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“Sean thinks I’m a snot-nosed idiot. We’re not talking about rescuing hostages, or rappelling out of a helicopter! We’re talking about asking fat-ass Professor Beck what Kev was doing at the Colfax! I aced the guy’s classes. I know how he likes his ass kissed. What’s the worst that could happen, if I mentioned this Midnight Project to him?”
Con snorted. “And how do you propose to justify your curiosity?”
“I could say I found Kev’s research notes,” Miles improvised. “I could say I’m reconstructing some work he was doing for his thesis.”
“A two-hundred-and-fifty pound gorilla stuck a sharp knife under Sean’s girlfriend’s ear yesterday and asked her questions very closely related to the ones that you propose to ask Beck,” Con said. “Look into who sold the building. That’s all. Take this dead serious, hear me?”
Miles blew out an explosive breath. “Sure, I hear you,” he said. “I hear that you all think I’m a fucking infant. And I’m fed up with it.”
“No, we don’t, and I’m sorry you feel that way.” Con’s voice was calm and even. “How’s the other project coming along?”
“OK,” Miles said sullenly. “Jared’s hot to meet Mina, but she wants to get to know him better before she risks a face-to-face. She’s wary, been burned before. Shy fawn, and all that. I emailed you a transcript of last night’s chat. Seen it yet?”
“No. I was at Davy’s all night, working on this other thing.”
Miles practically snorted. Typical McCloud, to refer to an investigation into his brother’s murder as “this other thing.”
“Gotta go, Miles,” Connor said. “Watch yourself, OK?”
“Why should I bother?” Miles said bitterly. “No one ever lets me participate.” He slammed the phone down.
“Wow, aren’t you sweet-tempered today.”
He spun around with a yelp. Cindy leaned in the door. A bomb-shell, in cutoffs that showed off an endless expanse of tanned thigh. A pink halter top that showcased her pointy little tits. Her hair hung loose and glossy down her back.
His mouth went dry. “Could you knock, for once in your life?”
“I would have, but the door was open,” she said. “Your mom told us to come on down. You should clue her in as to my status in the doghouse. She still seems to think that I’m your good buddy.”
A gangling kid with curly black hair and huge black eyes peeked in after her. “This is Javier,” Cindy announced, dragging him inside.
“Oh. Yeah.”Shit.He’d been so wound up arguing with Connor, he’d forgotten all about giving in to Cindy’s bullying yesterday. He waved them in. “Go sit down,” he said sourly. “I’ll get stuff set up.”
“Were you, uh, in a fight, or what?” Javier asked.
Miles touched his sore, swollen nose. He looked pretty scary, with his nose all puffed up. He rummaged through his equipment, gathering cables, mics, jacks, stands. “I guess you could say that,” he mumbled.
“I assume, from the incredibly frustrated tone of that conversation, that you were talking to a McCloud?” Cindy inquired.
Miles stiffened. “How much did you overhear?”
“Enough to wonder why the McClouds would ever be interested in anything old Professor Porky Pig Beck might have to say,” she said.
Miles groaned inwardly. “Could we not talk about it now?”
“Sure, whatever,” she murmured. “Let’s get going, then. Get out your sax, Javier, and warm up your reed while Miles sets up.”
The recording went smoothly. The kid was good, Miles had to concede. Cindy put him through some major and minor scales, and then he played through the tunes all the applicants were supposed to learn. On the final rep, he inserted a thirty-two-bar blues improvisation. In less than an hour, he was copying the final file onto a thumb drive.
He handed it to Javier. “Good luck. I hope you get it.”
Javier slipped it into his sax case, and flashed a grin with his big, white, overlapping front teeth. “Thanks!” He grabbed Cindy and gave her a hug. “I’ll go home and send it. My Uncle Bolivar will let me use his laptop for the online application. See you back at band camp!”
They listened to the kid’s sneakers thud up the stairs. He peeked at her, and his gaze slid away. He couldn’t bear to look at that smile.
“Thanks for doing that,” she said. “He really deserves that scholarship. It was sweet of you to help.”
He shrugged. “No big deal. Um, Cin? I’ve got a whole lot of work to get done today before I go up to the dojo, so—”
