Page 29 of Demitri

“Mia, Mia, I thought we were past all this no-name stuff.”

“Yeah, well, good luck with that. I know what you drink, I don’t need to know your name and background.”

“We need to know names. We can remember them,” Mia’s other friend says. “I’m Nola. This is Sofie,” she points to the first woman, “and this is Grace. That’s Mia,” she grins as she points to my girl, “and Beluga Boy must be John? Or something. So, who are you?”

Mia leans against the counter behind her and smiles at her friend. Part of me thinks it’s because Mia is used to being the one in this group to speak out. Doesn’t take a genius to see that if one takes five minutes to watch them interact, but Mia has always taken the step back to let her friends speak and shine.

“I’m Aiden, and this is Grady.”

“And why are you here? Who are you?”

“We work for ANON, and we’re here because he called us?”

“Are you asking me or telling me?”

“Telling?”

“Alright, enough flirting. That was painful,” Aunt Linda interrupts. “I’m Aunt Linda, and I’m here because I am, so just go with it.”

“She knows things,” Mia whispers to her friends. “She might be the only one I trust to be here.”

“Thank you, dear.”

“Anytime.”

I look between the two women and frown. I don’t think I like these two getting this close so fast. Aunt Linda is a powerfulwoman, one who can fucking kill if she needs to, and I don’t want any of this touching Mia.

“Turn that frown upside down, son, and get over yourself. She’s involved, and the universe doesn’t give a shit what your feelings on the matter are.”

“I really hate it when you do that.”

“I know. Tough shit.”

“Alright, enough. What are we all thinking?” Mia asks, putting an end to my bickering with Aunt Linda.

“I don’t think she was here for him,” Grace says. She’s been quiet since the bar closed.

“Why would you think that?” Aiden asks.

“She showed up after they were already here. She had two drinks and left before closing. The parking lot is empty, correct?”

“Yeah, I watched the video feed when she left. She got in a taxi,” I confirm.

“She never went down the back hall, or even tried to look at anyone else in the bar. She sat in the first booth and faced the bar. If she was here for anyone, it was Mia.”

“What would she want with Mia?” Grady asks.

“Who knows. But that’s my take on things. You have a better idea?”

“I think she knows we’ve been trailing her for months and that we come here. Maybe she was trying to get intel on what we know. Which is not a lot.”

Aunt Linda jumps up from the stool and goes over to the booth where the lady was sitting. I can’t think of her as my sister. The only sister I have is rotting in jail after being taken down by the FBI. She sits down and starts doing her Aunt Linda thing. None of us say anything, just watch. She feels on top of the table, under the table, and in the booth. When she frowns, I know she’s found something she doesn’t like.

“What is it?” I ask, getting up and joining her at the table.

She shakes her head, giving me a hard look. When she raises her hand and I see what she’s holding, my entire body sags. Some type of bug. Or camera. It’s a flat disk type thing, but with tech these days, who the fuck knows exactly what it is. I turn to look at Grady, who immediately knows something is up and pulls out his phone. I look at Mia and put my finger to my lips, letting her know to be quiet.

I help Aunt Linda up and we walk back to the bar. She holds up the small disk in her hand and Aiden and Grady immediately start cussing. Mia takes out a notebook from under the bar and hands it to me before plucking a pen out of her hair and holding it out.

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