Dysfunctional Affair

by James, Hadena

  “Hmm, maybe. I’m looking for Nadine Daniels. The guy at the door pointed to you.” She seemed less than impressed.

  “I’m her.” I shrugged. Everyone seemed less than impressed by me. Especially with the Brothers Grimm hanging around behind me.

  She frowned again. Turning, she took a couple of steps away and then back towards me.

  “Are you ok?” I asked her. The nerves in my body were screaming.

  “Um, yes, I think so. I wanted to thank you actually.” She looked at my brothers.

  “It’s ok, they’re with me.” Sort of, I added in my head.

  “They're my brothers.” Better to clarify then keep her guessing.

  “Oh, um, they were with you in the cemetery?” She frowned harder, drawing the lines of her face together. It made me increase the original age estimate.

  “Do I know you?”

  “Kind of,” she lowered her voice. I leaned in to hear her better. “My name is Amanda Reed.”

  Bells went off in my head. There was something seriously wrong with this. Why was she thanking me? Why was she even here? Why was everyone looking for her? I grabbed her arm before she could get away, lost in the throng of people.

  “You’re Amanda Reed? The one that everyone’s been looking for?” I nearly yelled. I could hear movement behind me, walkies were crackling. This was a disaster. Here she was and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it, but I had a billion and a half questions.

  “Um, yeah, that Amanda Reed.” She at least had the decency to blush. Even her ears were glowing red with it. I didn’t know whether to feel sorry for her or scream at her. Both sounded pretty good. I held her tight, pulling her into me.

  “Uh, sorry, but we need to talk.” I wasn’t about to let her slip away.

  “There’s really nothing for us to talk about.” She jerked, but my fingers dug into her arm.

  “Yes, yes there is. Do you have any idea what kind of week I’ve had? It’s been an absolute nightmare. Plus, we need to figure out why someone wanted to kill your brother. Why your husband kidnapped me. Why you disappeared in the first place. Oh yeah, tons of stuff for us to discuss.” Her eyes widened as I spoke. It was kind of a “deer in the headlights” look. She was terrified. However, her brother was dead, her husband in jail, if there were other monsters looking for her, they’d just have to wait. I was going to talk to her first. I started tugging her to the security office. My brothers were at my back, walking with us, helping us move forward.

  “I don’t want to talk to you!” She screamed at me. Several people turned, saw the word “Security” in bright yellow lettering and moved away. Ah, the perks of the job.

  “You should have thought of that before you showed up here.” I had my arm hooked through hers, shoving her forward. It wasn’t exactly the nicest thing I’ve ever done, but I didn’t really care.

  I pushed her into the office, the latch clicking behind us as my brothers filled the small room. It was claustrophobic.

  “Ok, two of you have got to leave,” I shook my head. “This room just isn’t that big. You can fight it out amongst yourselves. Oh, and I need Alex.”

  Devlin and Ivan left the room, Devlin talking on his walkie. Leaving Liam and Vladik, the biggest two, with us.

  “Let’s start with something simple. If you didn’t want to talk to me, why are you here?” I frowned at her as she took a seat, obviously resigning herself to the conversation.

  “Because you killed my brother. Now I can come out of hiding. I just wanted to thank you.” A tear slid down her cheek.

  “First, I didn’t kill your brother, I have no idea who did. Second, why does that matter?”

  “I stole a bunch of money from him.” She sighed, clasped her hands together and gave in. “I stole about half a million from him. He owned an online investment firm. I would take money, pretend to place it in a company that would then go belly up, and then keep the money for myself. He found out, threatened to go to the police or worse. So I took the money and ran.”

  I rubbed my temples.

  “So, this is about half a million dollars? I had an agent die because of that?” I rubbed my temples again. Alex came into the room.

  “This is all about money.” I said to her as she shut the door.

  “Are you surprised?” Alex asked. No, no I wasn’t, it always seemed to be about money.

  “Alex Zeitzev, meet Amanda Reed.” I hooked my thumb at Amanda. This seemed to upset her, she started to cry really hard. I didn’t do well with crying people.

  “How much money?” Alex asked, ignoring the crying woman. Not her thing either.

  “About half a million. She embezzled it from her brother’s company. Her brother didn’t report the theft, so he was obviously going to do something heinous when he found her.”

  Sometimes family really sucked.

  “I need to call the police.”

  “No! You can’t! With my brother dead, no one knows about the money!” She grabbed frantically for the phone.

  “Except the DEA agent and Spook behind me,” I yanked the phone out of her grip. “Geez, get a hold of yourself.”

  I pushed her away.

  “So, you’re a CIA agent?” Alex asked Vladik, tilting her head to one side.

  “I guess for the moment,” Vladik shrugged. “I think I should be offended that she called me a Spook.”

  Family, nothing like them in the world. I had a hysterical thief and they were debating Vladik’s job title. Lovely.

  I dialed 911. It rang once, twice, then the phone was ripped from my ear. It hurt like a bitch. Amanda Reed’s crying had gone into a high pitched squeal that made me want to tear out her lungs. My ear was definitely bleeding. The phone was thrown against the concrete floor and smashed into pieces, some of them sliding from view.

  “Effective,” I replied sarcastically. “We have three other phones.”

  She came towards me again, so I punched her in the face. She sat down hard in the chair. The squealing stopped. That was nice. For several seconds everyone just stood there, stunned.

  “Could someone dial the police department?” I asked, touching my fingers to my ear. They came away sticky and wet. Definitely going to need a stitch or two. But at least she hadn’t bitten it.

  Liam came to rescue, he dug out his cell phone the fastest and punched in the numbers. I heard each of them beep as his fingers hit the keys. So did Amanda. She sprang back to her feet. I put myself between her and Liam. The pain was immediate, sharp. Forcing me to take a step back and suck in air.

  “Damn, I think I’ve been stabbed, again.” I said angrily. Better to be angry, the pain could be ignored if I was pissed. I shoved her hard, watched her stumble into the wall and slide down it. Her eyes closed, her breathing regulated. Great, I was bleeding, she was unconscious. Didn’t seem fair.

  “Are you serious?” Vladik asked.

  “No, I’m making it up because I don’t feel like I get enough attention.” I put my fingers to the new spot of pain. Warm liquid oozed over them. “Yes, I’m serious.”

  “How’d she do that with the bullet proof vest?” Vladik came towards me.

  “She went between the plates.” I rolled my eyes. This was just perfect.

  “Well, sit down.” Alex took hold of my arm.

  “No, it’s going to hurt.” I jerked away from her. “If she hit an internal organ and I die, I’m so coming back to haunt the bitch.”

  “If you’re talking, she didn’t hit an internal organ.” Vladik kneeled down. “Ditch the vest and raise your shirt.”

  “No, if she didn’t hit an internal organ, I don’t want you examining me.” I pushed him away, keeping my hand on the wound.

  “You aren’t a doctor.” I enunciated every word.

  “She’s going to be fine.” Ivan had suddenly materialized.

  “How do you know?” Alex spat at him.

  “Because she’s being difficult.” Ivan shrugged. Alex seemed to think about this. She nodded her head once, t
wice and then smiled. She agreed with him. I blew a raspberry at her and then at Ivan.

  “It’s a key ring.” Devlin knelt near Amanda. “She stabbed you with her car key. I think it’s still inside you, cause the key is broke.”

  “That’s gross.” Alex made a face.

  “No, wrong, that’s just very wrong.” I corrected her. It should have been funny, but it hurt.

  “Then you probably shouldn’t move much,” Liam took hold of my shoulder. “They have paramedics en route.”

  “Great,” I took a deep breath, it kind of hurt, but the pain was starting to fade or I was starting to faint. I didn’t feel faint, so it must not be bad. Yea, I would live!

  “Nadine, you look pale.” Alex took hold of my arm. “Maybe you should let Vladik take a look.”

  “Um, you’d be pale too if your brother had just told you that someone broke off a key in your body.” I snapped. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be bitchy.”

  “Did you just apologize?” Vladik asked.

  “Yes.” I frowned at him.

  “How soon are the paramedics going to be here?” He asked Liam.

  “Any moment. Why?”

  “She apologized, it’s worse than we thought.” Vladik cracked a smile.

  “That’s just great, but we still have one problem.” I said, moving my fingers away from the wound. It seemed to have slowed down in the oozing department. “Who killed the brother?”

  “I don’t know and it doesn’t really matter.” Zeke walked into the room. A couple of police officers and a paramedic were with him. They strapped me to a gurney and wheeled me away from the concert.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The house was blissfully quiet. Not because it was empty, it was actually stuffed beyond capacity. Lucy had even come and taken the dogs for a few days because it was so packed. The quiet was because everyone was still asleep. Alex, Sebastian, Anthony, Vladik, Ivan, Liam, Devlin, and Zeke were all snoring peacefully under their covers. I was the only one awake. It was the most quiet time I’d had in two weeks.

  I had been treated and released by the emergency room last night. Alex had nearly fainted when they pulled out the one-inch piece of metal that resembled the missing half of a car key. Nothing was damaged. Four stitches had closed it. Three stitches had closed the wound on my ear. Both were sore, but manageable. However, it had still been a long night. So everyone had crashed at my house. Great, huh?

  Amanda Reed was handcuffed to a hospital bed recovering from a mild concussion. I really don’t like to be stabbed. It makes me irritable, makes me forget that I do have some strength. She would be interrogated today by the police department. I had already made a statement, I was going to be left alone today. If I was really lucky, my brothers would all find apartments today. Of course, I probably wasn’t that lucky.

  Creeping in near silence, I made my way to the kitchen. I wanted something caffeinated and to enjoy the quiet. I entered the kitchen. Liam was getting something out of the fridge.

  He turned, let out a blood curdling scream, and jumped nearly three feet into the air. Dropping the container of milk and the glass he was holding. Both crashed to the hard floor, the glass shattering, the milk on its side, spilling its contents. I giggled, covering my mouth.

  “Holy shit, Nadine!” He frowned at me. The house was awake. I could hear them moving around above me. Their feet pounding hard, running towards the noise. The quiet was gone, but Liam’s surprise almost made up for it.

  “Sorry,” I let out another giggle. “You scream like a girl.”

  “Don’t sneak up on people like that.” Liam bent over.

  “What’s wrong?” Everyone was entering the kitchen, half dressed, guns drawn, serious looks on their faces. It was pretty funny. I couldn’t hold it back and began laughing uncontrollably.

  “What’s wrong?” Anthony asked, looking from Liam to me and back to Liam.

  “Nothing, she snuck up on me is all.” Liam blushed. It was a first. I clutched my sides, struggling for air.

  “She snuck up on you?” Vladik looked at him in disbelief.

  “Yes, do you want to make something out of it?” Liam was definitely embarrassed. He almost never threatened Vladik. It’d be like two small mountains fighting. The image cracked me up even more. I found a chair and fell into it, still gasping for breath. Others joined me, trying to stifle their laughter and failing as I had. Zeke touched my shoulder.

  “I take it you’re feeling all right this morning?” He asked.

  “Yeah, not bad. But we still don’t know who killed the brother and why.”

  “It doesn’t matter, Nadine.” Anthony frowned at me.

  “Yes it does.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” Liam tossed glass into the trash.

  “But it does matter. The guy’s head disappeared and I was only a few feet away. It does matter. If Amanda hadn’t been so certain that I had killed him, I would suspect her. But she seemed pretty serious.”

  “Nadine, it’s a police matter.” Ivan said. Their faces were sobering quickly.

  “You were obviously not a target. If you had been, you’d be dead. Since you weren’t a target, it’s not your problem.” Vladik told me.

  “That’s not a very good attitude to have.” I chided him. “What if I am a target and he was just waiting for a better opportunity?”

  “He had the perfect opportunity in the graveyard,” Anthony said it flatly. Not for the first time I wondered what his skills really included.

  “It was a downward shot, Nadine. If he had wanted to kill you, he could have done it while you were pinned to the ground. The bullet would have went through Zeke or Vladik without any trouble. I think all three of you would have been dead if you’d been the target.”

  “So, I’m just supposed to drop it?” I asked, irritated.

  “Yes, you are. You have a ton of things to do. Thomas’s funeral is today, you have a fake marriage to weasel out of, and you have stuff at the office to do. The office stuff can wait until after the weekend, the rest of it, well, that’s another story.” Anthony touched my hand. Sometimes he could be very nice and really scary at the same time. I got the impression that he was ordering me to drop it. Only my brothers and my lieutenants were scary enough to make me drop something. Changing the subject seemed like the smartest thing to do.

  “Oh no, I’m not taking care of the marriage thing. Zeke is stuck with that. Besides Melina isn’t even in town.” I told him.

  “She flies in this afternoon. Penny is pregnant. The primary threat has been neutralized. We should be good.” Ivan opened a soda and put it on the table in front of me. Great, my mother was coming back. Who knew that thought was enough to cause me to get depressed again. Or maybe it was the funeral.

  “Oh and the paper called wanting a quote for this morning’s edition.” Zeke added as an afterthought. “We told them that we had ‘no comment.”

  “And they went with that?” I asked.

  “No, so we eventually gave in and told them that ‘Daniels’ Security Agency wouldn’t back down to any threat, even when it affected our own safety.” Sebastian seemed awfully cheerful about that quote. I was going to have to see who’s name was next to it.

  “So we made the papers again.” I sighed.

  “Yes, but we think it’s a good thing.” Alex handed me a copy of the paper. The headline read “Daniels’ Security Proves They Are Here To Protect and Serve”.

  I smiled. It was a stupid thing to say, but it had to be better than what others were saying. I read the article quickly. Everything was favorable. They were no longer alluding to me murdering people or making them disappear. The entire thing was about how my company was worth the cost. Nice, very nice. I checked for the quote, found it and smiled again. It simply read an agent inside the Security firm had said it.

  “We think this will take the heat off,” Liam joined us at the table. He had a glass of OJ. Guess the milk was gone. “We think that since we have solved a mystery, turned over a t
hief and managed to keep you alive through all of it, that everyone will go back to their normal, insignificant lives.”

  “Did you just say insignificant?” I asked, folding up the paper.

  “Yes,” he frowned.

  “You’re still cranky cause I scared you.” I giggled again.

  “Piss off.” He said it slowly, making each syllable drag out. It made me giggle harder. Alex joined me.

  “I don’t think this is conducive to the type of composure we need for a funeral.” Anthony said after a few minutes.

  “Buzz kill,” I scorned. My mood instantly sobered though. I did have a funeral to attend. That was the crappy part of this job. We occasionally had trouble respecting the dead because we were giddy about being alive. I really was sad over Thomas, but I was happy to be alive, happy to be joking with those closest to my heart. Without warning, I stood up, grabbed Alex and pulled her into me. I held on for dear life. Sometimes, I forgot how much she meant to me. I felt my eyes start to mist up. Felt her stiffen. We were both fighting not to cry. She hugged me back and the tears came. We stood crying, holding each other. Everyone else stood stunned, unsure what to do. Me crying twice in one month was probably a record. Alex crying with me made it even more phenomenal.

  “Um, I missed something.” Sebastian whispered.

  “It’s a girl bonding thing, I think.” Anthony whispered back.

  “We can still hear you.” Alex spoke into my shoulder.

  “Don’t you guys have that one person that if they died, you’d miss them for the rest of your life?” I asked, looking up.

  It was very silent. You could almost hear the wheels in their heads turning as they struggled to come up with someone. Alex and I stopped embracing and stared at them.

  “Yes,” Liam finally said. “My little sister.”

  “Yeah, that would probably work for me too.” Vladik wrinkled his face. “Although, I can’t be certain that I feel that way all the time.”

  “Don’t you dare start crying again.” Zeke warned. “I hate it when you cry.”