“I’ve got appointments but I’ll move them.”
“That’s different.”
“So is the case.”
“No kiddie welfare at stake.”
“Just lawyers.”
“In that case,” he said, “you’ll have more fun with me.”
Chapter
45
Milo said, “Rhonda, Tiana, what’s your preference?”
The woman, hollow-eyed, straw-like hair drawn back, jail complexion already settling in—pallor, pimples, wrinkles so deep they looked like black pen marks—smirked.
“My preference? Queen Asskicker.”
I wrote,Sufficiently mentally organized to crack wise.
Milo said, “I’ll go with Tiana.”
“You go wherever you want.”
“By the way, Detective Villalobos is okay.”
“Who’s that?”
“The detective you cut.”
She shrugged. Shifted to me. Flashed a crooked smile. Batted her lashes. Stretched backward to showcase her chest.
Old habits.
My smile was intentionally bland and that tightened her jaw.
“You think you’re cute,” she said. “You think you can do what you want when you want. I met plenty of assholes like you at the mansion. In the lagoon, everyone’s snorting, popping, drinking. Butt-ugly guys, real trolls, knew they’d score because the women were just hired holes.”
Milo said, “You killed three women. We’d like to know why.”
Tiana Crown leaned forward as if ready to strike out. Thought better ofit.
Able to control herself.
“You’ve got a mouth on you, Fatso.”
Milo said, “What I just said shouldn’t come as a surprise, Tiana. Unless Mr. Mankell didn’t explain the purpose of this meeting to you.”
“MisterMankell,” she said. “When he goes through puberty, let me know.”
“You do understand.”
She corkscrewed her lips, looked everywhere but at us. “Yeah, I understand.”
Still avoiding us, she crossed her arms over her chest.
