Chương 6
Claire looked at him carefully.
“And where exactly is that?”
“My office.”
Her expression turned almost comical.
“You want me to take my four daughters into the headquarters of a criminal organization?”
Alexander considered correcting the phrasing.
He decided it would be dishonest.
“Yes.”
Lily jumped down from her chair.
“Do you have snacks?”
Claire stared at her.
Alexander picked up the bill.
“Yes.”
Lily nodded.
“I’m in.”
Claire did not move.
Alexander waited beside the table while Lily stood near him with the confidence of someone who had already solved the logistical problem for everyone else.
Emma looked at her mother.
“Mom?”
Claire picked up her portfolio.
“This is a terrible idea.”
Alexander nodded.
“That does not make it the wrong one.”
“It usually does.”
“Not always.”
She looked toward the window where Mercer’s sedan had disappeared into traffic.
“What happens if someone sees us going into your office?”
“They will assume you have business with me.”
“That is not reassuring.”
“It should be.”
“It absolutely should not.”
Sophie whispered to Grace, “I like him.”
Grace whispered back, “Mom doesn’t.”
Claire heard both of them.
“Your mother has not formed an opinion.”
Alexander glanced at her.
“That sounded like one.”
She gave him a look that might have been irritation if exhaustion had not been sitting underneath it.
“Do your people know four children are coming?”
“No.”
“That seems important.”
“They will adapt.”
“That sentence is somehow worse.”
Alexander paid the bill in cash and left enough on the table to make the server briefly stare.
Claire noticed.
“You overtip.”
“I dislike waiting.”
“That has nothing to do with tipping.”
“It does tomorrow.”
They stepped into the morning crowd.
Chicago had reached that strange hour when office workers moved quickly and delivery trucks moved nowhere.
A cyclist shouted at a taxi.
A man in a construction vest stood beside a cart eating eggs from a paper container.
Two women argued over whether they had passed the correct building.
Lily immediately took Alexander’s hand.
He looked down.
She looked ahead.
No negotiation occurred.
Claire noticed but said nothing.
Marcus was waiting beside a black SUV half a block away.
He had a coffee in one hand and a phone in the other.
At forty-seven, Marcus Bell carried himself with the loose patience of a man who had spent half his life standing near danger and refusing to look impressed by it.
He saw Alexander.
Then Claire.
Then the four girls.
His coffee stopped halfway to his mouth.
“No.”
Alexander opened the rear door.
“Yes.”
Marcus pointed at Lily.
“There are four of them.”
“I counted.”
“I thought you meant four children in the general area.”
“What would that mean?”
“I don’t know, but I did not think you had acquired them.”
Claire stepped forward.
“He has not acquired anyone.”
Marcus looked relieved.
“Good.”
Then he looked at Alexander.
“Because there are laws.”
“I am aware of laws.”
Marcus raised his eyebrows.
Claire almost smiled.
Alexander noticed and disliked that Marcus noticed him noticing.
“Mrs. Bennett,” Alexander said, “this is Marcus Bell.”
Marcus lowered the coffee.
“Claire Bennett?”
She stiffened.
“Yes.”
“The medical logistics company?”
Her expression sharpened.
“You know it?”
“I know everything that makes him money.”
Marcus nodded toward Alexander.
Alexander gave him a look.
Marcus shrugged.
“Most things.”
Claire looked between them.
“We have contracts with Hayes Freight.”
“Three.”
She frowned.
“I thought it was two.”
“Three.”
Alexander opened the SUV door wider.
“We can audit invoices later.”
Emma stopped beside the vehicle.
“Are there seat belts?”
Marcus looked offended.
“This is not a getaway car.”
Alexander looked at him.
Marcus added, “Today.”
Claire stared at both men.
“I cannot believe I’m doing this.”
“You can still leave.”
Alexander’s voice was quiet.
Claire looked down at her daughters.
Lily had not released his hand.
Grace kept glancing back toward the café.
Emma stood as if she expected an adult to reverse every decision at the last second.
Sophie was studying Marcus’s coffee cup.
Claire exhaled.
“No, I can’t.”
They climbed in.
Marcus took the front passenger seat while Alexander sat beside the girls in back.
Claire sat opposite him in the second row.
The driver pulled away from the curb.
For two blocks, everyone was quiet.
Then Sophie asked Marcus, “Do criminals get health insurance?”
Marcus turned around.
Claire closed her eyes.
Alexander looked out the window.
Marcus said, “Some of us have dental.”
Sophie nodded seriously.
“That’s good.”
“Marcus.”
“What?”
“They asked.”
“No, one of them asked.”
“Do you want me to explain group benefits?”
“Please don’t.”
Lily leaned against Alexander’s arm.
Claire watched her.
Alexander could almost see the objection forming.
He waited.
It never came.
Instead Claire looked down at her phone.
Michael had sent three messages.
Alexander did not try to read them this time.
Her thumb moved across the screen.
She stopped.
Deleted whatever she had typed.
Started again.
Stopped again.
Marcus turned around once more.
“Problem?”
Claire looked up.
“My brother is getting the building footage.”
“That’s fast.”
“He owns the apartment.”
Alexander’s attention sharpened.
“Mercer knows that?”
“Yes.”
“Does he have access?”
“To the building?”
“To your brother.”
Claire frowned.
“Professionally, yes.”
“How much?”
“A lot.”
She looked at Alexander.
“Daniel and Michael have been close for years.”
“Close how?”
“Golf, business trips, dinners when Michael is in Chicago.”
Marcus muttered something.
Claire heard him.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“What did you say?”
Marcus looked at Alexander.
Alexander said, “You started it.”
Marcus sighed.
“I said that explains the brother.”
Claire’s expression hardened.
“You do not know my brother.”
“No.”
“Then don’t decide he’s part of this.”
“I didn’t.”
“You implied it.”
“I implied he might be easier for Mercer to influence than you are.”
“That is not the same thing.”
“It’s close.”
“Marcus.”
He turned forward.
“Fine.”
Claire looked at Alexander.
“Does he always do that?”
“Yes.”
Marcus called from the front, “This is why our relationship works.”
May you like
Alexander ignored him.
The SUV turned into an underground garage beneath a renovated brick building on the Near West Side.
