Page 99 of Diamond In The Rough

20

MICAH

ALL THE KING’S HORSES

“We’re catching a little noise over here in Copeland.” Archer walks amongst loud traffic and busy city streets a long way from where Felix and I are, his breaths coming a little faster and backed up commuters honking their horns as they wait in filthy summer heat. “Who the fuck is Joseph Wilkes, and why have I heard his name before?”

“He’s a bitch,” Lix answers before I can, his legs splayed wide and his hands busy flicking a lighter to life. Then closing it. Open. Closed. We’re in his car, heading from Harlem to Manhattan from one meeting to the next. “He’s looking for power and notoriety. But he’s yet to show his face when I’m around.”

“So he’s sending soldiers to the front line to mess with you?”

“Essentially.” Like Felix, my hands need something to fidget with. My fingers need something to keep them busy. So I dip my right hand into my pocket and trace the etchings on the side of my knife. While outside this car, I spot an FBI van a full block before we pass it. “He’s spineless, like Pastore was. Lots of noise, but no action. He sends his minions out to bother us, but has yet to step up personally.”

“So what are you gonna do about it?” Archer steps inside a building, so the sound surrounding his call changes from open air to something else. Still loud. But… less. “If I’m hearing things all the way over here, then it’s an issue. My captain is hearing things, too. My wife is curious. And Cato’s ready to fight.”

“Cato needs to sit down and study,” Felix grits out. “You tie him down and shut him up, Arch.”

“Doing my best,” he grunts. “Wilkes?”

“We’re meeting with someone in an hour or so,” I murmur. “This guy, Terrance, says he has information for us.”

“And so you just… You just go to these things now? No forethought for the fact that Terrance could be baiting you?”

“Aww, is that concern I hear?” Felix taunts. “It wasn’t so long ago you refused to even entertain a call. Now you’re checking in and warning us against danger?”

“Just doing my bit to keep everyone alive. It’s my job.”

“You’re a homicide detective,” Lix chuckles. “Your job is to spend time with dead people. How’s the good doctor, anyway? She still sexy?”

“Christabelle’s gonna smack the bullshit right out of you,” Archer growls. “You were always too fuckin’ stupid for your own good. Now you’ve gone ahead and fallen in love with a woman strong enough to set you straight.”

“Oh, and on that note,” Lix meets my eyes and grins. “Micah’s in loooooove.”

“Lix!”

“What?” Archer questions. “Who?”

“She’s no?—”

“Tiia Hale,” Felix sing-songs. “She’s got that islander appearance, a sexy year-round tan, long dark hair, which we all know is alllll our type, and a mouth on her that’ll keep even the most formidable man on his best behavior.”

“Micah?” Archer is far less boisterous than Felix. Quieter. More sensitive. “You met a woman you like enough to introduce to Felix?”

“We had dinner last night,” Felix preens. “And she’s coming back tonight. You should come, too!” Like a kid in a candy store, all thoughts of Joseph Wilkes and his bullshit sprint from his mind as Felix hones in on the idea that he’ll have his family under one roof again. A rare pleasure for him. But one that’s becoming more common lately. “Get on the jet now, Arch, and we’ll wait for you. We’ll eat late.”

“I’m in the middle of a case right now.” Phones ring and people talk around him. No one formally announces they’re cops in a cop shop. But I know it anyway. I feel it in my criminal soul—my brother is currently in the bullpen inside the homicide division of the Copeland City P.D. “I can’t leave. And no,” he cuts in, somehow knowing Felix’s lips were already opening with their next rebuttal. “Minka is not coming across without me.”

“You won’t let her travel just because you can’t?” Felix tut-tuts, obnoxious and irritating. “You’re very controlling. That’s not the sign of a healthy marriage.”

“You’re very annoying, but we knew all along you were not an example of a healthy human being. Micah,” he commands my attention, one of very few men on this planet who could. “You like her? She likes you?”

“Felix is making something out of nothing. Forget it.” I glance out the car window and watch as the world putters by. “If there’s something to tell you, I’ll do it myself. Until then?—”

“Felix is talking out his ass,” he concludes. “Understood. Well… Good luck with it. Have fun. Practice safe sex.”

“For fuck’s sake.”

“What?” Archer breaks character, shedding his serious estranged brother persona and laughing along with Felix. “What the hell else am I supposed to say? There’s a woman. Lix is calling it serious. You’re asking for privacy, so I’m giving it. But I’ve become accustomed to telling Malones to not fuck shit up lately. Don’t kill her. Don’t kill yourself. And for the love of god, don’t make babies.”

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