Page 17 of Detective Daddy Next Door

"Jeez. That's too much. Your boss has been so nice to you."

"That's exactly what I've been thinking. Micha has been good to me."

Ava shrugs. "But if she's peddling drugs then she's not so nice, I guess."

"She's not peddling drugs."

"Drugs, fraud. Same difference."

"Well, he's asking me to be his girlfriend so that he can investigate from inside."

Ava starts to laugh. "Wait a minute. That means you're stuck with him?"

I nod, then shake my head. "Unfortunately."

"And you agreed?"

"No. He gave me three days to think about it. And my three days end tomorrow."

"This is crazy." She picks up her glass and sips until the straw starts to make an empty sound.

I run my hand over the rim of my glass. "What would you do if you were in my position?"

"To be very honest?"

I nod.

"I wouldn't want to go to jail," she answers and signals for the waiter.

On Sunday evening, I press the doorbell next door. I've decided I'll do as Myles says. Fraud is not a thing of levity. If it isn't true that the firm is involved in fraud, the police wouldn’t be investigating us. Whoever it is that's using the firm to launder money is trying to put us all in trouble, and I will not tolerate that. You don't put people's careers in danger like that. So I decide to stay on the side of the law.

As I press the doorbell again, the thought of seeing Myles’ smirking face turns my stomach. I wish I didn't have to go through this. I wish I wasn't at his mercy, but unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it. The middle-aged woman I saw with Myles the other day opens the door. I half expect her to shout ‘Honey, the crazy woman from the other day is here!’ but she doesn't. I still do not think she's his wife.

"Good evening, ma'am," she says with a little smile on her face.

I clear my throat. "Good evening. Can I see Myles, please?"

"You mean, Mr. Miler?"

I don't know his last name, but I nod since he seems to be the only man in the house.

"Just a minute," she says and shuts the door gently.

I wait for maybe two minutes then the door opens again.

"Please, come in."

I follow her into the living room. I recognize the wine sofas from the other day. The interior is just like mine, except that the position of the kitchen is on the right wing while mine is on the left. There are toys on the floor in front of the big sofa. A dining table is on the right, close to the kitchen. I look out of the kitchen window to my house and I wonder if Myles looks out of it sometimes. I make a mental note to always have something on or have the blinds drawn whenever I'm on the left side of the house. Then I hear giggling from the left side of the living room. I look over. Myles is sitting in a chair, and the little girl who I assume to be his daughter is sitting on his lap, books spread before them. It looks like he's helping her with her homework. It's a weird sight because I could never have imagined him helping a kid out with their homework. He seems like a 'go do your homework or I'll whoop your ass’ type of guy.

When they see me, they stop smiling, the little girl especially. She looks like she's still offended by how I addressed her dad the other day, and I suspect she can keep a grudge. I want to wave to her, but I stop myself.

"Do you have an answer now?"

I want to say that if I didn't have an answer I wouldn't be here, but seeing that the little girl isn't frowning anymore stops me. I could send her on a frowning fest again and I don’t want that.

I nod.

"Do you want to talk in private? We could go into the library," he asks.

---