ARCHER
Now that I’m commuting up and down the hill every day for work, rather than the leisurely two-block stroll I’ve become accustomed to over the last couple of years, my truck almost never sees the long-term parking garage it once called home.
It’s constantly dusty now, and comes with a hairline crack in the windshield, because of the rocks other cars flick up as we pass. The truck I once considered my pride and joy, since it was basically the only thing in my life besides Fletch and Mia that brought me happiness, is now just a truck. Still shiny, still kinda sexy, but not all that babied anymore.
Felix would prefer I ride in the back of an SUV driven by someone else. Minka probably feels the same way, though she hasn’t said so out loud.
Personally, I just want to get from Point-A to Point-B as quickly as possible, because Point-B is wherever she is. And she’s where I want to be. Always.
I make my way up the hill now, later than I intended to end my day, but the sun is not yet below the horizon, and Minka hasn’t sent a text yet that says I’ve abandoned her andwhy don’t I love her anymore?
So really, all is well.
Scott and Geoffrey Prim spin through my mind on repeat, their smug grins, their assholes-R-us self-importance. Their disregard for a dead girl’s life. Their sister, the forgotten child. Then I think of Tairneyy andthe way her dad hugged her. The way he held each of his children, and his wife, and proved a real man has enough space for them all.
I think of Minka and her dad. The one who still haunts her. The one who left scars on her heart.
He was a good man, so far as I can gather, but he checked out when she was just a kid, and left her with a crippling fear of rejection. Just like Josey was.
And then, since I have fathers on my mind, I think of Drake Banks’ and mine. Two different men, two different sides of the law. Special Agent Henry Banks was, according to my intel, a complete sack of shit who pushed his son harder and faster up the DEA ranks than was fair. And Timothy Malone the Second… he simply pushed me. He pushed my brothers. He tormented us the instant he realized we wouldn’t be theyes sir, no sirsoldiers he hoped to breed, and when he deemed us useless, his torment turned to torture.
His cruelty knew no bounds.
At least he’s dead now.
I bring my truck up the hill, around gentle bends, and under the sweeping branches of weeping trees, and though I catch the telltale glint of sunlight flickering off the bumper of an SUV Felix pays to follow me, I neither gun it to escape him, nor do I slow down to make his job easier.
I just do me, and when my phone trills with an incoming call, I check the name on my screen and answer with a smile. “Chief.” I set our call on speaker and place the device on my thigh. “I want applause for how I’m handling our newest change in circumstances. I’m not even stalking the halls of your building and scaring your employees away.”
“I’m applauding,” she drawls playfully. “Which change of circumstances, specifically?”
“The trial medication, I sincerely hope Jen didn’t fuck up. Where are you?”
“In the car with Harrison. We left the office a minute ago. Where are you?”
“Mm.” A long, satisfied hum rolls through my chest as I study my rear-view mirror. “I’m about ten minutes ahead of you. Pulling into our driveway right now.” I slow the truck and merge right, moving from a gravelly city-maintained road to the crisp, clean driveway my father paid a small fortune to install back in the day. “Guess I’ll save my gentle interrogation for when you get here, then.”
“Gentle interrogation,” she snorts. “Uh-huh. Sure, Detective. Catch a killer today?”
“Not yet.” I move through the massive wrought iron gate guarding our property, then around the circular driveway so I can park, but without being in the way of the front door.
That’s where Minka’s car stops.
Cutting the engine and snagging my phone and keys, I push out until my boots touch the ground and, already, one of Felix’s men strides forward in expectation. “Want me to put it away, Mr. Malone?”
“Nah. I’m not done with it yet today.” I start toward the house and slip my hand into my pocket. “Fall ill today, Chief? How’s your blood sugar? Headaches? Stomach ulcers? You’re not bleeding from places you shouldn’t be bleeding, right?”
“This is yournon-interrogation?” She snickers. “I can’t wait for thegentleinterrogation you have planned for us.”
“Just doing my due diligence before solidifying the rest of our evening’s plans. If you’re well, I wanna take you out. If you’re not, we’ll stay in, and I’ll stare while you sleep, since I’m kinda terrified you won’t wake up again tomorrow.”
“Out?” Curiosity pulses between us like waves at the beach. Like warmth on a hot road. “Out where?”
“On a date. We haven’t acknowledged our summer wedding anniversary yet. It would be a shame to miss it.”
“Yes, we have!” she laughs. “In fact, I feel like it’s been mentioned multiple times.”
“Oh, well…” I move past a guard stationed by the smaller gates shielding our front entryway, across sleek tiles I personally think are ugly as fuck, then through the front door until the delicious scent of something garlicky and delicious makes my stomach jump. “I’m starving, Minnnka, so if I wanna celebrate my wedding anniversary every single day of the year, then I guess that’s something I’m gonna do. I’d prefer you joined me.”
