Page 139 of Dancing in the Dark

“And although I feel like a giant sack of shit because I had no clue my daughter even has a recital tonight, I’m gonna be there, and I’m not gonna be weird about how I suck because I dropped the ball and almost screwed up.”

“Good. But don’t worry; you dropped nothing.” She pulls back and searches my gaze. “This is a special showing that was added to the calendar only this morning. It’s really important you’re there, so don’t forget, don’t be late, and if you get caught up at work⁠—”

“Communicate.” I curl my fingers around the back of her neck. “Communication is sexy. I got it.”

“I wish more men learned how to turn off the emotionally closed-off jockstrap button inside their brains,” Raquel sighs. “Like this.” She gestures up and down. “This is cute.” She spins a full circle. “Where’s that other dude, anyway? The one always sniffing around the chief. I bet he could tempt me back toward the Y chromosome if he had control of that jockstrap button, too. He’s sexy.”

“Harrison?” Minka snorts. “I think he has the emotional bandwidth of a doorstop. But I know this other guy: very wealthy, very single, getting on in age. He might be interested in entertaining a crazy person for the next little while before it’s lights out.”

“You should probably get back to work now, huh?” Sera drags her bottom lip between her teeth and inches back a step. “Also, I was coming here to tell you that Mayor Lawrence placed significant weight on General Counsel Blackwell to release the bay footage. I believe those tapes you’ve been waiting for have arrived.”

“Oh!” I jam my hand into my pocket and snatch out my phone. Turning it right side up, I insert my passcode and jump across to my email. “Fuckin’ A. Arch!” I tilt it so he can see and tap on the email at the very top of my inbox, scrolling past all the ‘this is confidential’ and ‘cannot be copied or transmitted without express written authorization’ crap. Opening the Bay Bridge CCTV footage I know Carson Slater was too stupid and too arrogant to avoid, I drag my thumb across the screen and wait… wait… wait… for his father’s yacht to sail closer. “There.”

“Got him.” Archer shakes his head. “You called it from the fuckin’ start. You figured it out, even when I wasn’t sure.”

“Team effort.” I lock my phone and smack a kiss onto Sera’s startled lips. “Gotta go arrest a trust-fund baby. But I’ll stay in contact, I promise.” I stride past her and slam my palm onto the elevator call button. “This should only take an hour or two, then I’ll be wherever you need me to be.”

“Okay.” She glows a beautiful rosy pink and suckles on her bottom lip. “I’ll need an update for Justin as well. The last three being leaked to the media made me look bad.”

“That wasn’t us!” Archer bashes the side of his fist against the call button like that’ll help it move faster. “And we have proof. We’ll share it once we’ve got Slater in cuffs. Let’s go.” He grabs my shirt and jerks me through the opening doors. “Ya know what I’m sick of? Being accused of shit I didn’t even do. It’s hard enough keeping track of all the things I did do.”

52

FLETCH

“Slater and Datsun, this is Pamela speaking. Could you please hold the line?”

“Slater and Datsun, this is Latisha speaking. Could you please hold the line?”

I exhale a tired sigh and meet Arch’s eyes.

“Slater and Datsun, this is Pamela speaking. Could you please hold the line?”

“Yeah, we’re not doing this again.” I reach over the tall desk and press my finger to the ‘hang up’ button on Latisha’s phone. Lifting my badge, I smile and watch her customer service smile fall away.

“My name is Detective Fletcher.” I hook my thumb in Arch’s direction. “Detective Malone. We met last week.”

“Y-yes, Detective. How can I help you?”

“You can inform Mr. Slater that we have a few follow-up questions for him. Carson Slater,” I clarify with a wolfish grin. “Please. Shall we wait in the boardroom again?”

Her head comes up and down in a fast, bobbing nod. “That would be fine. I’ll let Mr. Slater know immediately.”

“Excellent.” I shove away from the desk and stalk across the massive lobby. “They’ve been talking about us, Arch.” I spy the faces that pop out of offices. The phones that go unanswered. “I hope they were saying nice things.”

Snorting and beating me to the boardroom door by a hair, he drags it open and tips his chin. “Ladies first.”

“Asshole.” I wander in and cross to the windows overlooking Copeland City. Hell, we can see the bay from here. The bridge. If I squint, I could even see the exact spot a young woman’s body was dumped. “We’re good, right?” Slowly, I turn and lean against the window frame, dipping my hands into my pockets and watching his casual stroll toward the coffee machine. “Arch?”

“We’re always good.” He selects a coffee pod, plops it into the top of the machine, and places a cup beneath the spout. Rotating, he mirrors my posture and runs his tongue along the front of his teeth. “We’re gonna fight. We’re both too damn stubborn and opinionated not to. But you’re my brother, and that shit is for life.”

“You have four brothers already. Actual brothers who share the same blood.” And yeah, that disconnect stings a little. “This isn’t the same.”

“The only blood we share came from the prick we happily tossed into the dirt behind Felix’s house, so really, it’s all kinda the same. Your daddy was a prick, my daddy was a prick.” He kicks one foot over the other and folds his arms. “You’d take my bullets if you could, and I’d take yours. You’d kill to protect me, and I’d do the same in return.” He shrugs. “I love you like I love the other four, and before you get all up in your feelings about this, you should know you’re their brother, too.”

My brow furrows in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, the world is a worse place because Timothy Malone the Second existed. But the one good thing he did was unite us against a single enemy in ways no army commander ever could. He gave me my brothers, and more importantly, he taught us to take care of each other. Then I left, and I ran face-first into this punk-ass big-mouthed motherfucker who refused to leave me the hell alone.”