Chapter 21 #4
“It’s been known to get the adrenaline going and a man’s baser instincts pumping.
I know my relationship is in the toilet right now, so you might not care for my opinion, but…
” I drop my hands into my pockets and peek down at Minka’s peaceful sleeping form.
“Ya know. Be cautious. Be mindful. Tomorrow’s a new day…
Make sure the decisions you make tonight stand up once everything is calm again. ”
“I got it.” He inches forward and taps my shoulder with his, then he turns on his heels and starts in Fifi’s direction.
“What flavor ice cream did you have?” He carefully juggles Mia and opens the apartment door to allow Fifi through, crossing the threshold, and pulling it shut once more.
“I kinda wish I had some right now. I swear this summer has been the hottest ever.”
Minka makes a sound in the back of her throat, part inhale, part snore, and at least half whimper.
Turning from her back to her side, she drags the top of her shirt up and presses the fabric to her nose.
Inhaling the scent—my scent—deep into her lungs, she relaxes again, melting into the cushions with a sigh.
“Guess it’s just me and you, Chief.” I’m both a bastard and a man in love, knowing that if she were to wake and discover me here, she’d lose her fucking mind.
But also, fully aware I can’t walk away, not even if a thousand horses pulled me.
So I snatch up the television remote and carefully lift her legs, then I sit and drape her feet over my lap.
The box of pills taunts me, and Minka’s flashing phone screen draws my focus in another direction. Gritting my teeth and stretching my arm, I snag the device with the very tips of my fingers and check the notifications, only to smile at the onslaught of unread texts from Soph.
Tsiklauri, Salonen, Melvin, and Dirkse have all gone dark. I have call logs placing them at the same place at the same time tonight, and then they’re moving as a unit to the airfield.
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but one of them fleeing the city is bad luck, FIVE of them fleeing in a single day, and four of them catching the same fucking flight, makes me suspicious.
Seems they know they’re being hunted.
Which means we have a fucking leak!
Shaking my head, I set Minka’s phone down and dig my hand into my pocket instead, taking out my own, since reading and responding to her texts in our current tense climate is probably stepping over a line.
Instead, I unlock mine and move to my texts.
But first, I take a fucking picture of the box by my arm, add it to my message, and send it off.
Me:
What the fuck is this, Sophia?
Instantly, my phone vibrates with an incoming call, unknown number flashing across the screen. We both know that’s a lie. Rolling my eyes, I bring the device to my ear. “I’d like to see the FDA approval documents for these pills, Ace. Immediately.
Cautious, she merely breathes. And listens. Waits… considers. “You and Minka good again?”
“Minka’s asleep and has no clue I’m here. Let’s discuss the pills.”
“Let’s discuss your marriage,” she viciously bites back.
“Not sure if you noticed, Malone, but my sister was abducted and murdered when she was fifteen years old… or so I thought. I wasn’t even a legal adult yet, but I turned my ass around and began a crusade to hunt those fuckers down and do to them what was done to her.
I did that for my baby sister, and I’m willing to do the same for Minka.
So now we find ourselves in this awkward position where I kinda like you and your family, but for tonight, for this week, you’ve gone and done the stupidest shit known to man. You shattered a good heart.”
“Soph—”
“But since I’m a generous woman, and we shared that road trip one time, I figure I can be a little more indulgent.
Leniency means you get to choose; would you prefer to name the time and place I rip your fucking throat out and gift wrap it for the chief, or are you more of a surprise kinda guy?
I don’t mind making my move when you least expect it. ”
I lay my head back and close my eyes, and because I’m feeling a little extra daring, I set my hand on Minka’s leg. For a minute tonight, I can pretend everything is okay.
“You’re pissed.” I lick my parched lips. “Got it.”
“My husband leaving his socks on the floor pisses me off. Ellie pushing her OBGYN appointment back because her husband was busy and she didn’t want to attend without him pisses me off. The shit you’ve pulled with Minka this week? Pissed doesn’t even come close. So… surprise death?”
“If you’d taken care of Agosti on your own, none of this would be a problem.
My wife wouldn’t be caught up in Cordoza’s bullshit, she wouldn’t have had to lie to me about what you were doing Saturday night, she wouldn’t have had to autopsy a man she’d rather cut her hands off than touch, and that massive fight that led us here, to this shit I’ve pulled, never would have happened.
If you wanna go toe-to-toe with me, I’m game.
I’m fighting with everyone else, so why the fuck shouldn’t I get to swing at you, too? ”
“If you’d told Minka what he was, I wouldn’t have had to.
Your first mistake was not sharing the things you knew, because when I told her about Agosti, she wanted to put holes in him on the dance floor.
It’s because of me we took things off-site and kept it clean, and it was because of me she was able to regain her composure and end that prick’s life in a way that wouldn’t turn up smelling of homicide.
Look inside yourself, Malone, and try to explain to me why Cordoza brought Agosti anyway?
They weren’t friends. It’s not like Agosti is pals with Tim or Aubree either, and the wedding was on the other side of the damn country, so this wasn’t some last-minute tag-along of convenience. ”
“What do you…” My brows pinch closer together. “What?”
“Ellie swears Cordoza adores her, that he thinks of her as a daughter, but ya know what, Detective? I have daughters, and I assure you, I would never put them in the same room as a man like Anthony Agosti, and I absolutely would not put them anywhere near a man who already attempted to fuck them over.”
I open my eyes and bring my head up, straightening my neck and peeking at Minka to ensure she’s still asleep. “You don’t trust him?”
“Not even a little bit. That old man who manages Minka’s apartment?”
“What? Steve?”
“Yeah. Would he force Minka to associate with someone he knows damn well scraped themselves off the bottom of a fucking sewer pipe?”
“No. He…” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “No. I don’t believe he would.”
“So why would Cordoza cart Anthony Agosti across the country, parade him around in front of his quasi-daughter, and then act surprised when that piece of shit turns up dead?”
“Well—”
“And the girls? The seventeen we pried out of Agosti’s hands? You cannot convince me Cordoza didn’t know about them. He’s the all-seeing, all-powerful fucking don, but he didn’t know Anthony was making moves right under his nose? Bullshit.”
“So what are you saying?” I snarl. “Cordoza’s in the skin trade?
He was setting your sister up to… what? Snitch to you, all so you and Minka would head out on a little wrist-slitting adventure?
” I drop my hand and shake my head. “If he wanted to profit from Anthony’s business dealings, he would’ve kept him away from that wedding.
Far, far away. Instead, he delivered the prick and…
” My heart comes to a dead fucking standstill.
It thumps and stops, dropping to the base of my stomach. “Cordoza wanted Agosti dead?”
“That’s what I’m saying,” she grunts. “And even being head bitch of New York City, the rules apply to him, too. One family cannot attack another.”
“So he set you and Minka up to do it?” I sit tall on the couch, shuffling my ass back and setting my elbows on my knees, sandwiching Minka’s feet between my legs and torso, though I’m careful not to crush them. “He knew where the girls were, and he allowed them to be discovered. So, what then?”
“He wanted me and Mayet to do this for him, but without saying the words. Even with the autopsy, it didn’t matter how the results came back. It was all a show. He knew who killed Agosti. He orchestrated it.”
“Yet, you so freely admit to being used,” I sneer. “I thought you were the smartest person in the room, Solomon? I thought you were always ten steps ahead of everyone else.”
She sighs. “Well, I suppose life experience has gotta count for something, and Cordoza’s seventy-odd years of being the biggest motherfucker in New York bought him a step or two. Now I’m scrambling, trying to figure out his end goal. Aubree agrees, so—”
“How do you know?”
“I listen to everything, remember? She’s got those foo-foo bullshit brain powers, right? I don’t know that I’m a complete believer, but everyone else is, and everyone else says she knows what’s up. She thinks Cordoza’s playing with everyone, too.”
“Jesus.” I need to sleep. I need to fight.
I need to get up and pull my fucking hair out, and maybe, if I’m lucky, find Cordoza’s secret diary tucked away somewhere nearby.
He might’ve written his plans in black and white.
“You’re saying some big shit, Soph. This is next level, the city’s going to war, my whole fucking family will probably die if you’re wrong shit.
What the hell do you think I can do about this? ”
She slumps in her chair. Wherever she is, whatever she’s doing, she sits back with an unhappy grunt.
“I don’t know. Like you said, this is big, and if I’m right, he already got one over on me.
I’m in no position to storm the castle until I know more.
But all that aside, I’m saying you were wrong for sending Minka away on Tuesday.
This is the week she needs you most, but instead of having her back, you split. ”