Cordoza has come to collect—early.
I’m not even surprised.
I shift on my heels and place myself in front of all the others, dragging Fletch behind me and blocking my family from view as best I can, so when Cordoza crosses the threshold and his guards fan out, a dozen of them filling my yard and outnumbering us two guns to one, I know the message they’ve brought with them: if we fight, we die.
“Mr. Cordoza.” I meander forward, faux-relaxed, and place a full eight feet between my back and my family. “You’re early.”
“A savvy businessman knowson timeis late, Detective. Early is on time.” With a hard stare and firm jaw, he transfers his cane to his left hand and offers the right. “Shall we skip the pleasantries and move straight to the reason for my visit?”
“I’m confident this visit is friendly, Mr. Cordoza.” Minka’s chair scrapes against the ground behind me.
I eat my groan and drop my head forward, squeezing my eyes shut like I’m six again.If I can’t see it, it’s not happening.
“A savvy businessman knows when a deal feels off. And this one—” She comes to a stop on my left, the warmth of her too-fucking-casual self prickling against my arm. “—Suspecting Archer of killing a man last night? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
Fuck. Me.
Gritting my teeth, I tilt my head to the side and wrap my hand around her wrist. “I’d have preferred if you stayed seated, Minnnka.”
“Yeah? Well, I’d prefer not to damage the friendly relationship we have.” She brushes my hand aside and takes his instead. “I thought we shared trust, Mr. Cordoza? An affiliation of open communication and mutual respect.”
“We do.” He presses a leisurely, tormenting kiss to her knuckles. “But I have a city to run and a dead associate who was, twenty-four hours ago, as alive as you and me. I cannot ignore what may have been a breach in the trust and respect you speak of. Certainly, you understand that.”
“Sure, I do. But Archer didn’t touch that man. Respectfully, I suggest you look elsewhere.”
“Minka.” I grab the loop of her shorts and drag her back, forcing her hand from Cordoza’s grip and stashing her half a foot behind me.
I’ll be damned if she dies on the front lines of a war that began long before she and I ever met.
Blood pounds in my ears, and a tangy lead taste settles on my tongue. I meet Cordoza’s determined stare and set my jaw. “I’m led to believe Agosti died by suicide.”
Unperturbed, he rests both hands on his cane and merely flattens his lips.
“Is there a reason you don’t accept the situation as it’s been presented?”
“As a homicide detective, wouldyouassume such a scene tells a complete story? Or would you wonder… consider… investigate?”
“There’s a saying in my line of work, Mr. Cordoza.” Infuriatingly, Minka steps forward again, peeling my hand from her arm and staring the man down, chest forward and eyes set. “When you hear hoofbeats, look for horses, not zebras.”
“Succinct. Yet, there are beliefs in my line of work, too, Chief Mayet. When a man has already tasted the acrid earth at rock bottom, and now, he’s on his way up again, he’s not likely to end his life.”
“But—”
“Notthisman. Not in these circumstances.”
“Do you have evidence to the contrary?” she pushes. “What was discovered? Who discovered him?”
“My evidence?” He slides his tongue forward, wetting his bottom lip.
Behind me, my family remains still. Careful. Ready, but silent.
Fuck knows, if they move too fast, Cordoza’s men are apt to start shooting.
“Anthony has suffered greatly in recent years. Professionally. Personally. He was a rich man with rich tastes, living off a beggar’s coffers. His entrepreneurial conquests had failed, time and time again. His pride, shattered. His self-respect, destroyed.”
“All the more reason to self-harm, don’t you think?”
“Unquestionably.Ifhe’d turned up dead three years ago—or even three months ago—I would have accepted what appears to be a choice he made and moved forward. But that’s not what has happened. He has come into significant financial luck, Doctor Mayet, and his professional relationships appear to be flourishing. I find it difficult to considerthisthe point he would end his life. Money is, after all, the only language he was fluent in.”
