Page 38 of Unexpected Redemption

Klein clears his throat, spinning to face the board and returning to his position beside Shep. “Before blood is shed, let’s recap, shall we?”

I move back in as well. “Good call.”

With the whiteboard behind him, Klein resembles a professor. “At the beginning of Yuri’s tell, he said Yev flew too close to the sun. Thus, Yev is clearly Icarus.” He pauses, writingIcarusbeside Yev’s name. “And given how snide Yuri was when speaking about King Moana or whomever, we all agree Lenkov is the king in the story. Correct?”

A laugh stutters free from my chest at his comical butchering of the king’s name. Shep follows suit, sniffling through a chuckle of his own.

Klein ignores us, writingLenkov dash King Min the top left corner.

From behind us, Mia begins humming. Although I can’t be sure, I suspect it’s a song from the film.

Lettie made me watch it with her a few nights ago. Not a bad flick. One of the few times I don’t regret giving her the remote. Plus, she sang along, which made me hard as hell. I ended up with my head between her thighs by the time they were freeing the mystical island lady from her curse. Maybe we should watch that again tonight.

When she said thank you after her second orgasm, I replied in the most non-Tomer way imaginable. By singing the chorus from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s song in the film, “You’re Welcome.”

I’m grinning like an idiot when Klein utters a gruff rumble, jerking me back from the memory of Lettie’s vibrant laugh and how it rang like a bell inside my soul.

“Fiiine. What’s the King’s dumb name then, oh wise ones?” Klein bemoans through a smile, somehow managing to be simultaneously annoyed and delighted. “And how do you spell it?”

“Minos,” Shep answers, still biting back his amusement.

“M-I-N-O-S,” Mia clarifies, and Klein spells it out on the board.

When he’s done, he wiggles his head and shoulders, letting his jaw fall slack. “Is that better? Sorry I’m not up on my Mythology. Sue me.”

A feminine voice rings out. “What’s that now?”

That wasn’t Mia.

Turning to see who it is, my eyes land on Sue. She stands in the doorway, a blank look on her face and her laptop tucked under one arm.

“Sorry, Sue. I said...sue me. As in, take me to court,” Klein rambles uncomfortably.

She takes a tentative step into the lair.“Did you get subpoenaed?”

Mia stops what she’s doing and spins her chair, beaming at Sue with some of her patented charm. “Ignore him, Sue. He was just using the expression to be dramatic. He isn’t being sued.”

“That we know of,” I interject, oddly inspired to stir the pot.

Klein scratches his eye, flipping me off in the process.

My grin splays wide across my face to the point of discomfort. If things continue like this for me, I might sprain my cheeks.

Sue’s frame relaxes, posture loosening with relief. “Oh good. If anyone were to get in trouble with the law, I’d have expected Aaron or Jonesy. Possibly Mia. Sorry, girl.”

Mia snort-laughs, then shrugs her shoulders. “When you’re right, you’re right. That’s why you’re our profiler.”

A moment of awkward silence settles before Sue starts edging back toward the door. “So you don’t need me then?”

“No,” I begin to dismiss her, then immediately change my mind. “Actually, Sue, hold up. Would you like to come in and help us think through some shit Shep got out of Yuri last night?”

With eagerness, she takes a giant step into the room, more than reclaiming the space she’d just vacated. “Is it one of his riddles? Like the spatula?” She’s barely able to restrain her excitement.

I wave her inside. “Yep. Come on in.”

As she bounds over, she sets her laptop on the side table and continues to the wall to stand beside me, Shep, and Klein.

“What do we have so far?” Her eyes scan the board, sweeping astutely from side to side to take it all in. “Wait. Is that?” She points at Yev’s name, narrowing her eyes to crescents. “Icarus? Like the Icarus Complex? Does Yev suffer from that?” Without waiting for a reply, she keeps studying the board while quietly intoning, “Overcompensation as a result of inferiority and grandiose aspirations. Fascinating.”

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