Chapter 20
MINKA
“Oh… well…” Disappointment warms my blood as Mia races across my apartment, and, on the other end of the line, Mihalis clears his throat. Geez, it’s almost like I was genuinely looking forward to our date. “That’s too bad. I washed my hair and everything.”
Cato perches on the counter just two feet from where I stand, shooting nasty, vein-popping glares my way.
“I was looking forward to our evening together. Are you sure you can’t reschedule?”
“Unfortunately, I can’t. Something has come up, and it’s one of those can’t-be-repeated kinds of opportunities.
But I would love to see you another time.
” His voice drops into a sultry, thinks-he’s-seductive tenor.
“I could call you later tonight and see what you’re up to.
A late dinner might be nice. Or we could do breakfast.” He exhales a soft, hungry-like groan into the phone.
“I won’t lie… I haven’t stopped thinking about you all day.
If I had this my way, I’d buy you dinner tonight and breakfast in the m—”
Cato snatches my phone and jams his thumb against the red icon, killing our call. “Oh dear. Oh no.” He slams it down again and snarls. “Bad reception.”
“Dammit, Cato!”
“Auntie Minka,” Mia scolds. “Don’t be mean to him.”
“You are a married woman!” He bounds off the counter and stands over me, his impressive basketballer height making it so he can fold his neck and burn the top of my head with his stare.
“I have no fuckin’ clue what has come over you, Chief, but as far as I’m concerned, if you’re married to one Malone, you’re married to all of us, and since you’re my wife when Archer isn’t in the room, I’m saying hell-the-fuck-no to this week of madness.
I can bear witness and tell the jury you’ve lost your damn mind, but when the judge steps forward, as in, Archer, I’m not sure pleading insanity will help your case. ”
“I’m not actually gonna date the dude!” I grab my phone and shove my palm to Cato’s jugular, but instead of calling Mihalis back, I call Soph. Bringing the device to my ear, I push my husband back and circle him to the fridge.
“Yeah,” Soph answers on the fly, gunshots ringing out on her end of the line. “Hang on a sec. I’ll find somewhere quieter.”
“Did you catch all that?” I tear the fridge open and snatch out a yogurt pouch, the exact flavor I prefer, and pretend I don’t know it was Archer who put them there.
If I think about things too deeply, I’ll be forced to acknowledge my grocery fairy, and if I do that, I might lose my resolve not to call my actual husband before tonight is done.
“Mihalis bailed on me. Said he’s got something better to do. ”
“Yeah, I heard.” She steps through a doorway, closing it and locking the rumble of gunfire on the other side. “I’m gonna dig a little deeper and see what his comms look like, but things are starting to get a little weird.”
“Weird, because Abate bailed on me last night, and Mihalis is bailing tonight?” I select a second yogurt pouch—one for me, and one for Mia—then I slam the fridge and head around to the couch.
“I know I’m old and married now, but I didn’t think I’d lose street appeal before I even turned thirty.
” Stopping in front of Mia, I show her both pouches and let her choose. They’re both the same flavor.
Her eyes gleefully dance as she whispers a sweet, “Thank you.”
“Welcome, cutie pie. Soph?”
“No. Weird, because Mihalis is using some kind of encryption on his emails. He’s a schoolteacher, and his experience with tech extends only as far as his internet security subscription when they deduct nine-ninety-five from his bank account each month.”
“So…” I plop onto the couch and feel, in this moment, at least, immense peace as Mia climbs up beside me and curls against my ribs. “I don’t understand.”
“It means he has more tech expertise than I gave him credit for. Or he’s communicating with people with tech expertise.”
“You can’t break the encryption?”
She scoffs. “I can. I will. These things take a minute, but the fact that it’s there is giving me pause.
It’s like walking around the five-dollar store and finding a genuine Hermès bag sitting on the shelf.
Some might consider it a bargain. I wouldn’t touch it without first considering it a trap.
I’m running his tech through my software first to make sure I don’t inadvertently screw myself over by moving too fast. Once I know it’s clean, I’ll dig a little deeper. ”
“So I’ll just…” I set my yogurt pouch down and take Mia’s, opening the cap and handing it back with a wink. Then I open mine and suck the thick innards onto my tongue. “Sit here and watch Baywatch or something? I had plans two nights in a row, and neither has worked out.”
“Sit pretty. Maybe apply a moisturizing mask or something. If it’s your face making these men cancel, then that’s something you need to work on.”
“Shut the hell up!” I draw my feet up onto the couch and meet Mia’s displeased eyes, her heated stare. Because I told someone to shut up. “It’s not my face. I’m stressed this week, so maybe they feel the anger pulsing in my blood.”
Soph snorts. “But you got that sweet as a button Mia Fletcher in-house tonight. That’s a fun distraction.”
“Mm. I suppose.” I curl a lock of her hair around my finger and smile for the girl who would rather stare at me instead of the cartoons on the television. “It’s no hardship, that’s for sure.”
“And it’s infusion night. You should take the pill, Mayet. Jen’s feelings are getting hurt because she was assured you would trial the M&Ms, and now you’re dragging your feet.”
“I never told her I would trial them.” I tickle the side of Mia’s neck and earn a tinkling giggle from the depths of her chest. “Jen’s feelings are for Jen to manage. And since you’re the troll telling her I was willing to take them in the first place, then her feelings are for you to manage, too.”
“You shouldn’t call anyone a troll, Auntie Minka.” Mia grins around the tube of her yogurt, her little baby teeth glistening in the light above. “Name-calling is not nice.”
“Exactly, Auntie Minka. Name-calling is rotten and mean,” Soph quips. “Oh! And I forgot to say, I pulled a flight manifesto earlier. Dirkse boarded a private jet a few hours ago. He’s headed your way.”
“Really? I thought you said he was coming next week?”
She makes a sound in the back of her throat, an audible shrug.
“Plans changed, maybe. I’ll keep an eye on it and let you know when to engage.
The good news is, you seem quite comfortable with the ditsy dumb bitch act.
Men who hate women love when a woman is stupider than he is. Makes him feel powerful.”
“Mm.” I cast my eyes to a cartoon brimming with… koalas? “Most men hate women. Most of them are gross.”
“I’m not sorry I bagged mine and tied him down already. Though I suggest Detective Malone would be scandalized if he saw his intelligent and always-professional Chief Medical Examiner Minka Mayet giggling and leading with her tits.”
“Good thing Detective Malone will never see such a thing. His snitches, though—” I glance over my shoulder at Cato by the counter, and Harrison by the door.
At least the latter has the common decency to spin away again and pretend he’s not listening to my phone call.
“—Are becoming a problem. A woman can’t even casually date without them running back to the boss and whining about it. ”
Soph snickers. “Can’t say Jay supports my dumb bitch act either. You have the night off, Chief. Snuggle in with your niece, and stay inside so your snitches can bring their blood pressure down. And since you have the time, pop an M&M and let me know what happens.”
“Not gonna take your pills.”
“Come on!” she groans. “You’re making this into something bigger than it needs to be. Jesus.”
“Soph—”
“Pussy.” She kills our call and disappears into whatever her life looks like in a town somewhere far from here.
It occurs to me that I’ve spent time with the woman in New York. In Copeland. In a Podunk town called Plainview. But none of those places is where she calls home, which means I don’t actually know what home looks like to her.
Rolling hills, or a bustling city?
Snow in the winter, or dry heat year-round?
“Is Sophia our friend, Auntie Minka?” Mia brings her feet up to the couch cushions and tilts her thighs so they lie across mine.
Tipping her head back, she searches my eyes through a honeycomb pair she stole straight from her father’s side of the family tree.
“Sometimes I fink she is, and sometimes I fink she’s not.
Daddy says she’s our friend, but—” She lowers her voice and leans closer, “—Daddy cusses sometimes when he talks about her.”
I pull a sweet ringlet between my fingers, dragging it down and releasing it again so it bounces back up. “Soph is our friend. She’s your friend for sure, so if you ever need help, you just have to ask.”
“Soph makes a lot of people cuss.” Cato comes around the couch and claps his hands, offering to take the little girl. The thought of losing her breaks my heart, but the way she snuggles into my side and shakes her head mends every ache I’ve ever known.
Well, not really. Not all of them. But still…
“You choose her over me?” He presses a palm to his heart. “Really?”
“I didn’t see her for ages.” She wraps her arm around mine. “Felt like a whole year.”
“Felt like a whole year for me, too.” I bury my lips in the top of her hair and close my eyes. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. Three. “Felt like my entire body was broken, because that’s how much not seeing you hurt. I’m really glad you’re here tonight, Moo.”
“I’m really glad I’m here, too.” She lays her cheek over my chest and happily sighs. “Daddy said I could stay as long as I want, and it didn’t even matter if I fell asleep. He said it’s Auntie Minka night and that we could have ice cream for dessert if we want.”
“We sure can. I wonder if we can order hot dogs on sticks from somewhere? Harrison can pick them up for us. He won’t even mind.”
“Who is Harrison anyway?” Mia sits tall again and peeks over the back of the couch. “Is he our friend?”
“Harrison is our friend for as long as we’re the most powerful person in the room.” I chuck her chin and grin as her eyes come back to mine. “He’s Felix’s friend, mostly. But he’s an excellent driver, and he doesn’t even make me very sick when I’m sitting in the back seat.”
“I get sick in the back seat sometimes.” She pops up to her knees and leans across my body, poking the inside of my elbow. “Do you have to have medicine tonight, Auntie Minka? Can I watch you do the needle?”
“Sure.” I reach into my pocket and take out my warming diluent, holding it up between my thumb and forefinger and allowing her to get a good look at the clear liquid. “Tonight is the night for my medicine, and yes, you can watch the needle. You can even help me mix it if you want to.”
“For real?” She snatches the bottle and plops back onto her butt. “You’d trust me?”
More than I trust the little pills currently Tell-Tale-Heart’ing me from the coffee table.