Page 41 of Muzzled

Setting his wallet on the table, he pulled out his credit card, waving off her attempt to lay cash out. “I’ve got this,” he said, refusing to look at her as he handed over his card. “Consider it a business expense.”

Sitting back against the booth, she smirked and lifted her coffee cup. “Cheers, partner.”

*

Ryan paced themotel room while Micah spoke with Logan, reviewing orders and expenses before she hung up and looked over at him. “We might as well get this over with.”

Guilt swelled in his gut as she thumbed through her phone and pulled up her mother’s number. Her fingers hesitated over the call button.

“We’ll carry on without her,” he said, taking her phone from her hand. “There’s nothing she can say to seal this hunt anyway.”

She snatched her cell back and reopened the contact information. “I’ll count this as my biannual check-in,” she replied, tapping the button and putting it on speaker. “Now hush.”

The blaring ring cut off quickly as a woman answered the call. “Hello?”

Micah took a deep breath and hugged a pillow to her chest. “Hi, Mom. It’s Micah.”

“Micah? What do you want?”

She closed her eyes for a moment, and he debated ending the call as her lips pursed. “Just calling to say hi, Mom. How are you?”

A dog barked in the background. “I’m in the middle of packing to go see your sister. She and Bruce invited me to stay with them for the month.”

Mimicking her mother’s words silently, Micah locked her eyes on the wall. “That sounds fun. Are you flying or driving?”

“Since I sold my car to pay my rent last year, what do you think?” came the snide response. “I’m taking the bus. Unless someone wants to come through with money to fly.”

He waved his hand at her to get her attention, pointing to his wallet. “Offer to cover her flights,” he whispered. The moment he returned to Hades’s heel, he’d have no use for the money his accounting work brought in.

Nodding, she swallowed. “So, Mom? Remember when I was a kid and I told you about the Window Men?”

“Remember?” her mother scoffed. “It was so embarrassing, the way you carried on about that. I should’ve put you on the roof and let you deal with that fear instead of listening to you carry on about it night after night.”

“Yeah, well, kids, right?” Micah exhaled. “I was just wondering if there was something that brought it on? Did we move into a new apartment or were you maybe dating a new guy? Something like that?”

The woman scolded her dog, yelling into the phone before replying. “I don’t know,” she said in exasperation. “What, are you looking for new things to blame me for? Is that why you called?”

Micah’s hands fisted and she lolled her head back. “No, Mom. I was just wondering.” She looked at his wallet. “And I had a few really good months, so I was thinking maybe I could pay for your flights to and from Cherine’s.”

The change in the woman’s voice was instant. “That would be very sweet of you,” she sang. “Did you make enough to cover a car rental and a little spending money while I’m there? I don’t want to be bothering your sister every time I need to go out.”

He nodded, sitting on the bed and resisting the urge to grab her hand.

Micah shook her head slowly. “Sure, Mom. Now the Window Men…can you think of—”

“It was right around the time of your dad’s disappearance. Pretty sure he was your dad, at least.” She laughed, her mood lifted with the promise of money. “You probably heard me talking to Aunt Laney about it, about how upset I was when I couldn’t reach him anymore. And as usual, heaven forbid anything not be about you, right? Little Micah had to start wailing and crying about the ghost in her room.”

Micah blinked. “I thought my dad was out of the picture before I was born.”

“Well, it was close enough. Probably did it to get out of child support.” The woman sighed. “Not that Eli was paying anyway, loser that he was.” Her voice perked up again. “So I was planning to bus out tomorrow morning—”

“Right,” Micah responded on cue, her face eerily expressionless. “If you could maybe text me your bank information, I’ll make sure to transfer enough to cover everything.”

“And you won’t forget,” her mother stated. “I better feed the dog. Nice talking to you, Micah.”

The phone went black.

“I’m sor—”

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