Page 48 of The Fighter
“I need your help.”
“With what?”
Holding the door open for her, I gestured for her to come into the kitchen.
“Can I trust you to keep a secret?”
“Of course.”
“I’m investigating the murder of Khan’s and Magni’s sister, Dina.”
“Yes, they told me about your trip to the storage room. Mila tried to tell Magni that she was the one interested in knowing more about Dina, but we’re not stupid. With you joining the police it’s not hard to figure out that you want to solve the case. I’m just not sure giving Magni hope is a good thing.”
“I would like to give him more than hope. I would like to give him answers and closure. I can’t even imagine the pain of losing a sister.”
Laura frowned. “Yeah, neither can I. Although my sister and I aren’t very close anymore, losing her would be awful.”
“How can you not be close? Aren’t twins supposed to be mentally linked or something.”
“We’re not identical. I don’t see why we would be any more mentally linked than other siblings. To be honest, we don’t get along well. Michelle is very traditional, and she never understood my need to learn how to fight or the way I stand up to Magni. She feels women should serve their husbands.”
“How can you two have been raised the same?”
“My theory is that we’ve been influenced by our friends. I have Christina, Kya, Athena, and Pearl, who opened my eyes to other ways of living, while Michelle mostly spends time with her best friend Annelise, who is just as traditional as my sister.” Laura’s face scrunched up when she mentioned Annelise.
“You don’t like her, do you?”
“Annelise?”
“Yes.”
“No, but I feel sorry for her. Her grandfather was the richest man in the country until Magni and Khan took him down for treason more than ten years ago. Her whole family lost their social status and influence overnight because of what Mr. Zobel did.”
“I remember that name. He was in Dina’s wedding picture.”
“Sounds about right. Mr. Zobel and Lord Marcus were best friends, and you might not know this, but Erika was planning to marry him before he was arrested for conspiring to kill Khan.”
“Wow, that is messed up.”
“I know. But back to your investigation. What do you need help with?”
“Right. Okay, so, I tracked down a man called Michael who was a friend of Dina’s husband. He’s willing to talk to me face to face, but I don’t feel comfortable going by myself.”
“No, of course not, that would be stupid.”
“Right. But, Laura, I really want to show the men that I can do this without a male babysitter. Would you come with me?”
She placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled. “You want me to be your female babysitter?”
“No, I want you to be my sidekick for the day. This is my investigation, but I would feel safer if you were with me.”
Her face softened. “I’m honored. Let me just load up with weapons and then we can go.”
“I don’t expect any trouble so don’t bring a large arsenal.”
Laura was already walking away from me. “I’ll bring my numb-gun; I haven’t had a chance to use that thing in ten years, and last time was so much fun.”
Ten minutes later, Laura and I were on board my drone and flying full speed to see Michael, a construction worker who lived in the same building that Dina and her husband had resided in.
