Three Fates

unself-conscious hug. “It’s good to see you. We’ve got a fucking mess on our hands.”
    It took thirty minutes, and another beer, to bring him up to date.
    “I don’t see what business this Burdett has sticking his nose in it.” Malachi brooded into his second beer, then got up to pace. “It just adds another complication.”
    “If he hadn’t stuck his nose in, I wouldn’t know my phones are tapped, would I?” Tia rose, picked up the glass Malachi had set down and put a coaster under it.
    “He says they’re tapped.”
    “Why would he make it up? In any case, I went to see my father this morning and asked him about Jack. My father confirms who he is, and that he’s a serious collector. And the police detective vouched for him.”
    “You’re just pissed off because there’s another guy in the mix.” Cleo fluttered her lashes and took a sip of Gideon’s beer when Malachi turned to scowl at her. “It’s the testosterone thing, and nobody blames you for it. Tia, you got any cookies in here?”
    “Um, I think I have some sugarless wafers.”
    “Honey, we really need to talk. Life should never be about sugarless wafers. Now, before you climb up my ass,” she said to Malachi, “remember we’ve had a little more time to think about Burdett and his place in all this. He knows Anita,” she continued, ticking off the points on her fingers. “He knows security, and he’s interested in the Fates. We hope to sell mine, and the third when we get it. The way I see it, you’ve got two potential buyers now instead of one. We can have our own private auction.”
    “I might not like having another player in the game,” Gideon put in, “but it makes sense, Mal. Anita’s been tracking us right along. Could be this Burdett helps us with that end. And Tia’s father says how he’s got money, so we sell to him. I’d rather that than have any more dealings with that bitch Anita. Besides all this, I called Ma from the pay phone down the street to check in, and she’s met him. She trusts him, and that’s enough for me.”
    “I’ll decide that for myself. You said he left you a business card, Tia?” Malachi drummed his fingers on his thigh as he worked out the details in his mind. “I’ll ring him up and have a meeting with him, face-to-face. And if he’s such a bloody security expert, he can fix these damn phones so we’re not running down to a phone box every time we turn around.”
    “You need some carbs,” Cleo decided. “You got carbs around here, right?”
    “Ah . . .” Tia glanced nervously toward her kitchen. “Yes, I—”
    “Don’t worry. I’ll root around. I get pissy when my carbs are low,” she said sympathetically to Malachi.
    “I’m not being pissy.”
    She unfolded herself and walked over to pinch his cheeks. “Since we’re the ones you’re pissing on, handsome, we should know. You Sullivans don’t travel very well. Slick there was ragged out when we got here, too. You’re pretty, aren’t you?” She cocked her head. “You guys have some superior DNA.”
    She teased a laugh out of him. “You’re quite the package, aren’t you?”
    “Damn right. Hey, Tia, let’s just order some pizza. Couple larges with the works ought to do it.”
    “I don’t really eat—” She broke off when Cleo turned and gaped at her.
    “If you’re about to tell me you don’t eat pizza, I’m getting a gun and putting you out of your misery.”
    It didn’t seem the time to discuss fat grams, or the fact that she suspected she might be allergic to tomato sauce. “If the phones are tapped and I order two large pizzas, isn’t that going to seem strange to whoever’s listening since I’m supposed to be here alone?”
    “So, they’ll think you’re a greedy pig. Let’s live dangerously.”
    “And besides, I have a two o’clock lunch appointment, which I should be leaving for right now.”
    “Who are you meeting?” Malachi asked as she walked into the bedroom. “Tia?”
    “Bedroom’s off limits,” Gideon muttered before his brother could follow. “She’s very strict about it.”
    “She’s not acting like herself.” He jammed his hands in his pockets and frowned at the bedroom door. “I don’t know as I like it.”
    “Figuring on what’s been going on around here the past couple of days, you could cut her a break. She took us in,” Cleo reminded him. “She sure as hell didn’t have to. You messed with her head. Hold on.” She held up a hand when he spun around