Archer #5
At that, Fifi’s brows quirk high on her forehead. But I can’t explain. I won’t. I fucking refuse. So I firm my jaw and soften my words. Polite detachment. Professional conduct. “I’m sorry, Ms. Lewis.” Swallowing, I cast my eyes her way. “I’m gonna need you to leave for now.”
“What?” She looks at Minka. Then Fletch. “What did I do?”
“You’re a civilian, and this case is sensitive.”
“Archer,” Minka sighs. “Stop it.”
“We cannot discuss this in the presence of civilian ears!” I snarl. “Worse, they’re mayoral ears.” I press my hands to Minka’s desk. “We are done expanding the audience on this matter, Chief Mayet.”
“You act like I’m a freakin’ news reporter.” Pissed, Fifi hits back with a scowl. “I expect exclusion, and she can’t sit with us dramatics from Chief Mayet. But not you, Detective. I could have sworn you were better than that.”
“This isn’t a matter of playground loyalties! This is classified information that could change people’s lives. I refuse to gamble with those lives to save feelings.”
“Mia could stay with Fifi,” Aubree decides.
Fletch startles, swinging around with wide eyes and pale cheeks beneath the splatters of blood. “What? No?—”
“It’s where she’d want to be. You have Penny, but she’s just a glorified grandma at this point. Fifi is who she’d be most comfortable with while you’re out of town.”
“I mean…” Fifi’s cheeks warm with a rosy, red blush. “That would be okay, I guess. I could pick her up from school, and we could wait till you get back.”
Aubree scoffs. “Sophia said we’d be back by the six o’clock news, but I don’t see us flying in and out, and dedicating meaningful time to a case, and still getting home by dinnertime. It’s not happening.”
“So she’s lying?” Minka probes. “Straight to my face like that?”
“Lying, or underplaying what’s required, and hoping we stick around once we’re already there.”
“To what end?” Groaning, Fletch drags his hands over his face. “I have a daughter I need to come home to, and Asa’s out here collecting favors like they come free to us. I can’t leave Mia for more than a day.”
“She can stay with Fifi,” Aubree repeats. “She already said it was okay.”
“Under duress! She doesn’t actually want to babysit, Aubree. You volunteered her with your big mouth.”
“Well, hang on.” Fifi turns to Charlie. “I wouldn’t mind. You trust me, right?”
“Of course I trust you. But hanging out with a cute little girl for an hour is not the same as being that little girl’s everything and not getting a break.”
“So you don’t trust me?”
“I just said I trust you!”
“You trust me for an hour. But after that, my reliability goes to hell?”
“Woman!” He circles away in frustration, and because his back is turned, he misses her sly grin of amusement. “You’re forcing me to hold my tongue because the last time I shouted at you, I hurt your feelings.”
“Oh, so you’re thinking hurtful things? But you’re not saying them out loud? That doesn’t make you a better person, Charlie. It makes you sneakier.”
Laughing, Aubree stumbles across the office and places herself between the dueling duo. “Stop. He’s stressed.”
“No shit, I’m stressed! I’m a dad, and being a dad is heavy. I can’t tie my kid to a tree while I’m out of town. I can’t leave her home alone. And fuck knows, I can’t put her in my backpack and take her to whatever fresh hell Sophia has cooked up for us.”
“Hence,” Fifi drawls, “I said she could stay with me. You take her to school, I’ll pick her up. We’ll hang out, get dinner, do whatever. Detective Asa said you’ll be home by the evening.”
“That was a lie,” Aubree repeats. “No way in hell we’ll be back tomorrow.”
“I could take her to my apartment. Or yours. Wherever she’s most comfortable. She trusts me, Charlie. I mean, for God’s sake, she ,” she shoots an accusing hand toward Minka, “convinced her I was sent from heaven, especially for her. Like I come with a biblical seal of approval.”
“That was an accident,” Minka snickers. “Total oopsie.”
“She trusts me,” Fifi emphasizes. “And according to you and the things you’re not shouting, you trust me. So I fail to see the issue.”
“The issue is that… it’s that…” He grabs his hair and tugs until it stands on end. “Jesus.”
“He humbly accepts your offer,” Minka decides, pushing up from her chair and meeting my eyes.
I don’t approve, and she fucking knows it.
“It’s Sophia. Not some unnamed, unknown gangster.
Not some crazy, brainless idiot who leads anyone into a situation she hasn’t thought through already.
She needs an M.E. consult, so I’m gonna give her one. ”
“Babe…”
“You’re mad because she called and messed with the routine you thought you’d get this week. And she said certain trigger words you don’t want civilians to hear.”
Possessed, I slide my gaze across and stop on a clueless Fifi.
Her eyes go wide. “What?”
“This isn’t as scary as you think it is.
” Coming around her desk, Minka stops on my left and takes my hand between hers.
“It’s Sophia. You know I don’t even like people.
But I trust her. Whatever this case is, it’s clearly important.
Tie up yours.” She snags Elton’s spare DNA swab from her desk and places it against my palm.
“Do whatever you’ve gotta do. If you feel like you absolutely can’t get away tomorrow, then I suppose we can go on our own. Me and Aubree.”
Fletch scoffs, loud and shaky. “Good luck with that, Delicious. Has anyone stopped to consider Tim’s opinion on all this?”
Aubree snorts. “It might shock you to hear this, Detective, but Tim doesn’t get an opinion. He’s my husband, not my keeper.”
Fuck me. Tim’s coming to Timbuktu, too.
“Pack your bags, Malone.” Minka moves to her toes and drops a kiss on the underside of my jaw. “I’m gonna call afternoon rounds and brief my staff.”