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“It’s really difficult to talk to you when you’re like this,” Leon said.
“It’s very important that we maintain a cordial relationship with the Office of Records,” I said.
“Which person in this family is responsible for finances?” Arabella asked.
“You are,” I told her.
“Great. I’m so glad we got this cleared up. We are not paying this bill.”
“Yes, we are,” I said.
“It’s not our responsibility!”
“Mom was in danger. She went to the Office of Records. They kept her safe until I got there. Then we had a giant fight in the parking lot and the cars belonging to the employees of the Office of Records were damaged. Someone has to make them whole. Xavier and Gunderson aren’t going to do it.”
“Not our problem,” Arabella said. “The Office of Records should have protected Mom. It is their civic duty. They don’t get credit for not being assholes.”
“It’s like talking to a wall,” Leon said.
She turned her head and hit him with a death glare. “Did you even try to negotiate?”
“I did.”
“How did that go? Walk me through it.”
He shrugged. “I went in and met Michael. A somber looking dude. I told him that I was there on behalf of House Baylor to take care of the damages. He gave me a list. I looked at it. It seemed reasonable. I offered our apologies and told him we would handle it.”
“And what did he say?”
“Nothing. I think he might be mute.”
“He isn’t,” I said.
Arabella straightened. “I’m going to take that list, roll it into a tube, and shove it up Michael’s ass.”
“No!” Leon and I said at the same time.
“Yes.”
“Don’t do this,” I told her. “That is a direct order.”
“I don’t care.”
“Arabella, if you try to fight with him, he will kill you. He scares the shit out of me. He’s death and darkness.”
She raised her chin. “Good. I could use the exercise.”
Oh God. I knew that look. She wouldn’t listen to me. She wouldn’t listen to anyone right now. I needed serious backup.
I grabbed my phone and dialed Nevada. She picked up instantly. I switched the call to FaceTime. My sister was in the car, in the passenger seat.
“Arabella’s upset about the bill from the Office of Records and wants to confront Michael,” I snitched.
Nevada leaned into the phone. I flipped it, so the screen faced Arabella.
“You can’t do that,” Nevada said.
“Watch me.”
“If you do this, you will put the whole family in danger.”
“What is the Keeper going to do? Assault us? He’ll have to get in line.”
“Listen to me.” Nevada’s voice vibrated with authority. She sounded almost like Mom. “You’re having an emotional moment because you’re still upset about Mom being hurt and Linus falling into a coma. You want to punish someone for it, but the Keeper of Records can’t be that person. He didn’t hurt Mom. Michael didn’t hurt Mom. Michael actually saved Mom. And Catalina, and Cornelius. You aren’t being fair.”
“Well, it’s not fair that Mom got hurt, is it?” Some of the heat went out of Arabella’s voice.
Mom loved us and she was the ultimate authority when we were kids. But for most of our adolescence, Nevada took care of us as well. She ran the business that fed us and kept a roof over our heads, and when we had problems we didn’t know how to handle, we went to her first and Mom second.
“We need to take care of this,” Nevada said. “Right now this is a problem that can easily be solved with money. If you escalate it, we won’t be able to fix it at all. Do you need money? Because I’ve got loads, and I don’t mind at all making sure that the people who saved Mom are not left holding the bag.”
Oh, that was smart.
Arabella drew back. “Keep your money. We have our own.”
“Bug is looking for Xavier,” Nevada said. “We will find that asshole, and when we do, Connor will squish him like the cockroach he is.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Arabella waved her hand.
I ended the call.
“You are not wrong,” Leon said. “But you know we’re right.”
“Yes,” Arabella growled. “Thank you for taking care of the bill and the negotiations. I’ll issue the payment.”
“You’re welcome.”
She got up and went out. Well, that had gone better than expected.
Leon put a long object wrapped in a towel onto the table. “For you.”
I pulled the towel aside. Linus’ null sword. Oh my God. It had survived.
“I pulled it out of Rhino’s wreckage,” he said.
“You are the best!”
“I am,” Leon said solemnly. “It’s the heavy burden I bear.”
Bern waved at me through the glass wall.
“I have to go,” I told him.
“I’ll come with. I want to see this.”
The big monitor showed the inside of Lenora Jordan’s office, a space of oversize bookcases, red drapes, and Persian rugs. Lenora Jordan, a black woman in her forties, sat behind a heavy desk of reclaimed wood. She wasn’t just the Harris County DA, she was its paladin, resolute, incorruptible, and unyielding. She wore a grey power suit, but it might as well have been armor. The Houses of Houston recognized the need for law and order, and they chose her as its enforcer. Lenora Jordan didn’t know how to be intimidated.
