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“Well, as it stands right now, we have a battered woman, scared of her abuser, and half his size, as the primary suspect. A scrawny, undersexed jealous dude is a decent alternative.” Archer grabs me under the arm, surprising me with his grip, and guides me to my feet. “Stick around town, Ms. Darling. We’ll be back for more information once we check out the Anderson angle.”
“Wait…” She jumps up as Archer draws me around. “Coffee. Thirty minutes. You promised.”
I also promised not to talk during this interview.
But hell… I’m not a total asshole.
Am I?
“Call Seraphina and tell her to schedule something in. I’ll make it work.”
Pleased, Karla’s lips stretch wide into a grin. “Thank you.”
ARCHER
“We’re heading over to Anderson’s place now.” I open Tim’s bar door and literally, physically shove Minka inside. Because she wants to come with us to a potential murderer’s home, and I’m not interested in watching her place herself in danger today. “You’re staying here.”
“Excuse you!” She slaps her hand on the door before I can close it again, snarling so I know I’m in trouble when I get home tonight. “I am the Chief Medical Examiner, Detective Malone. I’m not a vapid girlfriend on the side, trying to play hero.”
“You’re a doctor for the dead.” I growl as Fletch brings a police cruiser to a stop on the street; the late afternoon sun reflects off the windshield to burn the back of my neck. “There are no dead people where we’re going.”
“No? But there might be dead people in our apartment when you get home.” She shows off a sadistic grin. “You won’t make it to your honeymoon if you shove me off my own case.”
“Malone!” Fletch leans out the car window. “We gotta roll, bud.”
“This is not your case,” I remind her. “This is my case, and you just so happen to enjoy a few extra perks, since you’re married to a homicide cop. Medical examiners don’t typically get to sit in on interviews, and they definitely don’t get to attend a suspect’s home.”
“Archer—”
“If he’s our killer, he’s gonna be volatile.”
“If he’s our killer, he acted out of love! He did it out of desperation. He doesn’t need you to ram his front door in, and you don’t need to scare the shit out of a scrawny, lovesick young adult. He needs to be heard.”
“I’m leaving.” I catch my brother’s eyes across the bar and stare, just a single beat, so he knows what I need. “Tim’s not letting you follow me, Mayet. Stay here, order something to eat, and hang out with Aubree. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“Why am I being cast aside?” She takes a step my way, closing the gap when I move back. “What did I do? You let me in to talk to Karla.”
“Karla’s not a suspect, and her interview was held inside a secure building. Anderson, on the other hand—if he’s our guy—is probably holed up in his apartment, wearing four-day-old skivvies, watching the door, and hugging a shotgun. If he killed Alves, then he knows we’re coming for him. He’s gonna be twitchy, Mayet, which means I’m not taking you there.”
“I could go there myself. I have access to a car too, and a?—”
“Remember that time you were engaged to my brother?” The moment Tim stops by her side, I reach through the gap and slap a cuff around Minka’s wrist, then the other around Tim’s. He grins from behind his beard, but my wife swings around with a feral gasp that has the power to make my gut churn. “Let’s play pretend,” I grit out. “For the next hour, he’s your man, and I’m just the asshole you hate at first sight.”
“What the—” She shakes her wrist until the steel clatters. “Archer!”
“Don’t tug on it,” I tell them both. “She’ll bleed, and then I’ll be angry.” I lean in, quick as a flash, and press a kiss to Minka’s cheek, then pulling back again before she can hit me, I turn on my heels and dart to the car.
Wrenching the passenger door open and sliding in beside Fletch, I watch my wife through the windshield and know I’m in big trouble when this day is over.
Huge trouble.
Homicidal trouble.
She yanks her arm and darts through the doorway. And my poor brother lets her do it because if he pulls back, he’ll hurt her.
And that’s not something we do in our family.
Our father raped and killed anyone we loved back when he was in power.
