“Archer and I aren’t…” I shake my head and look down to Mia. Snot bubbles on her lip and her eyes are swollen and red. “She’s not our kid, Felix. She’s just a little girl I know who belongs to a different cop.”
Frowning, he pulls back and takes a second look at her splotchy face. Glancing back at me, he almost makes it comical the way he smirks. “You sure? She pointed at him on the TV and called him Daddy.”
“She pointed at Archer’spartnerand called him Daddy. Mia, honey.” I say her name. Gently. Calmly. And wait for her eyes. “You’re okay, alright? I’m gonna make sure you’re okay.”
“I want to go home,” she blubbers. “Take me home.”
“I will, sweetheart.” Swallowing, I look up to Felix and wonder, beneath the smirk and savagery, if he has anything in his soul that resembles Archer and Tim. Any kindness. Any sense of right or wrong. “She’s just a kid, Felix. She’s done nothing to deserve this.”
“I’m not gonna hurt her.” He winks, and quick as a flash, bends to set her on her feet. He taps her butt with a crack loud enough to make her scream, but it gets her to move.
Running toward me, she throws herself so I catch her on the fly. “You’re okay.” I wrap her close and press a kiss to her forehead. Another to her cheek. “Moo? Honey? You’re okay. But I need you to be brave for a little longer. Can you do that?” I press a kiss to her other cheek. “Just be brave and trust me to keep you safe.”
Dropping the forgotten recorder into my pocket and shuffling the toddler to my back, I look up again, only to find Felix’s gun trained on my face.
Without knowing him, I find it hard to believe he’s anything but a skilled marksman. And I know for a fact, even if I’m fast and am merelynickedby a bullet, I’m bleeding out before help arrives.
If I’m down and out, Mia is lost to us.
Which means I have to remain standing. Keep fighting. Keep pushing.
“What do you want?” I take a deep breath. Center myself and try furiously to come up with a plan. “Felix Malone? What do you want from me?”
“You say my name like it’s dirty.” He tilts his head to the side the way Archer does when I challenge him. It’s horribly sexy, but in Felix’s case, not at all endearing. “Not even aHey Lix,” he says, “I’m dating Arch, which basically makes us family.Or aHey, Lix. I’ve fucked two Malones. Now I wanna try a third.” He chuckles so his chest bounces. “You can’t even spare pleasantries for me?”
I shake my head and keep my palms planted firmly under Mia’s butt. On my back, she remains impossibly still. Silent. Watchful; far too mature for her mere three years. “I didn’t even know you existed.” I study his hand. His trigger finger caressing the side of his gun. “I knew Archer had brothers, but I didn’t… I don’t know their names.”
“Well, that’s awfully offensive.” Sniggering, he lowers his hand like he knows I’m not running. I won’t turn and bolt, because that makes Mia my bulletproof vest. And I can’t run backward fast enough to make headway. Which means we’re stuck until he turns or help arrives. “So you admit you’re fucking my bro though, right?”
My heart kicks in my chest. “Uh…”
“Tim too?”
I don’t mean to answer, yet my head turns on my neck. “Not Tim.”
“Just Archer, then.” He wanders a little closer and looks me up and down. “He always was the romantic one.” Stopping six feet away, Felix wrinkles his nose. “He was a February baby, so it kinda makes sense, I guess. Did you know he used to pick flowers for this one chick? I don’t even remember her name, but he would. He remembers things like that.” Felix drags his bottom lip between his teeth and watches me like he’s ready to take a bite. “Neverwith Tim?” he asks, as though the idea I wouldn’t take them both to bed messes with him. “You had ‘em both nearby, and nothing?”
“Never.” I stand a little taller. A little braver. He’s just a Malone. He’s just a man, and I’ve gone toe-to-toe with two of them already. They’re not actually scary. They’re simply misunderstood. “Tim has a girlfriend of his own now.” Someone he’ll send to slaughter long before he mentions Aubree’s name. “They’re happy in Copeland, Felix. You could try it. Sample a life away from your father.”
“Ohhhh!” Barking out a laugh, he turns on his heels and swings his arms as he goes. “So hehasbeen talking about us. Archer still salty about what happened to his ex? Jesus, what was her name? Janice? Julie?”
Jill.I believe that poor girl’s name was Jill.
But I don’t tell Felix. She deserves better than to have him speak her name.
“He tell you we’re the fucking devils?”
I shake my head and take a miniscule step back. “He just said his family is powerful and from New York. Then he said he left, and he intends to stay gone.”
“He makes it sound like he has a choice.” Catching a glimpse of the cops on the ground, Felix looks up almost apologetically. Maybe I recognize the expression because I know Archer and Tim, and I’ve seen them apologize for things since I’ve known them—even if it was as fake as the one Felix attempts now. “Were you fond of them?”
“You killed two police officers.” If nothing else, I’ll make a record of everything that needs to be placed in a prosecutor’s hands. “Detective Fox and Officer Grayson weren’t connected to this, Felix. But you killed them anyway.”
“You speak like you think I should feel bad.” With a sly grin, he extends a hand, palm side up, and curls his fingers in summons. “Give me your phone.”
“M-my phone?” Startled, I look down at my side and telegraph to the man exactly where I keep the device. “Why do you want my phone?”
“Because I fucking said so!” He brings the gun up again and points it at my face. “I have a deal to make with you, Doctor. But first, Archer needs to come to this party.”