Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?

half-brothers.
    Mutt frowned. ‘Because the school called. They tried to get in touch with you, but you were AWOL, so they called me since you put me as an emergency contact.’
    Mitch’s heart stuttered. ‘Why? What’s wrong?’
    ‘Cole didn’t show up to school today. He’s skipped nine of the last ten days. They’ve called the house and sent home letters. Cole’s about to get expelled. I drove out to see if something was wrong, like you guys had food poisoning or something.’
    Expelled? Hell . ‘And? Did you find him?’
    ‘Yep. He was in the basement. I sent him to his room.’
    Mitch’s shoulders slumped in relief as anger boiled in his gut. His youngest brother had become a real problem recently, finding every way possible to keep from going to school. I’m glad he’s okay, because I’m gonna kill him .
    But of course he never would. But he would take every privilege his little brother still had. Which wasn’t many.
    ‘The school never called me.’ Mitch patted his pockets for his cell phones. He kept four – two throwaways he used to communicate with the Millhouses and Beckett respectively and one he used to communicate with Mutt about deliveries. The fourth was the number he gave to Cole and to the middle school. He found the right phone, then glared at the display. ‘Battery’s dead.’ Then he realized what Mutt had said. ‘Cole was in the basement? Why?’
    Mitch kept stuff in the basement. Important stuff. Like cash. Guns. And as of last night, Pamela MacGregor, Kim’s little sister who was now his leverage.
    Mutt pointed to the TV in the corner. ‘Damn, would you look at that?’
    Mitch looked up and saw that Mutt was watching the very thing he wanted to see. ‘What’s happening?’ Mitch asked, very aware Mutt had dodged his question about Cole and the basement. He’d come back to it later.
    ‘It’s that damn jury verdict on the Millhouse case,’ Mutt said. ‘I’ve got an appointment downtown and I wanted to be sure there was no riot in the streets.’
    ‘Is there?’
    ‘Not yet. Jury found the little bastard guilty. But the real excitement was what happened after. The killer knifed a cop and his mom attacked the prosecutor. There was a brawl in the courtroom while the Millhouse kid tried to escape.’
    So the Millhouses’ plan B actually worked? Oh . My . God . ‘Did he get away?’
    ‘Nah,’ Mutt said, ‘but I gather it was touch and go for a minute. Kid’s a fucking psycho. At least two people have been taken to area hospitals.’
    His heart did another stutter, dip, and roll. ‘What about the prosecutor?’
    ‘Not clear yet. There’s supposed to be a press conference in a few minutes.’
    If Daphne was badly injured, I’ll kill every last Millhouse I can find .
    Pouring himself some cereal, Mitch sat next to Mutt and pointed to his brother’s laptop. ‘What’s that?’ he asked, even though he knew.
    ‘I’m doing the books,’ Mutt said. ‘Figured I’d keep busy while I waited for you to get your ass home.’
    ‘Well, I’m home now,’ Mitch said blandly. ‘Need any help with that?’
    Mutt rolled his eyes. ‘As if. You can’t even balance your own checkbook.’
    That Mitch couldn’t balance his own checkbook was not true. He did his own personal accounting, he just didn’t advertise it. It was better to let your adversaries believe you were stupid and technically challenged. It made them less careful around you – after all, what harm could you do with a P&L statement or a page of passwords?
    Mitch shrugged. ‘Guilty as charged.’
    ‘You need an accountant, Mitch,’ Mutt said, serious now. ‘I found your stash of cash in the root cellar when I was looking for Cole. You can’t just leave that kind of money lying around. Anybody could come in and steal it.’
    Mitch narrowed his eyes. ‘Wait. How did you get in? I never gave you a key.’
    ‘The back door was unlocked. I just walked in.’
    Mitch ground his teeth. Cole . ‘Damn that boy. Where’s your car?’
    ‘I parked around back. Didn’t want Cole to know I was here in case he was up to no good. I’m serious about that money, Mitch. I knew you’d pulled some from that last job in Florida, but I had no idea you just had it lying around. You’ve got to have a couple hundred thousand down there, just piled up in plastic storage tubs.’
    There was three times that, actually. Most of it was in the basement room where he’d hidden Pamela. The money was what he’d been able to