Songbird

by A. J. Adams

  So, I had most of them with me, but Tonio and Jesus are hard men who’d kill their grandmothers if it meant harvesting gold teeth, so they weren’t pleased. However, they were shrugging philosophically. After all, they’re already rich, and as we say, la avaricia rompe el saco. As the sack in the proverb is a thieves’ sack, it’s particularly apt, but Tonio is easily offended, and he has no sense of humour about the life he’s chosen, so I kept my mouth shut. There’s no point in offending a good man by reminding him of what we do for our living.

  We had another brandy, gossiped for an hour, and then I called it a day and went to look for Solitaire. I found her in the kitchen, sorting out the accounts with Luz. I waited outside for a few seconds, curious to see how they were getting along. Luz has been with me forever, and she’d been so incredibly polite to my women that I knew she loathed each and every one of them. So I listened and got a nice surprise.

  “It all balances,” Solitaire was saying. “You just accidentally added the date to your total, see?”

  “I don’t like money,” Luz moaned. “Every week it’s a headache.”

  “I’ll do the accounts,” Solitaire said promptly. “But I can’t do the buying, because it looks like I don’t know about food or cooking.”

  “Is okay,” Luz was smiling. “I do the marketing, and we do menus together.”

  “Give the jefe what he wants, and let me have my Darjeeling in the morning, and I’m good.”

  “And English bacon?”

  “I wish!”

  “The jefe brought ten kilos from London.”

  Solitaire was grinning. “Did he? Isn’t he a love?”

  That was my cue. “Sirena, you talking about me?”

  She was smiling. “Ten kilos of bacon? Talk about generous, Arturo, thanks!”

  I was dying to take her to bed, but I had a plan that shouldn’t be put off. “Go get dressed, sirena. We’ve got an appointment.”

  “Jeans, couture or smart casual?”

  “Just as you are.”

  Solitaire put away the books, washed her hands and was good to go. She’s very easy to get along with. No questions, no fussing. I walked her out, and we had to wait for the car, because I’d been certain it would take her half an hour minimum for her to get ready.

  “We’re off to see Bautista,” I told her. “He’s a great doctor. The best.”

  “Great. We forgot to drop by the Family Planning Clinic in London.”

  “Yeah.”

  Because we’d been fighting, but Solitaire didn’t mention it. She looked out of the window instead, saying cheerfully, “So, are you going to give me the drive-by city tour?” Solitaire may be a bitch when she’s angry, but she doesn’t hold a grudge.

  Bautista was in his office but not expecting us. I never give him a heads-up (it’s a security risk), and it always pisses him off, especially because I walk straight in. Again, I jump the queue because it’s dangerous to hang around public places, but also because I hate waiting. And having paid for his brand new MRI machine, I reckon I paid for the privilege.

  Bautista knows it, but he doesn’t like me, so he’s always bad-tempered when I’m around. I don’t give a fuck. Doctors always think they’re gods. Also, he’s the best, and it’s worth a bit of attitude to have the best – especially in areas where medicine is more art than science. Bautista has a gift for healing, so as far as I’m concerned, he can be as mouthy as he likes.

  This time he started by thanking me for the MRI machine, but as soon as he looked at the medical records Kyle had sent in, Bautista was frowning at Solitaire. “You got electrocuted? You should have seen someone days ago!” He whipped out his stethoscope and began checking her over.

  Solitaire shrugged and let him poke and prod without comment. He’s very thorough, so I wasn’t surprised when he gave her a full physical. Bautista was educated in Mexico and Spain, but he gets lots of American clients looking to avoid being gouged by their doctors, so his English is excellent. I half listened as they talked and got on with my own thing.

  I’d told the nurse to send in someone from the blood bank, because I’d promised Kyle to donate every time I visit. With the job being what it is, I’m there often, and I’m never sure what they’re taking – whole blood, plasma or whatever – so I stick out an arm and let them take what they think best.

  Donating blood is not my thing, but as Bautista and his people saved Chloe’s life a few months ago, it’s a small thing to ask in return. As for the MRI machine, it’s already been useful to three of my people, so that’s as much a present to my own organisation as it is a public service.

  Mind you, considering they charge their customers a fee for the free blood I give them, I make damn sure the bastards don’t charge me when I want to use the MRI clinic. I’m telling you, hospitals pose like the good guys, but they’re as crooked as the day is long.

  Bautista was finishing up just as the nurse switched off the tap in my arm. “Except for some bruises you’re physically fine,” he said gently to Solitaire. “Tell me about the memory loss.”

  “Lost the lot and got a bit back,” she shrugged. “I can live without it.”

  Bautista tried to argue, but when she got him to admit that medical science had nothing to offer except for the advice to wait for it to come back, she cut him off.

  “I know you mean well, but I’m not interested,” Solitaire explained. “I just want a prescription for my contraceptive. I’m on my last pack.”

  “How about we book you into the clinic for a few days for observation?” Bautista said smoothly.

  I could see she didn’t like the idea. “Why?” she frowned.

  “You’ve been through a lot,” he replied surprised. “Don’t you want to talk someone?”

  He was looking at her meaningfully and glanced at me. It was not a loving look; Solitaire had two thin blue stripes on her butt, courtesy of my flogger, and Bautista had drawn his own conclusions. He probably thought I’d electrocuted her on purpose, too. Not surprising really; it’s not like I haven’t used a cattle prod on occasion.

  It took Solitaire a second to see his implication. Then her eyes narrowed. “I think we’ll stick at the prescription. If I want to talk, I’ve got Arturo.”

  “What?” Bautista said surprised.

  Her voice was ice. “I said I’ll talk to the man who’s just donated blood. The same one you thanked so nicely for your MRI machine.”

  Bautista was rocked, but after looking at her, he shrugged. “All right. If that’s what you want.”

  Solitaire was quiet on the ride home, and as I had a string of incoming calls, we didn’t talk. The sun was going down as we went through the gates, and the house was drenched in red-gold light. I was planning to drag Solitaire off into the dungeon for a fuck, but then I spotted Kyle’s Blackbird in the drive. Chloe doesn’t like me, so Kyle usually comes alone, but this time he’d brought her with him.

  When we walked onto the back terrace to say hello, Chloe jumped up, ran over, gave me an evil look, and took Solitaire by the hand. “Are you all right?” she asked. “Has he hurt you?”

  Solitaire snatched back her hand. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she cried. “Of course he hasn’t!”

  Then she turned to me. “First Luis, then Bautista and now this black-haired bint!” she snarled. “Seriously, Arturo, why do you put up with these arseholes who only think the worst of you?”

  “Hey!” Chloe asked amazed. “You like Arturo?”

  “He’s thoughtful, intelligent, fun, and he has a generous spirit,” Solitaire snapped. “What’s not to like?”

  Chloe stood there with her mouth open, and I have to admit I was the same. A girl liking me for myself? It was a first.

  Chapter Sixteen: Solitaire

  On that first day it really pissed me off the way people acted around Arturo. His men were comfortable around him, and Luz liked him enormously, but everyone else acted like he was a cross between Caligula and Freddie Kruger. I mean, yes, he’s a c
artel boss, but it was clear he wasn’t a maniac. Far from it.

  I saw Arturo as an employer who paid his house and garden staff generous salaries complete with health benefits. The books showed extra payments for perks like school textbooks for their kids, and braces, too. From what Luz said, office staff got the same deal. He’d also funded an MRI clinic, and he donated blood. I mean seriously, who would have thought it?

  What bugged me even more was that Arturo was hurt but didn’t show it. He acted cool, pretending not to see Luis’ fear, smiling ironically at Bautista’s suspicion that he had abused me, and just shrugging at Chloe’s accusation.

  “We didn’t meet under good circumstances,” he explained.

  We were in the bedroom, looking for something he’d bought in London for Chloe, for heaven’s sake. “What happened?” I asked him.

  Arturo shrugged. “Oh, it’s all in the past. Come on, they’re waiting.”

  He was hiding something, but I didn’t push it. There was no point, because I was certain Chloe would tell me. She didn’t like him, so she’d be happy to tell me something bad about Arturo. I knew it had to be bad, or he wouldn’t be trying to keep it from me.

  I can be patient, so I smiled, covered the blue marks on my bum with a batik wrap that had cost a small fortune and followed him downstairs.

  Kyle and Chloe were quite a strange couple, with him being silent and larger than life and her being a gabby, scrawny little thing. They were sitting on the back terrace, and by the way they’d made themselves at home, they were obviously regular visitors. Kyle waved at a box of wine. “We brought you some local sherry.”

  “That’s really sweet. Thank you!”

  “And I got you something in London,” Arturo said to Chloe.

  When she opened the package we all looked on. Seeing we’d bought a gazillion accessories, I thought it would be a top or a scarf. What she got was a velvet collar with a bell and what looked like a dildo and three tubes of lube.

  I thought Arturo would get a smack in the snoot, but Chloe was smiling. “A Kong with liver, beef and chicken spread? And a collar that matches his eyes? Raoul will love it. Thanks!”

  So she was a cat person.

  Kyle was grinning. “I thought it was a pocket rocket.”

  Chloe poked him playfully in the ribs. “Right, with chicken flavoured lube!”

  We had drinks and sat about making some awkward small talk. Really, torturous small talk. It was obvious Chloe and Arturo didn’t like each other, but they were being polite because of Kyle.

  He watched them and then cut through the descriptions of the London shops. “Chloe and I are getting hitched.”

  Arturo was smiling. “Congratulations! This deserves champagne!”

  Chloe had been drinking coke, but at this point she switched and had some bubbles. She listened to Arturo tell Kyle he was a lucky man and then grinned. “You sound like you mean that, Arturo.”

  “I do,” Arturo said surprised. “Kyle is crazy about you, and you’re crazy about him. What’s not to like?”

  I saw he was telling the truth. He was happy for Kyle, but it also meant a change in their relationship. Although he and Kyle were tight, and I was certain that would never change, in a way Chloe would now be first. A wife trumps a brother. But Arturo is generous, and he was careful not to let it show. God knows how I knew, but I did.

  “Ever since Raoul stayed with you, he’s become a gourmet,” Chloe said.

  It sounded like a non sequitur, but Arturo smiled, a real smile this time. “He ate with me,” he explained.

  “He refuses to eat cat food, not even that gourmet tuna with the gravy.”

  “After we had barbecued tuna, he went off the cat version.”

  “And I guess then it was you who taught him to eat his dinner on the table instead of on the floor?”

  “Told you it wasn’t me,” Kyle teased.

  “He was lonely,” Arturo explained. “He refused his dinner on the first night, so I gave him some of my fish on a side plate. After that, he saw it as a tradition.”

  “I would have thought you’d be the perfect disciplinarian,” Chloe said. “Who would have guessed you’re such a pushover?”

  “Raoul has his own way of making a point. When I took a call instead of refreshing his water glass, he pushed it off the table. I spent an hour picking shards out of the rug.”

  “He trashes my dahlias,” Chloe giggled. “I can have roses, marguerites, and carnations but not dahlias.”

  And then they were talking, really talking.

  Kyle picked up the bottle and topped up my glass. “It’s amazing what a cat can do.” He was smiling. “I hear you had an interesting first day.”

  “Just settling in.”

  “And laying out not one but two of Oscar’s satellites.”

  “Hmmm, listen, I need a self-defence teacher. Luz and the girls need classes. Can you recommend someone?” Something flared in my mind. “Someone who does Krav Maga.” That came out of nowhere.

  Kyle was looking me over. I no longer thought he was the devil incarnate, but he did have an uncanny knack of knowing what I was thinking. “Another piece falling into place?”

  “Hmmm.”

  Kyle didn’t push it. “I can put something together that’s the same.”

  “That will do. We’ve got a budget.”

  “No way. We’ve got plenty of people with too little to do. I’ll set up a roster.”

  Kyle’s phone buzzed and, by the way he upped and disappeared, I guessed it was business. I sat back and listened to Chloe and Arturo who were nose to nose, talking rather seriously now.

  “I don’t have a soul except for Pepper,” Chloe was saying. “So basically it’s one chair for my side, and the rest is for Kyle’s friends and family.”

  “I don’t want to depress you,” Arturo grinned, “but at the end of the ceremony, we’ll all be family.”

  Chloe was laughing. “True, but that’s not really what I meant. I know that your family go in big for the American experience with the engagement party, cake tasting outings, rehearsal dinners and so on, but I’m not big on the idea.”

  “So don’t do it. It’s your wedding, nobody else’s.”

  “I don’t want to piss anyone off.”

  “Nothing you do will piss anyone off,” Arturo assured her.

  “No bridesmaids organising ten thousand breakfasts, lunches and dinners? No agonising over place settings and flowers? No hysterics about dresses? You really think Tina, Amelia and everyone else will let me get away with a simple come-as-you-are no-rehearsal no-fuss wedding?”

  “I’ll talk to them.”

  “Jesus, Arturo, how guilty do you feel?” Chloe exclaimed. “For God’s sake, forget it! I forgive you.”

  First Arturo was really taken aback, and then he was smiling. “Really?”

  “Seeing Raoul gives you four paws up, yes.”

  Arturo picked up the champagne. “That deserves another drink.”

  Chloe was glowing. “Yeah, maybe it will help you figure out a way to tell Loli I’m not having flower girls, either, so I won’t need Carmencita.”

  Arturo winced. “No flower girls?”

  “Nope.”

  Arturo manned up. “She’ll get over it.”

  I almost laughed out loud at seeing Arturo’s face, and Chloe was giggling. “Arturo, I’m teasing! There will be no pre-parties or fuss, but I’ll wear a dress and we’ll have flower girls.”

  “Thank God!”

  “But we’re not having it at the cathedral.” Seeing Arturo was seriously taken aback, Chloe rushed on. “You had to miss the last two weddings because of security, and Kyle wants you there. You’re his brother, and he needs you as his best man.”

  “But Chloe, what about walking down the aisle? The archbishop’s blessing? It’s a package you only get once in your life and only if you go there.”

  “Neither of us is religious,” Chloe shrugged. “And I’m not exactly the aisle-walking type. As
far as I’m concerned, I’m Kyle’s girl already.” She gave him a sunny smile. “We can have it here.”

  Arturo was speechless, and I couldn’t figure out if it was horror at being sicked with a nightmare function or surprise at Chloe’s unusual take on weddings.

  Kyle came back, carrying a second bottle of champagne and a large carrier bag. “Seeing you’ve become friends, I thought we’d make a night of it.” He opened the carrier bag. “We picked up sausages at the market. Chorizo and morcilla.”

  I was dying to hear the rest of the conversation, but I heard my cue. “I’ll make a salad.”

  Arturo surfaced briefly from horrorland. “Sirena, Luz will do it.”

  “She went early. She had things to do in town.”

  “I’ll help,” Chloe got up and then turned to Arturo. “Oh, and I was teasing about having the wedding here. We’re having it at our place.”

  Seeing Arturo look relieved, Kyle began laughing. “Chloe threatened you with hosting our wedding?”

  “Couldn’t resist,” Chloe giggled.

  We left Kyle and Arturo, and five minutes later Chloe was expertly putting together a salad while telling me how she’d met Arturo.

  “So you see,” she concluded, “we’ve been a bit careful around each other.”

  “Yes, I do see.”

  Chloe was looking me over. “You’re a cool one. Most people think it’s pretty shitty.”

  “He thought you’d been fucking with him. He can’t let people get away with that.”

  “Jesus, you’re a hard one! And to think I was worried about you.”

  I liked Chloe. She was a strange girl, but she had a lot of heart. “You would have forgiven Arturo even without Raoul’s endorsement.”

  Chloe took away a purple onion I was slicing. “You’re making a mess of that. Leave it to me.” It looked like I was destined not to handle anything in the kitchen.

  “I hated Arturo,” Chloe admitted. “But Kyle loves him. And you know, Arturo’s a complete and utter bastard on many levels, but if he likes you, then nothing’s too good for you. When I was in hospital a few months ago, he really was wonderful with Raoul.”