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Tim only shrugs. Hisfucked if I knowsignature expression.
Hitting dial, I bring the phone to my ear and, with the sun already gone and nighttime growing darker, I continue to watch the street I not only work on, but live on, too.
“Tickle my balls,” he answers stupidly. “I was thrilled about your calls before, but now it’s all getting to be a bit much. You’re very needy.”
“Uh-huh.” I burrow my free hand deeper into my pocket to combat the icy wind whipping between buildings. “Hi, Felix. Did you figure out who Nathan Booth works for yet?”
“That mafia wannabe motherfucker? No. But I’ve been asking around. Sometimes I catch a tidbit of information that seems promising, but when I follow it down the line, things fizzle. I’ll keep looking till I have something to tell you. Is that the only reason you called?”
“No, I?—”
“Because I’ve heard rumors about a cop killer over in Copeland, bruh. If you hadn’t picked up that phone by dinnertime tonight, I was calling you.”
“How the fuck are you hearing rumors? I haven’t made a statement about my case yet!”
“I have men inside your precinct, remember? That’s how little Miss Mia and I got to hang out that one time. Besides, it’s on the news, dipshit.”
“You mean that time you kidnapped a child? Which led to me being shot.”
“That wasn’t my fault!”
“Like how it wasn’t your fault Micah slept with a prostitute that time?”
As though my words unlock that memory for him, the way Tim did for me, Felix cackles. “Fuck, that was so funny. He still doesn’t know.”
“You’re an asshole.”
“I was a concerned brother! Tim was doing fine with the ladies, and you, Arch, were alllllways the romantic. Cato was a baby, and I assure you, I’ve never needed to pay for a lay. But poor, sweet Micah…” He giggles. “He was too shy for his own good, so I greased the pan and exchanged a few dollars. Don’t tell him the truth, though. He seriously thought she was into him.”
“What was her name?” I massage my temple and work to remember. “S-something. She stuck around for a few weeks to really sell her story.”
“I paid her well, and Micah wasn’t gonna drop his pooch on a one-night stand.”
“Shauna?”
“Nah—”
“Shania?”
“Shandi. She was a classy prostitute with minimal STDs, I’m assured.”
“This is why we moved away,” Tim grumbles, stalking just a little faster along the street. “I already feel my blood pressure rising.”
“Oh! Timmy too?” Felix practically fucking shimmies, wherever he is. “Is it my birthday, or what?”
“It’s not. Listen, I?—”
“Thanksgiving is coming up. I know I joke about the dinner thing, and you jokingly say no. But?—”
“Definitely not joking when I say no. Especially not when I sayfuck no.”
“You’re being mean. But Thanksgiving will be here soon, and I’m seriously telling you that New York is non-negotiable. Bring your doctor. Tie Tim to the plane and force him across. Pack that cute little hippie into a suitcase and bring her too. I want my family together for Thanksgiving. It’s not an idle request.”
“Or what?” I’m defiant for the sake of defiance… it’s why our father wanted me dead. “You’re gonna cry about it?”
He laughs. Loud, mocking, and so fucking creepy, I wonder, for a moment, what fresh hell I’ve unleashed.
“Dear, sweet, baby brother Archer. If you don’t put your ass on a plane and aren’t in my house for Thanksgiving this year, I’m gonna fly to you instead. I will forgo a fancy hotel, I’ll refuse accommodations at your empty apartment, and I won’t stay at the house.”
