Chapter Twenty-Four

 

Josh Meadows isn't a Detective any more. Not really. Not for another couple of days, anyways. And right now? Not at all. He's a man who's made a lot of mistakes in his life. And he's probably going to make another one.

One that you don't unmake easily. So he grips the back of the couch tightly. It's not the sort of thing that people come back from, deciding to beat the ever-loving hell out of the Mayor's son, out of a Congressman's son, and doing it twice.

He'd already been lucky—more than lucky—once. They'd decided, he guessed, to take a little bit of mercy on him. But there wasn't going to be a second time. Mitchell Queen might know when he deserved to take a beating. His lawyers might, too.

But the man's got a mean streak in him a mile wide, and he's not going to let two go by unchecked.

It occurs to him that there's a good chance that there's a good chance that Mitch had all of this planned when he'd demanded the apology. He'd probably known full well what was going to happen the whole time.

Which means that in the end, he'd known that it was going to be a hell of a lot harder to give that apology than it looked like.

The fact that he'd still have to give it if he wanted a place on the force might have been planned from the start. To give Mitchell a big ol' hard-on of suffering and anger. It wasn't hard to imagine that he'd do something like that.

Josh loosens his grip. He's not going to give that son of a bitch any sort of satisfaction. Not if he can help it. A second outburst would ruin Josh's career, but it wouldn't do a hell of a lot to a Congressman's son.

Every little ache and pain would just be a reminder that, in the end, he'd outsmarted Josh and the entire God damned police force. He'd outmaneuvered them all, forced Josh into a position where he had to solve the problem with his fists.

But he hadn't. Punching his way out of problems was how Josh Meadows had solved his problems before he became a cop. Before he became a valued member of society. When he was just a scrap on the street and doing what he had to do.

Now he solves his problems like an adult. He thinks things through and makes decisions that were the right thing, not just the easy thing. Not just the way that he naturally wanted to do it, not just the way that felt good.

He moves around the couch and pulls Anna close into his arms. She leans her head into him, her body racking with sobs.

"It's going to be alright. We'll figure this out."

"It's Mitch, I know it's Mitch. He's doing this."

She's not wrong, but Josh doesn't want to admit to it. There's nothing to be gained from assigning blame, no matter how much he wants to. They've got to do something smarter than that. They've got to figure out some way to just… deal with it, for now.

In a while, they'll have time to decide what to do next.

"It's fine. We'll get through this, Anna. Don't worry. We'll figure it out. Don't worry, okay? Just stay calm. You can cry all you want. You're not in any trouble, okay? You're not an unfit mother. You're a good mom."

"No, I'm not," she says softly into his chest. "How many good moms have their daughters kidnapped?"

Not many, but it's the wrong question in the first place. "Hey. Don't beat up on yourself. You did the best you could. There are bad people out there. That doesn't mean that you're bad, or stupid, or anything like that, just because they hurt you."

"But I am bad and stupid."

"No way."

"I'm sorry I got you into this."

"Don't be sorry, babe. It's fine." She presses her head deeper into his shoulder for a minute, and then pulls back out and sits back.

"It's my fault, but I know how to fix it."

Josh sits back. What is that supposed to mean? How exactly is that? "Oh?"

She reaches down into her pocket and pulls out a cell phone.

"I'll just. I'll." She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes and when she lets the breath out again, she's looking a little more focused. "I'll just call him, and see what he wants from me. Then we'll give him whatever he wants to just. Go away."

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea, Anna. Maybe you shouldn't."

She's already tapping away at the screen, though. She's already decided to make the call, regardless of whether or not it's a good idea.

She puts the phone up to her ear. A second later, the faint sound of ringing can be heard even from where Josh is sitting. Mitch's voice on the other line causes the detective's jaw to tighten.

"What do you want, Josh?"

He says something that sounds like 'I don't know what you're talking about.' The way his voice sounds over the phone doesn't leave any question that he certainly knows exactly what she's talking about and why she's calling.

"I just want my daughter back, Josh. Why are you doing this?"

Josh hears, though he still is trying not to listen. He's trying to work up the guts to just leave the room. He shouldn't eavesdrop, but worse than that, the call's just going to get his blood up. His hands sting where the skin is split, and yet he balls them up into tight fists that just makes the skin hurt more.

On the other end of the line, Mitchell asks if Josh is there. She's always, he says, had a thing for the tall-dark-and-handsome types. Have they slept together yet?

Josh takes a deep breath and stands up.

"You didn't want Ava. I just want her back, Josh. Why are you doing this to me?"

His response is loud enough that Josh hears it loud and clear, even from this far away. 'You took my father away.' He ends it by calling her a rude name that Josh decides he didn't hear, because his hands are already burning to get around that weasel's throat enough.

There's something funny about the whole situation. The whole thing feels odd. Something that Josh can't quite put his finger on.

The response from the elder Queen. They had the money. They had it in cash. All there, ready to be paid out. It hurt, no doubt about it. Four million in cash is a lot of money to find in just a few days.

And yet, they'd managed to do it somehow. It was also an odd number to pick. Why four?

Why not five? Why not ten? Why not three?

The answer seems obvious, but it's not something he can say for sure. After all, he hadn't been able to say any of it for sure.

Because they had four million. Al Queen had four million in cash on hand, so they took him for four million. If they could have strung it out, maybe they'd have gotten more. But then again, the chance to grab the elder Queen had opened up the opportunity to grab him.

There's more than four lousy million in it, now. So they took the four, and now they're triple-dipping. The F.B.I. isn't going to look kindly on that, but it's out of his hands.

The question still burns in his mind, though, as tears start falling down Anna's face. Why four million? How could they have known?

If they knew in advance, someone must have told them. It's the only answer.

But who was the one to have done it? And why?

Josh's gut tells him who would have had the gall to do it. And it tells him that he'd better not go around making those kinds of accusations lightly.