Page 44 of Sinful Deception

“Good thingyou’rea cop, then. I’ll borrow your badge if the popo question us.”

I choke out a quiet laugh. “No.”

“Yes.”

“And getting drunk before committing a crime is how you get caught.”

“So we’ll kill the dude first, then get blasted. The order of events hardly matters here, Arch.”

“No,” I repeat. “But if you happen to get word of where Booth is hiding, pass that information along. I’ll give it to the detectives so they can put that prick behind bars. Fletch is being a little too cool about this shit.”

“Cool?”

“Yeah. Like… He’s a little too relaxed about it all. Like a, ‘They’ll get him when they get him,’ kinda thing. Which, for some, could be a good thing. It’s the mature take on a shitty situation. But from where I’m standing, I get the feeling he’s biding his time and almost prepared to live behind bars to get the job done. It’s best for us all, especially his daughter, that we have Booth put away and out of reach before certain things are done that can’t be undone.”

“Or…” he taunts playfully. “I take care of it. Fletch remains a free man, and Booth eats through a straw for the rest of his life.”

“Did anyone ever tell you that you get too emotionally invested in protecting others?” I relax back on the couch and chuckle while Minka moves through our apartment in panties and one of my shirts. Because Cato is in class, Fletch is with Aubree purchasing a new suit, and Mia is with Fifi, re-bonding after the world’s most painful non-breakup breakup. I focus just a third of my brain on Felix, as the rest of me is glued to mywife’s backside when she hums a song in her throat and steps into the hall.

Gone.

Shit.

“Tim was born to rule,” he explains, though my mind long ago lostthattrain of thought. “Micah was born to clear the way. And I was put here to protect. It’s not my fault the old man ran out of uses by the time you came along.”

“Funny. Seems I was born to defy, and by doing so, showed you cowards it’s possible to walk away. You and Micah still haven’t learned.”

“We all have a journey to walk. What time do we have to be in Copeland on Friday?”

“Uh…” I think to the billion details Minka has made herself in charge of. “Funeral begins at two. We’ll be carrying her out of the hearse and over to the plot you paid for.”

“Good. Means I get to inspect my purchase and make sure they gave her the good spot with all the pretty flowers. Does he know?”

“That you financed it? Nah. I made up a story about the Commissioner’s Fund, and he was too wrecked to doubt my words. It took a load of stress off his shoulders when he found out, though. I know he was worried, and he was definitely bitter about her parents being loaded but shirking all responsibility. He’s raising Mia all alone and needs his money for her, but he would have figured it out if he had to. Or he would have tried, anyway. Sending himself into debt and working himself to death to climb out of the hole again.”

“Well, there’s no need for that. And he can maintain his pride because no one will tell him otherwise. How are you doing? Alright?”

“Me? I’m fine, why?”

“Because when your brother hurts, you hurt. Who knows that better than us? She might not have been very likable, but she was important, and now she’s gone. He’s in pain, and you’re over there taking care of everyone else. That’s gonna come tumbling down if you’re not careful.”

“I’m fine. I’m not, like, sad or anything.” I fold my ankle over my knee and pick at a thread hanging from the seam of my pants. “Her being gone is actually a kind of relief in a way. Once the funeral is done and life goes on, our new normal is gonna be a helluva lot more peaceful than it was before. She was a pain in the ass, and she caused harm without remorse. Now she’s gone. Once this scar heals, they won’t bleed anymore.”

“You’re definitely right,” he chuckles. “I wouldn’t have liked her. But I’ll stand up there with you for a woman you won’t miss.”

“Makes you a good man, Lix. Annoying,” I amend with a grin. “But good.” I look across again when Minka steps out of the hall, absent-mindedly holding a single shoe. A heel. Which makes me think she’s lost the other. “At least I knew her,” I explain. “And for a while there, before it all turned to shit, I was fond of her. That’s what I’m reminding myself, anyway. But you’re flying across the country on your own dime, to bury a woman you’ve never met and you wouldn’t have liked even if you had, for a man you’ve never had a civil conversation with, who just so happens to be a cop. You don’t like cops, Lix. But here you are, doing a really fucking good thing for someone who represents everything you abhor.”

“He could say the same about me.”Tap. Tap. Tap. “He’s a cop who swore an oath to lock people like me behind bars. I maybe, kinda, sorta napped his kid that one time, and I’ve made no attempt to better my reputation since then. It’s good of him to accept my presence on this day that’s really fuckin’ important to him.”

“He needs family.” I watch Minka in the reflection of the TV while she moves into the kitchen and digs around in the drawers. Still carrying that one heel, like maybe she’ll find the other in the cutlery tray. “The family he was born into is absolute fucking trash. So the second he could get out, he did. The family he married into is trash, too. And then he divorced her anyway. He’s just got him and Mia now. And me. It just so happens I bring a whole bunch of trash of my own.”

“You best watch your tone, little boy. I could turn up on Friday and mess up your face. Wouldn’t be the first time I made you cry.”

“Uh-huh.” I keep an eye on Minka’s reflection as she slams the drawer closed and meanders this way. As soon as she’s close enough, I reach out and snag her wrist, startling her from her reverie and yanking over my shoulder until she’s a crumpled mess piled atop cushions and half on my lap. But I press my free hand to her face and cover her mouth so she can’t cuss me out.

Her eyes narrow to dangerous slits. My life, more in danger than it ever was when I was living in the Malone mansion. “You fail to scare me, Lix. But my wife requires my attention now, so I’m hanging up and spending time with her.”

“You’re gonna fuck,” he drawls. “Cato’s out and the entire world is on fire. Don’t pretend I don’t know exactly what you’re gonna do with this time.”

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