletch’s later?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there. Good luck at the mayor’s office. Don’t die.”
I roll my eyes and end our call, then I slip my hand and the phone into my pocket, only to swap it for my badge. “Chief Medical Examiner, Mayet. I’m here to see Mayor Lawrence.”
“Of course,” the perky and pretty receptionist on the left beams. She picks up the phone and brings it to her ear. “I’ll call Ms. Lewis down so she can escort you bac?—”
“No.” I reach over her desk and press my finger to the button on her phone. “Please don’t call Ms. Lewis. Call Justin himself. This meeting is of a private matter, I’m certain you understand. He wouldn’t appreciate his entire staff knowing I was here.”
“O-of course,” she stammers, watching my hand until I slowly remove my finger, then she taps the little button labeled MAYOR. So pointed. Such little wasted time. “Hello, Mayor Lawrence. Chief Medical Examiner Mayet is here to see you. She said you were expecting her?—”
I reach out again and snatch the phone from the poor girl who will require her own trauma therapy soon, but then I bring it to my ear and grin. “Justin. What floor are you on?”
He holds the silence for a long beat. Thinking, I’m sure. Considering. Until finally, he murmurs, “Why? What do you want?”
“This isn’t a hostage situation,” I snicker. “And you’re constantly hounding me for attention. Here I am, ready to give it to you.”
“And certainly, I expect there to be a price.” His chair squeaks as he pushes up from it. “So I repeat: what do you want?”
“An audience with the mayor! Are we seriously going back and forth about this? You’ve stalked and harassed me at my office for a year straight, Justin. You’ve made your wishes abundantly clear that you’d appreciate my focus more often. But now I’m here, and suddenly, you have no time for me?”
“It’s not that I have no time. But I feel as though I know you well enough to know you come here with a motive. You’ve never spent time with me willingly, so why?—”
“That’s not true! I went to your house that one time.”
“Under duress, and only because Malone drove you there. You were also post-surgery and in need of pain relief, and Malone had questions for me regarding an active case. Hardly a visit between friends. Which leads me to annoying repetition; why are you here?”
“Because I miss you and want to spend time with you?”
He slams the phone back into the cradle, my shoulders jumping at the loud crack in my ear. Then disbelief washes through my veins. Shock, even. Hurt, if only a little, for his rejection. Of all the people on the planet, I didn’t expect this man, who so openly obsesses over my well-being, to tell me no. But here I am, unsuccessful in my ruse and not nearly as higher up as I thought I was. “Well, shit…” Gritting my teeth, I hand the phone back to the terrified receptionist and offer a fake, feeble laugh. “The line cut out for some reason. If you could just tell me what floor the mayor is on, that would be super-duper?—”
“Chief Mayet?” Justin’s booming voice rockets across the lobby and brings me around a little too fast, my feet sliding on the shiny tile and my heart throbbing as momentary panic zings through my blood. “Come with me.”
“Success!” I spare a last glance for the receptionist. “See? I told you he was expecting me.” I don’t give her time to respond—shit, maybe she had no plans to—because I take off across the shimmering floor and pray I don’t fall on my ass. “Mayor. Thank you for seeing me.”
“Don’t fool yourself for a single second thinking I believe your act. You’re not here for a friendly visit, Doctor Mayet. Which means you have a reason for imposing on my office. And considering you’ve never done so in the past, I’m led to wonder if it’s not me you’re here to see at all.” He taps the elevator call button and steps in when the doors immediately open. Then, backing up and selecting the eleventh floor—noted for the future—he stares down at me from the corner of his eyes. “I’m aware of Detective Fletcher’s loss, Chief. Just as I’m aware of Seraphina’s presence at the hospital at the time of Ms. Watson’s death.”
“She came into work today, even when she had an enormously valid reason to take the day off.”
“And because of her need to distract herself with work, you’ve decided to crash her office and pick a fight?”
“I’m not here to fight with her! I’m here to check in and make sure she’s okay. Besides,” I follow him out when the doors open to slick marble flooring. “Who are you to even speak of her? You stole her from me. She’s mine!”
“She could not have been stolen, had she been content where she was. This is the nature of the beast, Chief.” He bustles past a heavy wooden desk, its contents placed so meticulously, I wonder if it’s Fifi’s. But then he strolls through a door and holds it open for me to pass.
It’s the king hoo-haa’s inner sanctum.
Windows, somewhat similar to mine, looking over the city, though his don’t go all the way to the floor. Three of his four walls contain built-in bookshelves, and in the center of the room is a massive desk one could sleep on—with four of their closest friends and still have spare room—if only they didn’t mind how hard the surface was.
He circles his desk and unbuttons his jacket as he sits, but then he gestures to the visitor’s chair and watches with shark-like eyes as I come around and lower down.
His guest chair is legions more comfortable than mine.
“If Ms. Lewis was happy in her current position, she would have declined my offers,” he explains carefully. “Considering she did not, implies she was not stolen at all. She was simply offered something better.”
“You stole.” I fold my arms and sneer because I have nothing more intelligent to say. “She was mine, and I was happy to let you talk to her sometimes. But then you went ahead and took advantage of my generosity.”
“Your generosity?” He laughs. “You poked at her every damn day since you’ve held your position. The days you backed off, those who came looking for you poked at her because you refused to take a phone call. Ultimately, Doctor Mayet, your office is a wing coming off mine. Which means she was always my employee. I simply allowed you to borrow her for a year until I found a better fit for her. Now tell me.” He places his elbows on his desk and leans forward. “What will come for Seraphina and Detective Fletcher now that Ms. Watson has passed?”
“Are you asking if they’ll jump into bed now that she’s kicked the bucket?”
“No.” He doesn’t roll his eyes. But damn, I’m quite certain he wants to. “I mean, it’s obvious to us both that Seraphina accepted the position within my office only after a falling out between her and Detective Fletcher. I’m aware of her desire to create space between herself and the police force. But yesterday, she broke that vow of distance to be at the hospital for a friend, and soon after, she witnessed a woman’s death. What comes next?”
“A funeral?”
“Chief Mayet!” Finally, perhaps for the first time ever, he loses his patience with me. “You don’t want my concern, but you will receive it anyway. Just as Ms. Lewis does. Oddly, you share a similar personality trait in that both of you refuse to speak about your true feelings and instead, prefer avoidance and snark to get through. Ms. Lewis is at work today when she could be at home. Or with Detective Fletcher and his daughter. She wears a fake smile so convincing, most of her colleagues have yet to notice a difference.”
“But you do.” Sighing, I cross one leg over the other and look down at my lap. “You notice because you’re a glutton for punishment, and you enjoy collecting these emotionally scarred women to take care of. I’m not sure,” I finally answer, bringing my gaze up again. “I don’t know what’s next, but I know she’s going to choose avoidance, and avoidance will ultimately bring her more pain in the future. That’s why I’m here, so one emotionally damaged woman can hopefully help another.”
“By sneaking onto her floor and bombarding her at her desk?”
“What else do you suggest I do? She’s unlikely to take my calls, and even if she did, she’d tell me she’s fine and that I should pay attention to Fletch.”
“Why don’t you?” He sits back now, fixing his jacket and placing his hands in his lap. “Detective Fletcher is clearly in need of his friends today. Why are you not there?”
“I’ll go there soon, and Aubree will be there even sooner than that. Cato is probably already there because he’s not letting Mia out of his sight till she’s able to stop crying for her mother. And Archer is just tying up loose ends at the station, but after that, he’ll be with his friend. With that base covered, I wanted to ensure Fifi is, too.”
“She went out on a limb by being at the hospital yesterday.”
“Yes.” I draw a deep breath and stop only when my chest expands. “She did. She was extremely brave for being there, for a woman who, by all accounts, made her life kinda miserable, and to support a man who, when they were last alone, emotionally tore her to shreds. She loves his little girl, which is no small deal, considering she likes no other, and when Fletch hurt her that time, she gave up the child in hopes to save Mia from future heartache. She’s been through a myriad of pain and torment these last few months, and now she’s watched not only Jada die, but Fletch fall apart. These are the reasons I’m here today.”
“To hug her?”
“What? No. Neither of us likes to touch others. It’s weird.”
A sly smile curls up. “Uh-huh. So you came to pat her head and chant there there ? I’m sure that will help.”
“Ignoring her will help less,” I snarl. “You mock me when I’m clearly stepping out of my comfort zone to help a friend.”
“Not mocking,” he chuckles. “Merely documenting for future study. And now that we’ve covered all that, you expect me to send you to her office and just… let you have at it? Shout at her a little bit, followed by those taps on the head?”
“Why is everyone so certain there will be shouting?”
He firms his lips and looks dead into my eyes. “Is that a serious question?”
“Ya know what?” I rise from my chair and spin to shove it under his desk. Why? I don’t know ! It’s what we do in middle school. Then I point a finger in his direction, “If you aren’t going to help, then don’t speak at all. But this was a fun visit.” I drop my hand and storm toward the door. “Nice to see you again, Lawrence.”
“A pleasure,” he rumbles tauntingly. “As always. Every time we’re near, you leave my heart warm and comforted.”
“Shut up.” I yank the door open and prepare to storm out, only to skid to a stop when I almost walk face-first into Fifi. Her hand is up, prepped to knock, while she holds a tray in the other, three steaming coffees perched in their individual slots. “You?” I shout. Why am I shouting ?
But then her eyes turn to ice, and she throws her temper right back at me. “You! Why are you here? I hardly consider this appropriate.”
“You ducked out yesterday like you thought none of us would notice! Friends don’t make their friends worry like that, Fifi!”
“You were clearly busy and had more pressing matters to see to. Why on earth would I steal attention and announce my intention to go home?”
“Ladies?” So fucking calm, so assured, Lawrence stands and gestures Fifi forward. And because she’s completely incapable of disobeying him, she steps around me and strides across to his desk.
“Your coffee, Mayor.” She offers the tray and nods her approval when he selects the correct cup. But then she turns back to me, a sneer plastered on her beautiful face. “I should have known. Strong coffee, no sugar, barely a dash of cream. freakin’ Mayet is in the building.” She glares back at her boss. “You set me up and had me bring her coffee?”
“I gave you a chance to be somewhere else,” he counters. “And her a chance to say what needed to be said before you’d arrived. I consider my plan genius.”
“I don’t fetch her coffee anymore! I don’t work for her.”
“Oh, please.” I stride her way and take my cup since I am, in fact, desperate for my next hit of caffeine. “You’ll leave this dump before the end of the month, and then you’ll come crawling back to me, begging for your job back.”
“ This dump ?” Lawrence looks around his office in wonder. “Really? I thought it was quite nice.”
“I’m not leaving here to go back to the morgue! And even if I was jobless and at risk of homelessness, I wouldn’t beg you for a thing.”
“Pride has left better people hungry. Luckily for you, your performance outweighs your crappy attitude, so I’ll welcome you back when the time comes. Perhaps Lawrence will accept Callen as your replacement. Which isn’t a bad deal, really, considering you trained her.” I flop back into the seat I began in and sip my coffee. “Why’d you sneak out yesterday?”
“Because there was no reason for me to be there!” She takes the third coffee and tosses the tray on Lawrence’s desk so it lands with a slap and skids across the smooth top. “Announcing my departure would have been tacky.”
“Not as far as I was concerned. You were there, and then you weren’t. And I was so damn busy with what was going on, I didn’t have time to find out where you’d gone. That means I worried, Fifi, when all you needed to do, even if you didn’t want to announce anything, was shoot me a text and say you were headed home.”
“And remind me again,” she perches on the edge of Lawrence’s desk, effectively giving him her back and cutting him out of our fight, “why am I texting you life updates? We’re not those types of people! You never text me to say, ‘ Hey, I’m home and alive and just checking in’ . Why on earth would I start a tradition like that on the day of such tragedy?”
“Because I was worried! Fletch and Mia needed us, but that doesn’t mean I forgot you existed. I sat with Mia for hours, holding her when she let me, while she cried for the mom she would never get to hug again. Because even if their relationship sucked, and even if Jada rarely hugged her even when she was alive, losing that potential future is devastating for a little girl.”
“She knows?” Finally, Fifi’s voice crackles with pain. “You told Mia last night?”
“Yeah! I told Mia. Fletch tried to help, and Cato and Archer inserted their thoughts here and there, but the heavy load was on me . Because I’m a medical examiner and I’ve talked to the families of the deceased my whole career. But the whole time I was with her, I thought of you! Because I knew you would hurt for the little girl whose heart was breaking.”
“Is she okay?” Her willow-green eyes well up, ready to spill over. “I know the news would have been devastating in the moment. But is she doing okay?”
“She fell asleep while crying, and then she screamed when Fletch dragged her off of me and put her to bed. She didn’t want to be alone, and she refused to sleep anywhere unless she was touching one of us. Because that’s what happens when a child receives news that would rock her entire life.”
“—”
“She cried for you, too.” Fifi’s already down, so now I’ll kick her too, I suppose. “She wept, and she hugged me. She cried for Aubree because Aubree wasn’t there. And she cried for you because she hasn’t spent time with you in months. She feels abandoned.”
“Don’t.” She sniffles and reaches up to swipe a tear from her cheek. “Don’t pile on. I didn’t abandon her.”
“You did, actually! You and her dad had a fight, so to save yourself, you hit the road and are yet to go back.”
“I’m trying to save her from hurting in the future!
I bring my coffee up, though I can’t stop the roll of my eyes almost hidden behind my hand. “A topic we’ve discussed ad nauseam. Agree to disagree. Either you love her or you don’t, but basing your relationship with her on your relationship with her dad is lame.”
“You intentionally over-simplify and choose the negative edge to describe what I’m attempting.”
“You love her, but only when Fletch is nice to you.”
“Bullshit! I’m removing Charlie from the equation completely, you jerk! He has been nice to me. Every single day since our fight, he’s called, he’s sent flowers, he’s been nice. By your theory, that means Mia and I are on again.”
“Boggles my mind.”
“I’m removing him from the equation,” she snarls, “and I’m removing me, too. That way, that sweet little girl can grow up without our relationship ebbing and flowing with Charlie’s moods.”
“Aka: she can grow up without you .” We’ve discussed this already. “You were mad at him, so you walked away. But you forgave him enough to show up yesterday. Now Mia’s still copping the fallout of his asshole moment, even when he’s not?”
“His wife was dying!” Fat tears drop to her cheeks and flow to the sharp edge of her jaw. “Dying, Mayet. I was hurt by his behavior, but I’m not a monster. He needed his friends, and even if he and I are not that—friends—I still wanted him to know I was around.”
“But you don’t extend that same kindness to Mia? It’s honestly mind-numbing how backward this all is. If you want to maintain your anger at him, do it. But be there for Mia! Be consistent for her, especially now. She did nothing to deserve this pain, and she needs us now, more than ever. She has her dad, and she has Archer and Cato and the others. But she wept for Aubree last night. And you. And she clung to me. She’s crying out for the women in her life.”
“I can’t be what she wants me to be. I can’t waltz in and take that role I know you’re implying I should.”
“Her friend?”
“That’s not what you’re saying, and we both know it.”
“Her mom?” I smirk and slowly turn the coffee in my hands. “It’s not a dirty word, Fifi. You can say it.”
“Less than twenty-four hours after Jada dies, and you’re already shopping for a new mommy for Mia? That’s crass, even for you.”
I scoff. “You were her stepmom last summer , sitting on a yacht in the middle of the Caribbean, braiding her hair and giggling over silly things that made sense to no one but you two. That was long before Jada’s passing, so don’t stand there and pretend I’m out here shopping before her body is even cold.”
“I can’t step back into her life and pretend everything is okay,” she groans. “Her mother is dead, forever making her a martyr, and her mother hated me . Of all the women in Copeland City that Charlie could bring into Mia’s life, Jada hated me the most. Re-entering now is pure disrespect.”
“Disrespect to who? Jada? She’s gone, and she doesn’t get a say. She didn’t get a say when she was alive, and even if she did, you didn’t like her either! So why give her opinion so much weight?”
“Because she was Mia’s mom!” She’s losing her steam. Slumping when her back is typically poker straight. Groaning, when she’s so accustomed to huffs of impatience. Did she sleep at all last night? “She carried that little girl in her stomach. She fed her from her breast and raised her through infancy and toddlerhood. They were a family, Mayet, and that family would still be intact if not for a few unfortunate decisions that began with impulse. Charlie didn’t want to leave her, not until he had to. So me stepping in now, or any time in the future, would be nothing more than a couple of idiot adults pretending it’s something it’s not.”
“You’re talking about a relationship with Fletch.” I cross my left leg over the right and lean forward in my seat. “I’m talking about your relationship with Mia. This is why we fight: because we’re so rarely on the same page, and you’re terrified to consider a future where you get to be a part of her life, not because you’re with her dad, but based only on the affections between you and the girl.”
“Mayet—”
“I assure you, I have never, nor would I ever, sleep with Charlie Fletcher. But somehow, I get to be in Mia’s life, day after day. So weird how that happens.”
“You’re obnoxious when you oversimplify things. You’re married to Charlie’s best friend. That’s how you maintain that relationship. Get off your high horse and stop pretending you’d have given her a second thought if not for Archer.”
“And if Archer and I separate, or God forbid, something happens to him, I will still be in Mia’s life! I mean, assuming I’m not in prison for killing whoever hurt him, and even then, I’ll call her when my commissary account has phone money.”
“You’re being intentionally insufferable.”
“Yeah, but I find that to be a nice change of pace when everything else is tense. Remove your hurt feelings and bring everything back to the core: you care for Charlie, proven when you turned up at the hospital yesterday for a woman you didn’t even like. And you care for Mia, proven because you think you’re the martyr by staying away. Today, no matter our collective thoughts about Jada Watson and the choices she’s made, let’s focus only on the pain suffered by those she left behind. A man lost the ex-wife he nearly killed himself to save, and a little girl lost her mom. A toxic mother is still a mother, as far as a four-year-old goes. Emotion overtakes logic, which means she’ll miss the woman who never spent time with her anyway. Funny,” I stand and smile at the dancer whose eyes narrow to slits. “She misses you, too, though you never spend time with her.”
“You say hurtful things and expect me to bend over and do as you ask?”
“No.” I take my coffee with me— it’s mine now —but I stop and stare into her eyes. “I just enjoy pointing out how foolish you look. Someday, when this is all in the past and that little family has moved on, either you’ll be on the outside, still, and missing out on the very best life has to offer. Or you’ll be inside, but sad that you forfeited this time you could have had. If you stay away now, you lose, no matter what.”
“Awesome.” She sets her hands on the desk beside her thighs and squeezes the thick wood. “My life prospects seem so cheery.”
“Wouldn’t be like this if you stayed at the George Stanley.” I lean around her and find the mayor, who has remained entirely silent during our row. “You stole, and everyone’s heartache now is your fault.”
“Sounds oddly like a teenager screaming you can’t tell me what to do. And I hate you. ” He flashes a wide smile that irks me to my core. “I’ve raised bratty teen girls already, Mayet. Your tantrum is nothing I haven’t seen before.”
“Your daughters told me last week that they can’t stand you.” Good lord! Am I really this dumb and petty now ? “They said not to tell you, so you wouldn’t call and annoy them asking questions.”
His smile remains, but now his chest bounces, too. “Okay, Doctor Mayet. If you insist.”
“I do. And that little baby, the one who can’t even talk yet? She said her first words last night. They were he stole . Tabitha told me.”
“Uh-huh.” His dancing eyes mock me. “Are you done?”
“Yes.” I turn on my heels and start toward the door. “I’m heading to Fletch’s in a little while,” I say to Fifi. “Feel free to join us for lunch.”
“You’re insane if you think I can turn up now and integrate myself into their life so soon after Jada’s passing.”
“Bring food, and you’ll be welcomed with open arms.” I snatch the door open and find it empty, at least. No one is here to listen to my brainless fit of immature rage. “Or bring booze. Either works. The latter will be for me, though.”
“Charming,” she drawls. “His ex-wife died after a long battle with addiction. But you’ll go to his home now and abuse a different mind-altering substance. Clever.”
“You’re being insufferable in how you oversimplify and choose the negative edge of… whatever it was you said before.” But I spin and gift her with a small, friendly smile. “I know yesterday was tough, and I know you probably didn’t sleep a single wink last night. I’m certain you felt alone while your phone remained quiet and our attention was solely on Fletch and Mia. I also know,” I cast a look at the mayor, “you were taken advantage of, and head-hunted, in a moment of vulnerability. He targeted you intentionally while you were down. I don’t blame you for falling into this trap, but I will provide you a job at any point that you decide to come back. Happily, I’ll yeet Callen over here, and then we can all move on like none of this unfortunate nonsense ever happened.”
“Move on, Mayet.” She grabs her coffee again, finally exhaling a noisy breath that allows her chest to deflate. “I like my job. I’m not leaving.”
“And I like you,” I finally add. “You’re my friend, even when we fight most of all. And because of that, I’m not leaving. I mean,” I point out the door, “I’m physically leaving right now because I’m hungry. But I’m in your life, whether you like it or not. Maybe someday you’ll come over for a meal with us. Mia would be thrilled to see you.” But I don’t say it to be cruel anymore. Not to be unkind. I truly mean it. “She’s living the worst days of her little life right now, and she has no clue of the intricacies of grown-up relationships. All she knows is that she misses you, and if you find a chance to come back around, I know with my whole heart she would appreciate your presence. It won’t fix everything. But it’ll be another layer in her healing. Every layer matters.” I wave at the mayor, since I doubt staying any longer will lead to anything productive, then I step out of his office and retrace my steps to the elevator.
But I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial Archer’s number, since he’s left a rock in my inbox and a missed call on my call log.
“Minnnka?” He answers on the fly, wind whipping through the line and the chatter of cops that never fails to make my stomach jump. “Hey.”