Page 6 of Hell In A Handbasket
“Middle ground forwhat? You think you’re strong enough to stop me from shoving a camera down their throats if they come near me?” She slams the coffee to her desk and shakes her head.Oh, good. She’s found her new purpose for all that bottled energy. “I have a right to privacy, no? And those girls do, too. I won’t participate in their dumb movie, and if I find out anyone in this room does, I’ll wring your necks.”
“Good lord.” Groaning, Fifi presses the pads of her fingers to the outside of her eyelids. “This is going exactly how I expected it to.”
“Your mayor is a coward,” Minka spits out. “He knew I’d receive thispoorly? So he sent you?”
“He knew he was busy this afternoon with other, unavoidable engagements and that news of this documentary would spread quickly. For those reasons, he took the steps he could to ensure that he, or one of his representatives, got to you before the film crews did. He was less afraid of your poor reaction than he was that you’d be ambushed. He’s doing the best he can in a crappy situation.”
“He’s a coward.” Petulant, Minka sits back and grabs her coffee, sipping at the piping hot liquid. “And a scoundrel. And if you insist on having your job back, I promise to match your salary.”
“Chief Mayet?—”
“Your George Stanley salary,” she clarifies quickly. “I can’t afford what the mayor is paying, which is ironic, really, since our budget comes from that scoundrel directly.”
Exasperated, the woman drops her hands. “That scoundrel cares very much about your mental well-being, Chief Mayet. He aged a decade this morning alone since finding out about this dumb movie because he wanted to protect you as best he could. Additionally, he knew protecting you would come at a cost since you’re hardly an appreciative recipient. He was doomed, no matter what he did.”
“He’d be less doomed if he refrained from head-hunting my staff.” She purses her lips behind the steaming mug. “This thing you’re currently experiencing is called Stockholm Syndrome, Ms. Lewis. It’s not your fault. This is a common psychological condition many victims suffer, where they consider their abusers in a positive light. If you’re open to receiving help, I’m willing to hire you back as a first step in regaining a sense of independence. The fact he’s your employer and, ultimately, in control of your financial freedom means he’s financially abusing you, too. There are resources out there for people in your situation.”
Ready to blow, Fifi exhales a heaving, explosive breath and locks eyes with me. Begging. Pleading. “Detective? Help me.”
I choke out a laugh and bring my gaze back to Minka’s. Though I swear, beneath her hard stare is a woman having genuine fun at the expense of this person I know she considers a friend. “Chief Mayet?” I keep my tone serious. Measured. “Could you please play nice? Ms. Lewis is attempting a civil conversation with you. You’re frustrating her.”
“Which is literally the worst possible way to convince me to leave a dream job so I can work with corpses again!” Fifi throws her hands up. “You expect me to leave my higher paying job, at a less stressful office, with abetterboss, with job prospects that outstrip those I have here, by a thousand, in a building where Ineverhave to see dead people, all to come back and become your underpaid, overworked, verbal punching bag?” She snorts, piggish and cute enough to steal another chunk of Fletch’s heart. Fuck, Iseeit in his eyes. “You’re dreaming, Chief. It’s like you expect me to trade a brick of gold for a piece of paper, and then you can’t understand why asking such a dumb question makes you look ridiculous.”
“This place isn’t so bad,” Aubree inserts. “We have nice new chairs now. And no one is naming names, but we got upgrades on our computer screens, too, so we get fewer headaches after a long day of catching up on paperwork.Also, we snagged an unpaid intern, and she’s dating a cop that isn’t—” She gesticulates from me to Fletch. “Them. So that’s cool since more connections are always a good thing.”
“You act like you’re too good for us now.” Minka looks down her nose, taunting the woman who is so easily baited. “You forget where you came from. And now that you have a connection with the mayor, you think you’re too fancy for the dead.”
“I swear to God, I lose the will to live every time I enter this building.” She turns on her heels and stalks toward the door.
“Are you leaving?”
“No! I’m making coffee since my last one was stolen. It’s obvious I need caffeine to get through this dumb meeting. Headbutting brick walls is exhausting.”
“Can you make me one, too?” Aubree shouts. “Please?”
“I should help her.”Oh, so helpfulFletch jumps to his feet and runs his hands through his hair. He wants to look good for his highly strung Ms. Fifi. Never mind the fact he looks like he took a fucking cannonball to the stomach today. He dashes to the door and yanks it open. “I’m gonna help her. Two coffees are a lot to carry.”
“They’re so cute, huh?” Aubree stretches out on Minka’s couch, dreamily sighing and staring at his retreating back. “He likes her, and she likes him. They both love Mia, and dammit, they’re both gonna make sure she has a good life.”
“What kinda money are we talking now?” I search Minka’s eyes and smile. “What’s it up to?”
“They’ve got some calendar thing going.” She gesturesout thereto where her staff work. “People are buying days and months. If Fletch and Fifi kiss on that day, they win the pot.”
“It’s at a little over twelve hundred bucks right now,” Aubree continues. “Each weekday is worth twenty. Weekends are worth fifty since it’s more likely they’re gonna do whatever they’re gonna do on a weekend.”
“Gross assumption,” Minka drawls. “If it was me, and I had a kid, and my kid was in school five days a week, I’d be doingallmy dirty sneaking around on weekdays. Weekends are busier with a kid at home. Besides, how can we even truly know when they kiss? Maybe they already did, and they just aren’t telling us.”
“They haven’t.” Fuck it feels good to worry about Fletch’s kissing schedule instead of his ‘when is his ex-wife gonna rob him again’ mental health. “He would’ve told me. He doesn’t even know about the bet, and he hasnochill when it comes to that woman. The first time they make out, he’ll be like a thirteen-year-old boy all over again. Guaranteed.”
“Wereyoulike a thirteen-year-old boy when we first kissed?” Minka sips her coffee, blatantly disrespectful of the time and the fact her sleep will suffer tonight because of it. But fuck, she looks straight into my eyes and bewitches me with that beautiful brown stare, and a single, sexy dimple popped against her cheek. “When we first met, were you nervous and gooey and calling your best friend to gossip about it?”
“The first time we kissed, I was in love.” I drop my foot to the floor and extend my legs, and because I already picked one up today, I dig my hand into my pocket and slide the pad of my thumb across a smooth rock. She’s my penguin, and I can’t go a day without bringing her a gift anymore. “The first time we kissed, I was more focused on figuring out how to keep you. I didn’t have time to gossip.”
“Till the next morning,” Aubree snickers. “By that point, the goo was gone, and Fletch was in his living room.”
I hook a thumb over my shoulder. “This is true. I was already plotting how I’d find you again since you insisted onnotgiving me your phone number. Once you were gone and I found my wits again, Fletch and I began planning our heist.”
Skeptical, a line forms between her brows. “A heist? What heist?”
