Mal stiffened. The woman was going to sacrifice herself for him. That couldn’t happen. He had to keep her attention and not let her get too far away from what he needed to be said. “Watch your tone,” he said.
Orchid glared at Isaac and ignored Malcolm. “Eagle hurt her, and you know it. I hope he’s rotting in a cell somewhere right now.”
Isaac struck, hitting her across the face. The slap echoed loudly around the room, and her head jerked to the left and then back.
Adrenaline poured through Mal’s body, but he forced himself to remain still. “How did you even know about the planned robberies?”
She hung her head. “Leroy liked to talk after, well, you know.”
Mal breathed out. Good. Blame the guy who wasn’t there to counter the lie. “You told the cop about the robberies that were planned. Why? So you could get rid of Eagle? Or did you want to hurt the entire family?”
“Just to take Eagle away,” she said, her shoulders slumping. “And I’m tired of being drugged. Sometimes I can’t even remember whole days.”
Isaac grabbed her braids and jerked her head back. “What else? What have you heard around here?”
“Nothing,” she said, tears in her eyes.
Isaac frowned. “Did you tell the cop about the cleansing fire about to commence?”
Mal went on even higher alert.
Orchid blinked. “No, of course not. I don’t know any details about that. I just wanted Eagle gone. From all of us.”
The woman was a decent liar. Bone-deep fear would do that.
Isaac released her and stalked around the desk. “I don’t believe you.”
Mal moved to Orchid’s side and dropped down, staring into her eyes. “How did the cop approach you? How did this come about?”
She dropped her gaze to her hands. “I was crying in the bathroom of the coffee shop in Minuteville. He said he was a cop and asked me what was wrong, and I don’t know, I just kind of spilled everything about Eagle. About what he’d done, and about Stacy overdosing.”
Mal looked over his shoulder at Isaac. “Is Stacy dead?” He kept his voice brisk.
“No,” Isaac said. “When she poisoned herself, we took her to the hospital. Last I heard, she was in a coma there.”
Yeah. That was right. Of course, the asshole was leaving out the rather important fact that they’d dropped Stacy off at the door and sped away. “So there’s no body or crime.” Mal stood and swiped the bug on his way up, shoving it into his pocket in one smooth motion. He looked at Isaac. “I’m not in charge, but if you ask me, you need to make an example here.”
Orchid gasped and shrank back even more. She looked small and defenseless in the chair, and Mal had to fall back on skills he’d hoped to forget forever to stay in character. “I won’t do it again,” she croaked.
Isaac shook his head, the movement sad. “Malcolm? You have more experience with this than I do. What do you think?”
Mal sighed. “I don’t know her as well as you do. In my line of work, once a snitch, always a snitch. But you may have insights here I lack.”
George cleared his throat. “I say we make her an example. A good one.”
Mal looked toward Isaac, as if waiting for guidance. “If so, it has to be quiet. Nothing obvious, but she has to disappear.” Just how dedicated was Isaac’s flock? Mal let the truth show in his eyes. “I’ve done things undercover, things I did for a mob family, that I’ll never be free of.”
Isaac’s gaze sharpened. “Is that a fact? Are you offering to do the same for me?”
Mal made himself look around as if he was thinking it through. “I’m just searching for a place to belong. I like April, and I like that Millicent. This is a nice family. But if I stay, if I belong, then I call my own shots.”
Isaac’s eyes began to gleam.
Yeah. Challenge accepted. Mal was down and out, and killing Orchid would give Isaac something to hold over him. As a way of recruitment, it wasn’t bad.
“You’re special, Malcolm,” Isaac said, his voice deepening. “Very. I would like for you to stay with the family. We could use your skills. We need you.”
Nice. “I appreciate that,” Malcolm said.
