Minka’s eyes flash with hunger. She’s a hunter, and she’s staring down her prey. “What business relationships? What did he do to secure this money?”
“Careful now, Chief.” He smiles that way he does that typically sets my wife at ease. “The day I consider myself beholden to you or anyone else is the day I retire. I enjoy knowing you, but you shouldn’t interfere where you’re not needed.”
“I’ll interfere from now until I’m six feet underanytimemy husband’s name is being dragged into someone else’s mess. I like you, too, Mr. Cordoza, and I assume your affection for me isbecauseof how I conduct myself in situations you don’t typically invite the wives of your associates. I doubt my sparkling personality won you over.”
His chest bounces with soft laughter. “You got me there, Chief. It’s rare that I run into a woman who challenges me in such a way that I wish to know her better. As opposed to the alternative, that is.” Stony, he glowers. “I’m certain you understand my meaning.”
“Mm. Six feet under, I suppose. I’m honored to be on the right side of your graces, Mr. Cordoza. Because now, I call upon your affections as you consider what I’m telling you. Archer had nothing to do with Anthony’s demise. In fact, none of the Malone brothers did. I see no reason, no past infraction or altercation between us, that would lead you to any other conclusion but to take me at my word.”
“A romantic notion, Chief. However…” He gestures my way. “Would your husband accept such a statement throughout the course of an investigation?”
“No, I wouldn’t,” I grit out, gently tugging Minka back again. Away from the front line. Out of firing range. “A case must be run from start to finish. To collate available information and present our findings to the best of our ability, I would insist on doing things properly. It’s for these reasons that Detective Fletcher and I are suggesting we?—”
“You and Detective Fletcher?” Bewildered, Cordoza looks from me to Fletch. From the determination in my eyes, to the resolve in Fletch’s. He considers us with curiosity and cunning. And then he shatters our tentative wings of reconciliation with a barking laugh. “You and Detective Fletcher? No. But Chief Mayet.”
I grip her by the back of her neck and drag her away. Roughly. Probably painfully. She releases a gasp of surprise and stumbles when her feet tangle. But I step in front of her and stare down the barrels of Cordoza’s guards’ quickly drawn guns.
“Chief Mayet nothing,” I snarl. With adrenaline zinging in my bloodand fire burning the tips of my fingers, I look past the guns and meet Cordoza’s dancing eyes. “No.”
MINKA
Estefan Cordoza is a reasonable man. He’s calm, collected, and isn’t likely to make a rash decision that could violate the very rule he’s determined to investigate… right?
Ellie Solomon seems to adore the man.
He wouldn’t have his men shoot a Malone—any Malone—on Malone property on a warm Sunday afternoonjust because. Not even if he’s angry. Or suspicious. Or tired from a late night and frustrated because his plans to do business with Agosti were usurped.
Hopefully.
“I’d like you to reconsider,” Felix rumbles, approaching our line and stopping beside Archer. His broad chest bulges with adrenaline. His fingers flex with a deep-seated desire to hold a gun.
He can’t. It wouldn’t be proper as long as Cordoza is the man standing opposite him.
“She’s not part of this, Estefan. She didn’t take his name at marriage. She’s not to be held accountable for the business dealings within this family.”
“Accountable?” Estefan’s stare is like a laser against my skin. A probing scan that could almost convince me he can see inside my brain. “Until I know what happened, no one is in danger of accountability.”
“So, what is it you want with me?”
“Help.” With a gentle brush of his arms, he pushes his guards aside and takes a step forward. And before I can think to back away, he grabs myhand and flattens our palms together. “I’ll have Anthony’s body delivered to your autopsy suite. You’ll tell me precisely how he died.”
“Autopsy?” My stomach rolls with a violence I haven’t felt in too long. A dread swirling up to tickle the base of my throat. “No, I?—”
“I’m not asking, Doctor Mayet. I understand you’re new to the world your husband was raised within, but when I declare something is to be done, no matter how gently I speak my words, I expect my orders to be followed.”
“I can’t! You speak ofyour worldversusmy world.” I gesture along the line of brothers, now that all four stand shoulder to shoulder. Hard green eyes. Firm jaws. And no doubt, brains working quickly in search of an exit strategy… since the alternative is a war we can’t win. “Theyspeak of your world versus my world. But there’s justoneworld. There is just one set of rules. It’s called the law. And the law’s stance is firm. I cannot conduct an autopsy without the official documentation that comes with it.”
Archer’s fingers flex around the back of my neck. “Minka…”
“No! I’m sick of hearing about how the mafia operates. How the mafia is an ecosystem of its own. How average men declare themselves special, wielding power they’ve taken from someone else. From where I stand, this world you live in is nothing more than fear-enforced vanity.”
“Doctor Mayet!” Felix snaps.
I meet Cordoza’s eyes and burn him with my glare. “I cannot conduct an autopsy on my kitchen table. Not a good one, anyway. Not to the standards you’re expecting. I don’t have access to labs unless I take him to my building, and I can’t take him to my building without official reports. How the hell do you suggest I conduct an official investigation without instigating anofficial investigation?”
“You need to bring your volume down,” Cato rumbles in a warning tone, folding forward until he’s inches ahead of his brothers and staring back at me. “You can’t shout at him without?—”
“She speaks with passion.” Cordoza tips his head to the side, smiling despite the fury so easily visible in the tic of his jaw. The grip on his cane. The pulse thundering in his neck. “I appreciate your candor, Chief Mayet. Bravery is an underappreciated strength. However, I believe it’s entirely within the realm of possibility that you could accept this assignment, as you would any other, any other day of the week. He will travel with a name for you to insert into the reports. It simply won’t be the name you know him by.”
