19. Mia
My hands were sore and my feet still ached from my long day, but after taking a quick shower and freshening up, I’d rushed over to the hospital to spend some time with Millie before the end of visiting hours.
Her sympathy had felt mocking when I’d complained about how tiring my day in the flower shop had been. Her bottom lip sticking out, contrasted with the humor shining in her blue eyes.
I’d even—grudgingly—mentioned that it may have been a little bit satisfying tying up bunches of flowers and arranging them in beautiful displays. To which she’d been ridiculously happy about.
Now, we sat side by side, watching sitcoms on the tiny TV that hung over her bed, eating Cheetos—a pale version of Wotsits in my personal opinion.
Millie’s head rested on my shoulder, her giggles at the antics on the TV the only thing breaking up the comfortable silence between us. It was nice. Even though we were in a hospital and she had an arm in a sling with cuts and bruises that were starting to heal, it was nice being like this with my sister. It had been too long since we’d been able to just relax in each other’s company, and now here we were, in another country, in a foreign hospital, finally getting time to just be sisters.
“Knock knock.” Rex’s head poked through the door. I felt butterflies in the pit of my stomach when he smiled at me. It was like being a teenager again and the popular boy asked to sit next to me at lunch time.
I pulled myself up straight, adjusting my clothes and tucking a stray hair behind my ear, trying to make myself look more presentable in the face of an unsuspecting visitor. Millie’s knowing smirk had me elbowing her gently to wipe that look off her face.
“To what do we owe the pleasure?” Rex walked in and shut the door, before shoving his hands in his pockets. He looked at me sheepishly, before sliding his eyes to my sister.
It was an unwelcome feeling, when the man you like raked his eyes over your sister and you felt that acidic burn of resentment, something I’d never felt toward Millie before and I quickly stamped out the unwanted intrusion.
“How are you feeling? You seem to be healing up well.” Millie smiled at his concern, waving her good hand around.
“I’m doing better, the doctor said I should be able to get out of here tomorrow.” She beamed at the welcome news. “And look…” she wriggled the fingers on her bad arm, “no permanent damage.”
Millie’s excitement was palpable. Here she was, injured and left for dead by her boyfriend and she was looking at the bright side of the shit show that had been her life recently.
“That’s excellent, I’m pleased for you.” Rex smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Listen, uh…”
A slither of concern wormed its way in my chest, and I watched him try and find the words to finish his sentence. “I need to speak to you about something important,” he continued.
“Um, ok sure, we can go?—”
“No,” Rex interrupted, “I need to speak to your sister.”
My face flamed before that concern reared its head, and I looked at the confusion on my sister’s face. She didn’t know what he wanted to speak to her about either, but I had a really bad feeling in my gut that it wasn’t about flowers.
“Do you mind if I sit?” He didn’t wait for permission, but sank into the armchair beside the bed. “I’m gonna just say it. But first, Millie… what do you know about Mickey”s… job?”
“His job? I don’t… I don’t understand, he was a janitor, he?—”
“No, Millie,” Rex’s face hardened, “his other job.”
Millie leaned forward to look at Rex head on. “He didn’t have another job. I’d know if he did, we lived together, remember.”
“What’s this about, Rex?” I asked. “What does this have to do with my sister?”
“Mickey was a dealer, and not a very smart one.” Millie gasped, her face draining of all color. “He was stealing money from his supplier and now that supplier wants his money back.”
“Well, tell Mickey to give the money back then,” I demanded, there was no way that this prick was going to get my sister in trouble with some shady people because he had sticky fingers.
“Yeah, about that,” Rex started. He stretched his legs out, his big boot tapping on the tile floor. “He’s gone. Did a runner.” He stared at me square in the eye and didn’t even blink when he informed us that Mickey had stolen money and fucked off to hide himself away, implicating my sweet, innocent sister in his stupid plan. “Apparently, before he left, he named your sister as the mastermind in the whole thing and she has the missing money.”
“WHAT?” Millie screeched, jolting forward. “I would never… I haven’t done anything… I didn’t steal any m—” Her face blanched before she sunk back onto the bed, tears welling in her eyes. “Oh shit.”
“What’s that ‘oh shit’ for?” Rex leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and staring at Millie with a hard glint in his eyes. “I need you to tell me everything you know about that money. These are some shady people that he stole from. I can’t protect you if you don’t tell me all you know.”
“You mean my sister’s in trouble with a drug cartel or something?” I squealed. “Oh jeez, Dad is going to be so pissed.”
“Shut up, Mia. I didn’t know ok. He told me… he said that it was money he earned doing over time and that it was for our future.” Her voice fell to a whisper as she realized the trouble she was in. “We were going to buy a house together. He said… he said—” Her words were broken by sniffles, and I reached over to grab a tissue.
“He said what, Millie. I need to know,” Rex pushed.
“Just give her a minute ok,” I barked, allowing Millie the time to gain some composure.
“She doesn’t have a minute,” he rasped frustratedly. “We don’t know how long they’ve had this information, they could be right around the corner, so you need to?—”
“No no no no…” Millie groaned, covering her face. “Mickey was always bad with money, that’s why he gave it to me to hold for him so that he didn’t spend it. So I… I hid it.”
“Where did you hide it?” Millie looked at him with fear in her eyes, her lip trembling. “Millie!”
I grabbed her hand, her fingers shook in mine as her tears spilled over. “It’s at the flower shop… in my drawer, tucked in the back behind a bunch of tissue paper. I thought it’d be safe there because Margot didn’t like Mickey coming over so I knew he wouldn’t be able to spend it,” she whispered, shame rising within her. “Margot is going to hate me, she’ll fire me and?—”
“Sshh, it’s ok. Rex will just go there now and get it, everything will be fine, right?” I turned to Rex and looked at him pointedly. “Right?”
He pulled his phone from his inside pocket and shot off a text. “My brothers will head there right now.” He glowered at the phone before sliding it away. “Tell me, Millie, do you remember Mickey ever meeting with a guy in a suit? Seen him talking to someone that looked off to you?”
Millie’s gaze turned inward, thinking about the past. Her brows lowered and she thought back to her time with Mickey. “There was this one time, a guy came over but he didn’t come in. It was late at night and they seemed like they were arguing, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. They stayed outside and I remember peeking out the window to see.”
“What did he look like? Can you remember?” Rex prodded.
“Um, he looked… a bit slimy. Like a lawyer,” she continued, trapped in her memories. “He had dark hair and it was slicked back. He had a long nose, and he had a briefcase.” She shook her head, wiping the bad memories away. “I’m sorry, that’s all I know.”
Rex looked disappointed with the measly description, but he didn’t say it. “That’s ok, you’ve done well. Do you think you’d remember him if you saw him again?”
She nodded enthusiastically, his small praise enough to boost her spirits. “Mhhmm, yep, definitely.”
Before Rex could reply, his phone vibrated, and he answered it, not greeting the person on the other end, just listening. I could hear the deep baritone murmuring of the caller, and with each word, Rex’s face hardened even more. Fire sparked in his eyes and his jaw clenched at whatever he was being told.
“I’ll be down there shortly,” he muttered, before ending the call and staring at me, scowling.
“Get your shit, we’re leaving.” He stood up so abruptly, and started grabbing Millie’s things, chucking it into her bag and shoving it at me. “I’m going to get Millie’s discharge papers, you get her ready to go.” He pointed at me sternly. “Don’t ask questions or get stubborn with me right now, princess. I don’t have time to deal with that shit, just do what I say.”
Millie shook beside me, and a jolt of fear slid its insidious way through my veins. Something was happening. Whatever that phone call was, it wasn’t good news and it definitely wasn’t a “we’ve got the money, no worries” call either.
“Mia,” Millie said softly, “this is all my fault?—”
“Sshhh, don’t say another word.” I started piling her things into the bag, not that she had much, just the stuff that I’d brought her myself. “This is Mickey’s fault. That lying sack of shit. When I see him again, I won’t let him get the first hit in, I’ll kick him in the balls and stamp on his fucking head,” I ranted, packing hurriedly for what seemed like the millionth time in a week.
But this time, I had no idea what I was packing for.