Mickey waited for Roger to finish fixing up his coffee before he reached for the creamer.
It was empty.
Roger smiled sweetly. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you want some?”
“You greedy bitch,” Mickey muttered. He opted to drink his coffee black and made a mental note to settle up with Roger over this later. He half wondered if he’d done it on purpose.
“I’ve got some cream for you right here.” Roger gestured beneath the table with a loud meow.
“Shut the fuck up, you fuckin’ weirdo.”
“Do you need some, Mickey?” Jerry asked politely, retrieving the empty pitcher.
“No, I’m fine. Really.”
“Gimme some more of that bacon,” Jules piped up as he tried to hand his empty plate to Jerry.
“Eh,non. I am not your servant, you overgrown ape!” Jerry snapped. “You can get your own bacon.”
“Hey, fuck you!” Jules argued. “You was offerin’ to get Mickey somethin’! I thought—”
“A thought? You? Truly? You have thoughts? Will wonders never cease.”
“Wait a damn second.” Jules scowled. “Are you callin’ me stupid?”
“Get your own damn bacon, youimbécile.”
“Gentlemen, I’ve already had enough childish behavior this morning if you’d all be so kind as to rein it in,” Cold warned impatiently. “Now.”
“Sorry, Boss,” Jules grumbled. He got up, glaring at Jerry as he headed over to the stove. He defiantly shoved a handful of bacon into his mouth and flipped Jerry off.
“Oh, so very mature of you,” Jerry snorted.
Cold drank more coffee and sighed deeply, as if in great physical pain.
Alistair leaned over to pat his arm, but Cold brushed him away.
“We’ve had no news about Duncan or Crybaby, but Detective Carville has been in touch,” Cold said, keeping his voice low as if Rowena’s innocent ears might still be listening in. “The police are handling this as a dispute between conflicting factions within the Luchesi family.”
“Our names ain’t even on their lips,” Jules chimed in between bites of bacon.
“Yet,” Cold amended. “Should our worst fears be realized and we’ve lost Crybaby and Duncan, the police will be able to identify them.”
“And that includes their known associates,” Alistair said. “Which means all of us.”
“It’s fine. For now.”
“What’s the plan, Boss?” Mickey asked. “What are we gonna do?”
“We keep our heads down,” Cold replied. “The rest of the plan is moving along well. Jules was able to procure the very special evidence we need, and I’m currently working on giving the city’s assistant prosecutor a promotion. He’s much more sympathetic to our cause than the current one.”
“We trying to set somebody up for murder?”
“Yes.”
Mickey waited for more information, but Cold went back to his coffee. He wasn’t going to push since Cold didn’t seem interested in sharing, but Roger blurted out, “Who are we framing?”
“All in good time,” Cold assured him.
