Page 7 of Sinful Memory

“Detective Malone, can I have a word with you?” she asks. “Alone.”

Fletch comes up on my left, curious, even as Aubree’s eyes narrow. But Minka is the chief, so no one calls her out on shit. They can’t, without challenging a woman who holds significant power in this city. She’s lived here for less than a year, and already, she has more contacts and more sway than Fletch and me combined.

“Off the record,” she adds, dipping her hand into her coat pocket and taking out her small recording device. She hands that to Aubree too, then turning back my way, she starts forward and grabs my forearm the second we’re close enough to touch.

“What’s wrong?” I let her drag me out of the room and into the hall outside.

Her long, mahogany locks swish against her back, dry and straight now, and not at all like the moist mess revealed when I knocked her towel aside only hours ago.

“Minka?” Switching up who leads, I tug her into the massive main bathroom, coated in crime scene powder, indicating CSUs have been through. But the room is empty now, so I bring her to a stop and push the door closed before swinging around and staring down into her beautiful, chocolate-brown eyes. “Mayet?” I grit out, because my stomach clenches with nerves. “What’s wrong?”

“This one is delicate.” She draws a deep breath and fills her lungs until her chest expands. Then she releases it, exhaling so her warm breath hits my chin. “Anna Switzer has too much connection to—”

“To me? Babe. We met once. For twenty minutes. This isn’t going to be—”

“No.” She shakes her head and nibbles on her bottom lip, a nervous tic she so rarely shows. “To the mayor,” she rasps. “We’re in the hills, Archer. This isn’t your usual stomping grounds.”

“It’s not, but—”

“The mayor called this one in,” she pushes on. “He hadusassigned to the case. It was deliberate.”

“He—”

“Knew the victim,” she sighs. “But he won’t tell me his relationship with her.”

I reach out to take her hands, but she escapes my touch and presses her palms to her face instead.

“I don’t know if he was having an affair,” she groans. “I don’t know how or why he wants us here. I don’t know what the hell to think. Andthis,” she drops her hands and meets my eyes, “this is why I don’t make friends. Friends complicate life and make work a million times harder. Friends make things messy! I swear, Archer, I tried to stick to my lane, but—”

“It’s okay to care about people.” I look to the door, to ensure it stays closed, then around the room to make certain we’re completely and totally alone. Then I grab Minka’s wrists and tug her in until her chest clashes with mine and her arms wrap around my torso.

I rest my chin on her head and crush her close until she stops fighting my hold. “It’s okay to be part of a family, Mayet. Me, Cato, Fletch, Aubs.” Pulling back to look down at her, I meet her eyes and grin. “The mayor. He cares about you. It’s okay to reciprocate those feelings.”

“Sure. But now he’s gonna be wrapped up in a possible murder investigation,” she grunts. “That’s gonna be cute: my husband cuffing the mayor that I kinda like having as a paternal figure.”

“You’ve got daddy issues.” Chuckling, I press a kiss to her temple and hold her hands when she’d rather swipe out and smack me. “Still, I’ll talk to the mayor and see what the fuck is up with him and Anna. Figure out his connection and run it down. Don’t worry so much.”

I can say that all I want, but beneath my wife’s hard exterior is a woman who cares deeply.

Not about a lot of people, it’s true… but the few she feels for, getallof her.

“He didn’t have to call you or tell you anything,” I remind her. I don’t say it too loudly, though. CSUs, cops, techs, and doctors wander the hall outside the bathroom, their feet shuffling on smooth tile, and their voices echoing throughout the immense mansion that, despite its riches, has less personality than our shitty little apartment. “Justin Lawrence is a former district attorney, Mayet. He’s a fuckin shark who knows how to take care of himself in this world. If he was guilty of anything, he would know how to bury it.”

She rolls her eyes. “Comforting.”

“Think about it. He knew you’d treat the body right, and he knew I’d have to come to him for answers. He involved himself by making that call. So…” I pull her closer and settle my lips on the center of her forehead. “He’s gonna be just fine. You do you, and I’ll do me. We’ll meet up at the end and compare notes.”

I release her arms, but add, “oh, and Minka?” as she turns away.

Pausing, she peers over her shoulder. “Yeah?”

“It’s nearly lunchtime. Eat something with protein in it. Don’t make me call later to check on you.”

Unimpressed, she opens the heavy door and reveals the hall.

The second story of this estate is mezzanine-esque, the hall overlooking a massive living space downstairs, and hanging above it all, in the center of the ceiling, is a million-dollar chandelier that’ll re-sell for so much more, purely because it belonged to the starlet Anna Switzer.

“Detective Fletcher.” Unsurprisingly, I find my partner leaning against the railing with his ankles crossed and his arms folded. Right beside him, Aubree waits with a playful grin, because she doesn’t like to be left out of anything. “Doctor Emeri.” Then I look back to Fletch. “Let’s go.”

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