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Chance nodded, silently.
Her mother was the first one to walk to the door, not acknowledging Chance other than a nod in his direction before she was gone. Her father moved slower, grabbing his black leather jacket near the door before he looked over his shoulder.
"Ara was right. This is going to be dangerous, walking into their territory. If I don't make it back, make sure my daughter knows I love her."
Chance had turned around to face her father, so Mykie could no longer see his expression. She heard him loud and clear, however.
"I'll make sure she never forgets."
NEW POSITION
Sixteen years later…
It was a week after she was officially named Chance's second in command, and she couldn't be more worried. Jezebeth never came home in all the time since her father's death. Mykie suspected that she stayed with Dexter, but she couldn't help but feel guilty that she didn't try to bring her home that night. Did she think Mykie was just like Chance? Even if Jezebeth said no, it would have looked like Mykie only cared about herself if she had tried to talk to her. She knew it wasn't going to be easy being friends after what Chance did to Adam, but it didn't mean that she cared any less about Jezebeth. They weren't their fathers.
Ever since the night that Adam was killed, Mykie had been thinking about the last night that Mykie saw her parents alive. Adam said something before he died; that her father's blood was on Chance's hands, too. Chance and she had never talked about that night beyond how sorry he was for her loss. She would never have thought Chance had anything to do with her parents death. He was young and he did everything he could to help her father as his second.
Just like Chance expected her to do now, for him.
The Vultures wouldn't usually make such a public attempt to hurt Chance. They wouldn't be stupid enough to walk into the Snake Pit and come after him, either. They stayed away from each other's bases in an attempt to keep the damage from the war between them to a minimum. For the most part, their interactions stayed to the minimum of business deals. The question remained, however: why come after Chance now? Chance understood how the Vultures worked, which made it understandable why he would be a threat to them. Mykie could only assume that it wasn't supposed to get out of hand. Just a simple elimination of Chance while he was out to dinner, virtually unprotected without backup to help.
The Vultures were circling them, which was why, for the last two days, Mykie had been throwing herself into the Snake Pit. Before, while she was Chance's closest confidant, she never had access to the things she now could see. Folders upon folders existed with the details of business contacts that she never knew existed between the Cantil and different parts of the city. Some of them were newer by the color of the folder but many of them looked to be old as dirt and needed updating. Chance said that a majority of the folders hadn't been touched in years and that it was now her job to familiarize herself with all the new information. There was an unspoken statement within his eyes every time he walked in on her straining her eyes over old folders: Adam was the reason it got this bad.
Many of the folders were incomplete. They were missing information on how the partnership with businesses, such as the private medical practice in the middle of town or the local college, continued to go after reaching an agreement for accepting funding from Chance. Were they even still partners? She didn't want to ask Chance every time she had come across these discrepancies, but it was impossible for her to know which folders needed to be kept and which could be filed together as inactive deals.
The Vultures said that Chance had information that they wanted, but he denied having anything they would find valuable. While she believed him, a part of her wondered if there were answers in the files in the Pit. Was the information they wanted something Chance knew, or something he didn't remember while working under her father?
Chance knocked on the door once before walking into his office, making Mykie look up from her circle of files.
"Seems like you got your work cut out for yourself," he murmured, glancing at the mess.
"Nothing I can't manage," Mykie said with a wave of her hand, pushing her reading glasses up.
Chance stepped further into his office and closed the door. He seemed to relax as soon as they heard the 'click' of the door. "Seeing all you've done in the last few days; I'd hate to ask you to do anything more. I'm grateful, by the way, for you getting started on things right away. The faster we get back to running things like normal, the fewer problems will pop up from the others."
Right. Getting back to normal as soon as possible, after killing someone as important as Adam. She understood Chance's perspective. She suspected there was a lot of trouble that happened after her parents' passing and power was up for grabs. They didn't want to give anyone time to start to question the hierarchy of the group.
"Chance, whatever you need me to do, I'm game. Anything to get me out there again," she said, hoping she sounded as reassuring as she thought she did.
He nodded, a somber look on his face. "Still hasn't come home?"
She shook her head. "The funeral is in four days. I just wish she'd come home so I can talk to her and tell her that I'll always be here for her."
Chance walked over until he could squat in front of her on the floor. "I'm sure she knows. You've done a lot for that girl, and she's done a lot for you. When she's ready, I'm sure she'll come and find you."
Mykie nodded. She knew he was right, but she didn't like waiting.
"If you're serious about getting back out there, I do need something big from you. I don't know if you'll be up for it, though."
He waited until he had Mykie's attention before he continued.
"I need you to stay working on the Harper job." He held up his hand before she could say anything. "I know you were seeing the son and that unfortunately, something occurred in front of him, but you're still the only one I can count on to secure this account with them. I believe having you still attached to this project instead of sending someone else will work in our favor, even if that boy sees it differently."
"I haven't talked to him since that night," Mykie admitted. "I don't know how he would react if I showed up and acted like everything is normal. He may not be comfortable working with me anymore, now that he realized that I'm not a Cantil Girl."
He rolled his eyes. "If he seriously thought you were a Cantil Girl, he must be blinder than I thought."
He then sent her a fatherly smile. "Reach out to him and see if you can fix things. No one is able to resist your charms. When you decide to use them, that is."
