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“Copeland,” he bites out. “Then Grosvenor Street. Where the fuck do you think I’m going? He doesn’t mess with a Malone, Arch. He doesn’t hurt her like that and live to tell the tale.”
“Felix—”
“She hasn’t changed her documents to Malone yet,” he pushes on. “And that makes me a little salty. But she’s one of us, regardless. She’s ours to protect, and there’s nothing in New York keeping me away, so I’m heading to you now.”
“To kill a man?” I hiss, low enough that the hospital personnel in the hallway won’t overhear. “To commit murder, Lix? This isn’t a hit you need to make.”
“She’s my family. And for as long as Tim wants to be a puss, this family is mine to protect. So yeah,” he declares. “I’m coming to take care of business. You’re at the hospital with her?”
“Yeah.” I roll Minka’s wrist and press my lips to her pulse point. “We’re in lockdown. No one is coming in but official personnel. And before you get frisky, you should know Slade isn’t at his home. He lost it to the bank, stupid. And his car. And his family.”
I cough out a laugh and remember there’s a reason I became a cop and Felix didn’t. “Use your common sense. He’s not at home, he’s not at work, and he’s not strolling around where you’ll find him.”
“He’s hiding out.”
“Obviously.”
“So I knock on every fucker’s home that he has a connection to. Someone knows where he is, and it’ll only take a few broken fingers before they talk.”
“You realize that bullshit you spew obliges me to arrest you, right?” But for this moment, he entertains me. His psychotic plans are a distraction from the monotonousbeep-beep-beepof Minka’s machines. “Straight to jail, dickhead. Do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars.”
“We both know you won’t stop me.” Finally, he sighs. “Tell me where I’ll find him.”
“I have no clue. I’m with Minka, and Copeland PD has an entire strike force out there searching for him. Leave the work to them, Lix. Come here instead.”
“To the hospital?” he murmurs softly. Almost… tenderly. “You think she wants to see me?”
“No, I think you annoy her so much, she’ll wake up to shove a bedpan down your fuckin’ throat.” A wide smile works its way across my face; the first of its kind since this time yesterday. “I wanna see her do it.’”
“You’re an asshole,” he grumbles. “Anyone else hurt? The other doctor was there too, right? The cute, new-age one.”
“Aubree,” I roll my eyes. “And just because she’s chatty and wears color doesn’t make her a hippie.”
“And yet, you knew who I was talking about,” he sniggers. “She harmed?”
I shake my head and run gentle kisses along Minka’s wrist. “She seems fine.” But beneath my fear for Minka, I feel shame. Because I haven’t stopped once to ask. “Tim got her out while I got Minka. She’s up and walking around, so I figure she’s fine and healthy.”
“And where’s Fletch in all this?”
Dead to me, I snarl in my brain.Gone somewhere I can never again cross to bring us back together.
“He was outside the bank,” I grit out instead. “He’s somewhere else now. Dunno where.”
“He’s not there with you?” Felix asks, surprised. “He’s not up your ass right now?”
“Nope. He’s probably working. Or with his daughter.”
“Ugh.” I don’t see him, of course. But in my mind, I see the way he throws his head back in exasperation. “The kid I was mean to that one time.”
I choke out a laugh. “Acknowledge you held a fucking gun to her head, asshole. You threatened her life.”
“The safety was on,” he drawls. “And I thought she was yours,” he adds with a snigger. “I was never gonna shoot my niece.”
“She’s not your niece!”
“No, but Ithoughtshe was. Whatever,” he brushes Mia off, easy as that. “I didn’t shoot her. I didn’t even hurt her, so you and Detective Fletcher need to get the hell over it. Besides, it’s her birthday soon, right? I’ll bring her a gift and we’ll call it good. She’ll love me.”
“I suggest you stay the fuck away from her,” I warn. “Fletch is inclined—and within his rights—to shoot first, ask questions later, Lix. Stay away and leave them the hell alone.”
