Page 57 of Sinful Promise
He scoffs so loud, Micah turns over on the couch. “Have you stopped to consider that maybe I’myoursafety blanket, Mayet? We’re staying together. It’s been decided.”
“Uh, no it hasn’t,” she counters. “Youdecided. ButIhave a million places I could go.” Wrinkling her nose, she teases, “That’s the beauty of being a grownup, having an income, and a valid ID that could get me a hotel for the night you won’t be able to find.”
Unfazed, he wanders back to the living room and grabs his basketball.That’shis safety blanket. The rough leather under his fingers. The familiar sphere. The weight. The way he can control it with a talent most others will never possess. “You assume I have neither an ID that makes me an adult, or enough money to follow you.” Then peers to me. “If she doesn’t know about all your names, Arch, then your marriage has a few holes.”
“And if she didn’t know,” I bite out, “you just maliciously snitched like a little fucking bitch. What is that?”
He only shrugs.
“I knew,” she cuts in. “And it doesn’t surprise me to knowyoualso have fake documents. But no matter how many times we go around and around on this, there still aren’t enough beds here for you.”
“So I’ll sleep on the floor.”
His expression softens a little when hers registers shock.
“Wouldn’t be the worst night I’ve had,” he assures her. “Micah’s already out, so moving him would be cruel. I’ll sleep on the living room floor, and call out if he has a fucking stroke or something in the night. You won’t be forced out of your home. Everyone is happy.”
My phone trills with an incoming call, vibrating against the coffee table with an unrelentingbzzzzzzthat grates on my nerves.
Heading out of the kitchen and crossing my apartment, I pick up the device before it wakes Micah. Then catching Fletch’s name on the screen, I swipe to answer and bring it up to my ear. “Yeah?”
I hear the sounds of a nightclub. Music. People partying. Then I glance to the clock and frown at the time. “Where are you?” I plug one ear to combat the noise on his end of the line. “Fletch? It’s eight o’clock. Why aren’t you at home with Moo?”
“I caught a tip today about the vigilante.” He shouts to be heard over the din of the crowd. But on my end of the line, my stomach drops and my gaze shoots to Minka.
“I spoke to Garzo,” he continues. “He said he has a buddy who might’ve seen the guy coming out of Fentone’s place two nights ago.”
Minka’s eyes burn into mine, like she somehow knows what I’m discussing. Like she feels the tension coiling in my blood.
“Garzo isn’t the most credible informant,” I remind him.
And neither is his buddy, if he says he saw aguyleaving Fentone’s.
Close, but no cigar.“Where are you now?”
“Yeah, well… I’m at the Opulus Club. Garzo set up a meeting for me with the witness.”
“Without me?” A momentary stab of anger courses through my veins. “Since when do you run a case without me, Fletch?”
“I’m not running it without you!” he shouts as music thumps behind him. “That’s why I called you. The meet is in twenty minutes. Can you get here in time?”
“Get there?” My gaze shoots back to Minka’s. “You want me to come out to a club? Now?”
“It’s eight p.m.,” he drawls. “Not three in the fuckin’ morning. You’ve never had a problem with working overtime before.”
“Right. But I’m a married man now.” Still, I wander toward the bowl by the front door and grab my keys. “My brothers are in town, and I have a million things to do. That’s all.”
“And I’m a full-time dad,” he counters. “My best friend’s brothers are in town. My ex-wife has called me eleven times in the last hour. But I’m still here, Arch. Still working the fuckin’ case. Since when do we shelve these things just because we’re off shift?”
Never. That’s the answer. Any other case, any other time, we’d work ourselves raw until we’ve solved the puzzle and locked a killer away.
Butthiscase…thistime… the killer is looking directly into my eyes.
I don’t want to solve this one.
“Are you sure the witness is credible?” I sigh.Play the part, Malone.Put in the effort.“Or is he looking for an easy fifty bucks?”
“Could be both. But it’s our job to run it down. Are you coming or not?”
