He couldn’t come up with an answer. “The clock is ticking, Talia.”
She looked at him with appeal. “Are you a good guy?”
“I could tell you I am. I could cross my heart and hope to die. Swear to my goodness on a stack of Bibles. But you’d be crazy to take my word for it.”
“Who was Weston Graham to you?”
The question took him aback, but he answered without pause. “Not was, is.”
“Who is he to you?”
“The man who killed my mother. Lyndsay Cummings.” She registered wordless shock. He let it sink in before adding, “That’s why I want him, Talia. I want to see him burn. And whether that makes me a good guy or a bad one, I really don’t give a shit.”
He was aware of the seconds passing as she stared into his eyes. Finally she said, “I offer my unconditional help.”
He pushed out of the chair. “I’m sure they’ll be glad to have it.”
“I don’t offer it to them. I offer it to you.”
Mike, Gif, and the two young cops trooped single file up the exterior stairs to the apartment. The patrolmen took turns using the bathroom, then Mike and Gif doled out bottles of water from the refrigerator. They raided the cabinet and found an unopened box of Nutter Butters, which the cops took with thanks. The four trooped single file down the staircase. Mike and Gif waved the officers back to their squad car and started toward the house.
As they crossed the lawn, Gif admired the rear perspective of the Ford’s house. “Pretty place, isn’t it? Makes me question my life choices.”
“Not me. All this grass to mow? No thanks.”
“Do you have one aesthetic inclination, Mike?”
He thought on it. “I like my steak tartare garnished with fresh parsley.”
Gif laughed, but as they got closer to the screened porch, he lowered his voice and asked, “What do you think they’re talking about?”
“He’s trying to squeeze as much information out of her as he can before she lawyers up.”
“You think she’s dirty, don’t you?”
“Dirty or not, she’s dangerous.”
“Dangerous how?”
“To Drex,” Mike grumbled. “His head is under her skirt. That makes a man stupid.”
“About that, I think we should back off.”
Mike stopped and turned to him. “Back off?”
“Stop nagging him about it.”
“Let him screw her and pretend not to notice?”
“That’s right, Mike. It’s not our business.”
“Since when?”
“Since he hasn’t screwed her already. When have you known him not to when he wanted to?”
Reading between the lines of what Gif had said, Mike grunted a sound to express his contempt for the frailties of human beings since the fall of Adam, then continued on without further comment.
They went in through the back porch. The kitchen was empty. The two looked at each other. Gif called, “Drex?”