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“Yeah.” My supporting arm grows weaker with every minute I lean on it, so my whole body slumps and my organs pinch from compression. “Having a soda and a rest. If I stay at the office, people ask me to do things for them.”
“Stay where you are,” he orders. “Fletch and I are taking a few hours. We’ll get something to eat, and make sure the womenfolk don’t kill themselves with overwork. Besides—”
“Daddy!” My heart jumps at the pure glee I hear in Mia’s voice on the other end of the line. “I missed you, Daddy! I told Miss Penny to not make me dinner yet, ‘cos you said you would be home.”
“I’m home, baby. Daddy’s sorry he’s late.”
I let out a content sigh at the sound of the puckered kisses Fletch smacks all over his little girl’s face.
“Thank you for hanging out with Moo, Miss Penny. We’re gonna go to Uncle Tim’s for dinner now. That okay with you, cutie?”
“Guess you’re coming here,” I murmur for Archer.Good. He’ll let me lean on him.“How far out are you?”
“Just a couple of minutes. Come on, Fletchers. Aunty Minka’s waiting for us and pretending she’s not completely wiped-out exhausted.”
“Ha-ha,” I grumble. But we both know his words are truth. “What do you want me to order for you?”
“Burger.”
A door closes in the background of our call, and I catch Mia’s sweet voice as she chatters about her fun day. Art. Dancing. Apparently, it’s almost time to think about big school—which is charming and terrifying at the same time.
Mia Fletcher is about four feet tall. At fifty-five pounds, she’s tiny and innocent, a perfect little dancing doll who speaks up for fairness and has no fear, despite the things she’s already endured in her four years.
A drug-addicted, absent mother. A father who, before addiction kicked Jada’s ass, was also absent. He was with her most days of the week, doing his best, but he’s a homicide detective who works grueling hours, and his relationship with his ex-wife was strained at best.
He was around. But his time with his daughter, though frequent, was short, rather than occurring over long stretches where they could really, truly bond.
And this last year, Mia was kidnapped and held at gunpoint. Though she was rescued, her captor was none other than the estranged Felix Malone, and her memories of that day, although fading, won’t completely go away.
Even before all that, she was tasked with feeding herself. Bathing herself. She kept her own company, and watched her mother flush her life down the toilet, literally hiding when Jada had strange men in their home.
Mia Fletcher is the best person any of us know, and the universe is having a laugh by making us her role models.
“Ask Tim to toss a corndog in the fryer too,” Arch adds. “Please. She’s been looking forward to it all day.”
“A hotdog on a stick!” Mia cheers. “You silly goose, Uncle Arch. They’re not called corndogs.”
“Corndog,” I confirm, meeting Tim’s eyes so he knows to get one cooking. “I’ll take care of that. Are you going back to work tonight, or are you done?”
“Undecided for now.” Cars rumble in the background, and nighttime sounds keep them company as they make their way along the street and in this direction. “A first name isn’t enough to go on right now, though we’re doing what we can with it. But we’re pretty content in thinking our perps aren’t on a killing spree. This was a once-off, intentional hit, carried out for a reason. So we’re not rushing to stop the next murder. And my wife is healing from surgery,andhas a bleeding disorder which makes that healing significantly more difficult.”
“Arch—”
“A thousand times more difficult,” he presses. “My loyalties are to your health and well-being, Mayet. So Fletch and I have a couple rats running the streets and searching for morsels of intel, making even our downtime productive. For the next hour or two, we’re eating and making sure you haven’t killed yourself.”
“What?” Mia’s empathetic whine makes my lips turn down. “Is Aunty Minka okay?”
“Aunty Minka’s fine,” Fletch growls. “Uncle Arch forgot you were here and used inappropriate, grown-up words he shouldn’t have.”
“My bad,” Arch snickers. “You’ll see Aunty Minka in just a minute,” he promises Moo. “Then you can see for yourself she’s okay.”
“Which means I have to sit up,” I mutter to myself. “Wake up. Put on a good show for her.”
“It’d help me to see you all perky and shit too,” he growls. “When did you last take meds?”
“Lunchtime. I’m not due till seven, so don’t worry.”
I hear the music from nearby speakers with one ear, then the same music, but from outside the bar, coming through the phone. So I turn on my stool and watch the door.
