Drake
Isit in the chair Malone deserted and click through second by second, image by image, as Sylvia Ryan’s car pulls up at a set of traffic lights in the complete opposite side of town from where I’d have expected it to go, considering the starting point—the lane near the cinema where Josey died—to where she ended up—dumped outside town, barely hidden amongst shrubbery and an oft-used hiking trail.
If I wanted to kill a girl, shove her into the passenger seat, and drive audaciously through a city with more than a few cameras, I reckon I’d take the most direct route I could find.
Josey’s killer, however, thought a scenic drive was a better option. Or maybe they just didn’t have a plan yet for where they wanted to dump her, so they cruised around until inspiration struck.
My phone dings with an incoming text that draws my eyes, a ribbon flashing across the screen that allows me just a split second to see Rory’s name and a few words I don’t get a chance to read, then it’s gone again, replaced with her beautiful face and a ringtone I allocated exclusively to her a long time ago.
I can’t stop the grin stretching my lips any more than I can stop my fast glance over my shoulder to make sure Archer isn’t standing there with a machete and a bad mood, but since he’s not, and since I made a promise to never, ever let Aurora Swanson feel lonely, I snatch the device up and bring it to my ear.
“Hey. I didn’t read your message yet, so if we’re fighting and you’re calling to tear me up, I need you to give me a second to catch up. ”
She rolls her eyes. I just know it. “We’re not fighting, Detective. I was calling to see how things were coming along.”
I settle back and bring my left ankle up to rest on my knee.
But since I still have work to do, I continue clicking through each frame on the wall.
“What things are you asking about, Little Bird? Dinner? It’s still a little early, so I haven’t put a lot of thought into it.
But if you’re not starving, I’ll be home in a few hours, and I can make us a lasagna. ”
“Not dinner,” she drawls. “And besides, it’s my turn to cook anyway.”
“Oh… well…” Score! “You wanna talk about the two skipped physiotherapy sessions this past month, since following Chief Mayet around for hours on end, for free, by the way, seemed more important to you? I’ve got a mood to work through, so we can argue about that if you want.”
She exhales the world’s softest, sweetest snickering breath. “I wasn’t asking about that, either.”
“My case?” I tilt my head to the side and study the image on the wall just a little closer, because although it was taken from directly above, robbing me of a chance to see the driver’s face, I still catch a glimpse of their hand on the steering wheel.
“You know I’m not allowed to tell you we’re about to snap this motherfucker up for killing a girl, right?
” Narrowing my eyes, I zoom in and loathe the cheap city technology that turns into a pixelated mess the instant we so much as breathe on it.
“You know I’m not allowed to tell you I’m sitting in the war room right now, picking through street cam footage, and my eyes are about to fall out of my head.
And I’m definitely not allowed to tell you this looks weird.
” I lower my foot and sit forward, like doing so could somehow un-pixelate the image in front of me.
“It would be wildly unprofessional of me to discuss police business with a civilian, Ms. Swanson. But once you graduate and become an official M.E., I could probably do as Malone does and pretend all our personal calls are professional. Lucky son of a goat fucker.”
“Ding ding ding,” she breathes happily. “You hit it on the head, Detective. I knew you’d get there eventually.”
“You wanted to discuss medical examiner business?”
“Nope. I wanted to discuss Archer Malone business.”
And there she goes, preemptively making tonight’s lasagna taste like cardboard. “No thanks.”
“This isn’t a healthy work environment. You need to talk to him!”
“He doesn’t wanna talk to me, Little Bird.
” I sit back again and study a hand that looks suspiciously like a woman’s.
But it can’t be Josey’s, unless she didn’t actually die when we think she did.
What the fuck? “Fabian’s riding us both right now, babe.
If we fight, he slaps us down. If we get along too well, he starts thinking about making this shit permanent.
Malone and I are walking a tightrope, and there’s nothing you can say that’ll convince me to shake things up. ”
“It doesn’t have to be a huge thing,” she groans. “Be brave, Drake. Be bold. Be the whole ocean. Don’t be small just because you think it’ll make him more comfortable.”
I snort. “I’m not trying to make him comfortable. I’ll settle for less angry. Or…” I shrug. “Ya know, bored. Uninterested works, too.”
“Drake! You need to—”
My phone buzzes with another incoming call, so I pull it from my ear to see if it’s something I need to trade my current delightful discussion for. But when I catch Felix Malone’s name on the screen, adrenaline floods my veins and damn near floors me.
“Drake!?” Rory snaps. “Are you even listening to me?”
“Felix Malone is trying to call me.”
“He…” Her breath comes out in a stunned gasp. “What? What does he want?”
“I don’t know! I didn’t take the fuckin’ call yet.” I twist in my chair and check the still closed door. “Fuck, Rory. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.”
“A-are you gonna take it? Maybe you should take it.”
“Where are you? Are you safe? Can you lock yourself in the panic room and—”
She chokes out a nervous laugh. “He is not going to kill me. Relax.”
“It’s Felix fucking Malone! He’s the mob.”
“He’s Archer Malone’s brother. Minka Mayet’s brother-in-law. I think I’m gonna be okay.”
“Babe—”
“Take the call.” She hangs up. Just like that. Gone, like she’s not concerned for my safety.
Fuckkkk.
Massaging the bridge of my nose, I close my eyes and accept his call. “Felix?” I harden my voice and show him none of the remorse Rory’s been witness to for months now. “This is Drake Banks.”
“You trashed my Air Jordans, bitch! I want a new pair in the mail by the end of the week.”
“You…” I drop my hand and blink, blink, blink. “What?”
“Don’t what me, motherfucker. You’re lucky I’m censoring myself right now, because my baby girl is listening, and she deserves to know her father is a respectable man. White shoes. Red trim. Put a new pair in the mail, or I might be forced to settle old grudges the way we used to do it.”
“Y… you mean on the basketball court?”
From anger to bouncing laughter, he changes his mood in an instant. “Exactly. I’ve been practicing since you and I last had beef, and you’re an old man now anyway. Get me my shoes, make things right, or we’ll deal with this like men.”
“Felix—”
“And hug my brother.”
My entire body fucking jolts like I touched a live wire. “I’m sorry. What?”
“He’s prickly and mean because his feelings got hurt, and now he’s married to the prickliest and meanest, so he’s learning from the best. But if you hug him, things will get better, I promise.”
“I’m not hugging your brother, Felix! Are you high?”
“Nah, I don’t do that anymore. I’m a respectable man now. Remember?”
Doubtful.
“He’s a good person, Banks.” Finally, he settles on solemn.
On serious. “He’s the best of us all, because he was the youngest beside the baby, and he was the fuckin’ bravest. He was the first to call our father out on his shit, and even when he’d get his ass kicked for it, he kept standing up for what was right. ”
“I don’t…” I shake my head. “What the fuck, man?”
“He fought harder than any of the rest of us. Combined. He was a child, and he was still ready to dismantle an institution that outgunned him a million to one. He’s walking a line these days between the badge and his family, kinda like that same line you walked fifteen years ago, and it really pisses him off, ‘cos you’re an asshole and you never replaced my shoes. ”
“Your shoes?” I grunt. “This is about shoes? There’s something seriously, fundamentally fucking wrong with you, Lix. I swear to God.”
“Ahhh…” He exhales a smile I remember from our youth. “You haven’t called me Lix in a long time. Felt good, huh?”
“I don’t—”
“Hug my brother. Stop being mean to him, or I’ll take my knife and pry your eyeballs out through your fuckin’ ear holes. And send me my new shoes.”
Yep. There’s the Felix Malone I know.
“The Drake I knew back then would’ve wanted to make things right. So…” He whistles loud enough to make me jump. “Hop to it, bitch. Size elevens. In fact, buy Arch something nice, too. And Cato, since he’s a good boy and he likes shiny things as much as the next guy.”
“You want me to buy you things?” I grit out. “Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars your kingpin daddy left for you after his death?”
“Yep. Rich men stay rich cause they spend other people’s money. Duh.”
Just like Rory did, he ends our call and leaves me hanging, but before I can collect my thoughts and think this shit through, the door bursts open at my back.
I swing around and get caught up in Archer’s harsh glare. “Get up. I’ve got it figured out.”
“Yeah, I, uh…” I cast my focus back to the screen on the wall. “I think I’ve got it, too.”