Page 8 of Bourbon and Secrets

“I didn’t call her,” Maggie says, looking at the officer unlocking her handcuffs. “Who called her? Because I sure as hell didn’t.”

She may not have, but I still came running.

“That’d be me, kid,” Del cuts in from behind me. I turn around, smiling, gliding into his open arms for a hug that feels long overdue. It feels good to hug someone–it’s been a while.

“Faye,” he hums, giving me an extra squeeze. As we pull back, he taps my chin with his knuckle. “It’s been too long, kid.” He looks over my shoulder at Maggie. Her arms are crossed like this entire exchange is torturous to endure. “You’ve been remanded into Faye’s custody on bail. You are obligated to appear in court at the end of January. Please, for the love of all things sacred, don’t get arrested between now and then.”

Cortez tries to hide his smile by looking down.

“Cortez, you’re still an asshole,” Maggie bites back. “You’re only happy to see her because you’re still obsessed with her.” Her eyes flick down to his crotch. “Get over it, man, you poppedhercherry. She’s moved on.”

Fucking Maggie.

He points at her. “Watch it. How about you don’t end up back in cuffs before you even step out of here.”

“You’re so boring. Maybe that’s why you fell into the friend zone,” she says, sending him a smile that says she thinks she won this round. She walks down the hall from where we came and over her shoulder, she shouts, “Faye, you can go home now.”

It’s almost funny how fast she needs to get away from me. Laughing and calling her an asshole under my breath is easier than thinking about how those words sting. Del and I follow her out toward the front of the building.

“Do I need to know anything?” Del asks quietly. “Between you and pretty boy FBI here?”

“Just some history. It’s not going to be a problem.” I glance again at Cortez as I walk through the station and give him a wave.

“Good to see you, Faye,” he calls out. With an audience now, albeit small at this hour in a police station, it’s still too many people who don’t need to know that I’m here to help.

Just as I push through the doors, leaving the station, my phone vibrates in my hand.

UNKNOWN

I’ll be in touch.

I glance back inside and watch as Cortez types away on his phone. FAYE

You never asked for my number, Cortez.

UNKNOWN

FBI remember?

When I look up from my phone, Maggie’s gone. “Dammit, where the hell did she go?”

Del sniffs out a laugh as he stands next to me on the landing of the concrete steps. “Probably for breakfast. Her car is in the impound. Figured it would be good to make sure she didn’t wrap it around any trees or telephone poles while she was working through whatever brought her in.”

I didn’t plan on being my sister’s keeper while I’m here. In fact, I didn’t have a plan for Maggie and me when I found out I was being sent to Fiasco. I couldn’t allow myself to even consider it—she hated me for leaving, and I couldn’t forgive her for that.

“She’s been running with the wrong crowd for a while. Misdemeanors at first. But now...” He shakes his head. “Now, I know for a fact she’s involved in something she can’t get away from. Not without getting hurt. So no matter what she tells you, she needs your help.”

“Yeah, I gathered that it wasn’t going to be something easy. Not with a beating like that,” I say, running my fingers along my wrist.

He clears his throat before saying, “There’s a lot of pieces in play here. Are you ready for this, kid?”

He’s referring to my involvement with Blackstone, but I’m merely a piece of it. Private investigators only have a fraction of the story, not the full view. But for my part, I’m ready.

“As long as people believe the lie, and that gossip doesn’t catch up to Blackstone before we get what’s needed, then it’ll be smooth.”

“Be smart. If something doesn’t feel right, you wait.”

I give him a curt nod. Del lost his daughter in the line of duty. She followed a lead, didn’t have the back-up she needed, and he found her bleeding out on scene. A year later, I left town, but he made sure I knew what was happening. Who was arrested, who died, the chaos that came to Fiasco resulting in rickhouse fires and I’m sure even more. I had quit my plans to join the PD, but somehow Del made sure I didn’t lose sight of what I had been good at and trained in.

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