Three Fates

keenest reader in the family, Malachi would have found pleasure in simply choosing a book and settling down with it in this palace of literature.
    He walked by where Gideon was, even now, sitting with his nose in a copy of To Kill a Mockingbird. Gideon turned a page in Scout’s lyrical narrative, signaling the go-ahead.
    They’d considered the fact that Anita would have had enough time to hire a replacement for Jasper. And that her temper might have pushed her to find someone willing to kill an unarmed man in a library.
    The odds were small enough, as she’d lose her best chance for the Fates. And though it was a risk Malachi was willing to take, the back of his neck prickled as he walked through the stacks.
    He found a quiet table, glanced idly around the area, his gaze passing over Rebecca’s head as she bent over her laptop nearby.
    Within twenty minutes, a pretty young page delivered his requested book. Then, Malachi settled down to wait.
     
     
    AT MORNINGSIDE, HAVING spent an hour reviewing security tapes provided by Burdett, Detective Lew Gilbert was already interviewing clerks regarding three particular items of inventory that had gone missing.
    Downtown, Jasper was angling for a deal with the DA.
    At the wheel of a van chugging through the rain and pissy traffic on Fifth, Cleo tapped her fingers to the Bare-naked Ladies and waited to give Tia her cue.
    Malachi heard the click of heels, caught the whiff of expensive scent and looked up from his book. “Hello, Anita. I’ve just been reading about my ladies. Fascinating females. Did you know they sing their prophesies? A kind of mythological girl group.”
    “Where are they?”
    “Oh, safe and sound. I beg your pardon, where are my manners?” He rose, pulled out a chair. “Sit down, won’t you? Such a wet day out, it makes a grand place like this almost cozy.”
    “I want to see them.” But she sat, crossed her legs, folded her hands. It would be business, she reminded herself. For now. “You can hardly think I’d pay your exorbitant fee without first examining the merchandise.”
    “You examined one of them before, and look where that got us. Right? You sent some very impolite men after my brother. I’m very fond of my brother.”
    “I only regret I didn’t send them after you, with less restrained orders.”
    “Well, live and learn. There was no need to have that friend of Cleo’s killed. He wasn’t involved.”
    “She involved him. It was business, Malachi. Just business.”
    “This isn’t The Godfather. Business, Anita, would have been meeting Cleo’s price for her Fate. If you had dealt squarely, you’d have it in hand right now. And perhaps even the third one. As it is, you’ve blood on your hands.”
    “Spare me the lecture.”
    “If you’d dealt squarely with me,” he continued, “instead of letting greed get in the way of good judgment, you’d have all three, for a fraction of what you’ll pay now. You started this thread, Anita, when you stole from me and my family.”
    “You wanted to get laid. I let you fuck me, then I fucked you over. No point in whining about it.”
    “Right you are. I’m just explaining to you why we’re sitting here as we are. Ten million. Have you made the arrangements?”
    “You’ll get the money, but not until I’ve seen the Fates. The transfer’s ready to go. Once I verify you have what you claim to have, I’ll call and put it through to your account.”
    “One more item of business before we start. Should you, after we complete the transaction, feel compelled to get some of your own back by bringing harm to any member of my family, to Cleo, to me, for that matter, take into consideration that I’ve documented everything. Everything, Anita, and have that documentation in a safe place.”
    “In the event of my untimely death?” She gave a short laugh. “How trite.”
    “Trite but true. You’ll get what you’ve earned for the money. And that will be that. Agreed?”
    A woman who had spent a dozen years married to a man who’d revolted her in bed and bored her out of it knew how to be patient. Patient enough, she thought, to wait years, if need be, to implement just the right sort of tragic accident.
    “I’m here, aren’t I? Let me see them.”
    He sat back and, keeping his eyes on hers, lifted a hand. Gideon walked over to the table, set a black briefcase between them.
    “I don’t believe you’ve actually met my brother. Gideon, Anita Gaye.”
    Anita laid a hand on