“What did I say about the nicknames?”
“You said not to call you Gummy Bear. So I didn’t.”
“I meant—”
“Sorry, Chipmunk, losing signal, love you,” he said before hanging up on me.
Glaring at no one in particular, I took out my earpiece, setting it down and rising to look in the mirror. Turning to the side, I grinned. I wasn’t sure how long it would take before Darcy and my father finally realized they were on a wild goose chase. My mom was going to be at foundation meetings all day with Evelyn…so this was as good a time as any to spend time with him.
“Make him eat his heart out,” I said to my reflection.
WYATT
“I’m in a very bad mood. Would you like to know why?” I tilted back in the chair, closing my eyes as I breathed in, slowly enjoying the sound of my heart as it beat steadily in my chest. It was so silent, it was all I heard, and had it been any other time, I would have appreciated it more. The sound of life, my life.
“I had a very busy day yesterday. Came home to deal with…a personal matter. And just as I was about to call it a damn night, I was suddenly called into the hospital, twelve car pile-up on I-58. Can you believe that shit? The nerve of them. So before I could even lay my pretty little head on my handmade Italian goose-feathered pillows, I had to go to the ER. Didn’t complain to their faces, of course. I mean, I had been taking a lot of time off. So I did the graveyard night shift. Saved everyone, they all lived. I even let a random stranger, a grown-ass man, hug me. He was that grateful to me. He even confessed it was his fault he was speeding. I was still the good doctor. And just as I was about to leave, at the end of my heroic night, as the sun came up, a bloody ambulance wheels in right in front me. In that ambulance? A hemorrhaging, elephant-sized pregnant woman. I nearly lost my shit. But even then, I still maintained my composure, emergency C-section at the crack of dawn? Fine. I saved the elephant woman and her big-headed baby. And apparently, because I must look like Jesus fucking Christ, she also decided to confess to me that she was out at the crack of dawn looking for her husband. She was scared he was cheating on her…he most likely was, but it wasn’t my business. I smiled, nodded, and tried to leave, but the elephant woman kept talking, saying she didn’t mean to speed…or get into an accident on I-93. To save her life, I upped her dosage and just helped her sleep a little bit, so I didn’t let my temper get the better of me and end up choking a bitch. I washed up, pretended not to hear or notice anyone, and drove myself back home…but due to my lack of sleep and annoyance, I didn’t realize until I was on I-93 that they hadn’t yet cleared the wreckage, so I was stuck in traffic. I tried to escape and ended up on I-58. So a commute that should have taken me thirty-seven minutes took me three motherfucking hours! And couldn’t call a helicopter because of the fact that the press has been far too interested in my family lately.” Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes, glaring across the table. “Finally, I make it home, dreaming of my handmade Italian goose-feathered pillows, and instead, I’m told you two have made a damn house call…so Major Gutpa, Chief Mataka, what is so GODDAMN IMPORTANT I CAN’T GO TO FUCKING SLEEP?!”
They both shared a look. Major Gutpa nodded to Chief Mataka. She sat up straighter in the leather chair. “We’ve come to stop the bad blood from worsening.”
“You’ve fucking failed. Have a nice day,” I said, raising my hand toward the door.
“Orton and McCoy are planning something…against you,” Major Gutpa spoke quickly as Chief Mataka reached her wrinkled white hand to put the file on the desk. I stared at it, then back at her, not speaking. “We also brought you the names of the officers who stole the drugs.”
“Like I said,” Chief Mataka smiled, showing the cracks on her pink lips, “we don’t want there to be bad blood between us and your family.”
“Your wife is dead,” I said, pointing at Major Gutpa. With my other hand, I pointed to Chief Mataka. “Your granddaughter is dead…yet you come to me with outstretched hands?”
“We said it that night, too,” Chief Mataka leaned back in the chair. “We knew what we were getting into when we joined hands with your family. Besides, she was my least favorite granddaughter.”
I looked over to Major Gutpa, and he frowned. “I loved my wife. But this city needs a leader…one who can keep it stable when chaos rages all around.”
“And you’re that leader?” I asked, lifting the file off the table, opening it and thumbing through the profiles of each of the officers they had essentially laid at my feet.
“And I got to that position knowing what bridges not to burn,” he replied.
Before I could speak, there was a knock at the door, and without a reply from me, the door opened. I nearly wanted to cry. Why? Why? It wasn’t right! I didn’t even fucking close my eyes! Why the hell was the world driving me mad? How the hell could she just walk in dressed like a fucking femme fatale and expect me to pretend I didn’t notice…without bloody sleep!
“Major Gutpa, Chief Mataka, it’s a pleasure to see you both again. I’m so sorry about your loss.” She had the nerve to give them such a sincere-looking face, outstretching her hands to them…well, at least it would look sincere to those who didn’t know her.
“Helen Callahan,” Major Gutpa shook her hand and seemed to me like he was fighting with himself to keep from grinning like a mad man…was his wife’s corpse even cold yet? “Thank you for your kind words. You really are beauty inside and out.”
Gag me, lord.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too, Helen, and thank you. It’s been a hard time for all of us.” Chief Mataka nodded toward Helen, shaking her hand.
“Well if there is anything you need, please let me know.” Helen still spoke softly before looking at me. I immediately didn’t trust the look in her eyes. “Wyatt, Ethan called. He’d like you to meet him and go over some plans?”
What the hell? And that sickly-sweet voice, like she had no idea about anything going on, was…apparently part of whatever game she was playing this morning.
I opened my mouth to speak, but she beat me to it.
“Major Gutpa, I’ve spoken to some of the woman from the foundation, and we’d love to open a park in your wife’s name. Hopefully later, next time, we can talk about it. Maybe you’ll join us for dinner?”
“Yes,” he said, a little too quickly.
And Helen smiled. “Brilliant. I’ll call.”
“Major Gutpa, Chief Mataka.” O’Phelan came to the door.