Queen crossed her arms. “Dee doesn’t understand men like you.”
“And you do?”
“Oh yes, I do,” Queen said. “You went to court, and you took one look at her and changed your mind,” Queen smirked. “She’s smart, rich, and beautiful, you see that. But she’s desperate. Especially in court, right? Desperate enough to be weak, right? You see that too. She hasn’t lived outside of this town and Massachusetts. She hasn’t lived outside of the world her parents put her in.” Queen began to pace. “You remember that movie where the little boy had this rare disease where he couldn’t touch the world. So his parents put him in a bubble and let him experience it under a protective shield. Do you remember? She was that kid.” Queen paused only to steady the wavering in her voice. “When we were ten, everything changed for us, and our parents dealt with it the best they could. Dee’s parents were different. They knew she was smart, brilliant, and they treated her smarts like a rare disease. Delilah became that boy in the bubble. Her mama only allowed two friends, and the three of us had to be supervised. Two friends who she would sneak into her house at night and take to dream about the future on the roof. A future where she would escape the bubble and take us with her. She taught us about galaxies, stars, and planets; she said we could board a spaceship and see one day. And after... after only two years... they took her for more tests and stopped her from dreaming with us. All of those tests made her feel like a freak. She was scared to disappoint them, and she was scared of the world because of Peter Collins.” Queen sighed; she looked weary from the release of a lot of heavy truths. “When she fought back, even a little, she was punished for having independent thoughts. Her mother pushed us away. So she worked on pleasing her mother so we could stay in her life. We needed Dee, and she needs us. The next thing that happened was a move that took her off to college and law school. Then she was married before the ink dried on all those diplomas she won as trophies for her family. She hasn’t lived any life but this. It’s not that we don’t talk, Maverick. It’s that we know so much about what happened we can’t talk.”
“That’s why she came to me. Because she wants someone different?” he asked.
Queen laughed. “You’re just like Charles. You’re no different.”
“Fuck her husband; he’s dead. I’m everything he isn’t.”
“All you see is what she can give you. She burned her life to the ground and chose you because she’s breaking out of her bubble. When she gets free, really free, she won’t want you either,” said Queen.
“And you?”
“What about me?” Queen asked.
“Will she want you?” Maverick asked. “Is that why you pulled the gun on me. To stop me from helping her change. Your best friend focuses on her, which means she won’t need to rescue you and Goodiva as much. Will she? She’ll want to be free of the past that you can’t talk about. But the past has never left you.”
The tough girl act still held. Maverick saw a dent in Queen’s armor from his arrows of truth. He understood that some bonds shared could never be severed. The hurt the three women went through was more profound than any normal childhood bond. He’d seen it before with the cadets he took into his task force. Camille and the others started out wanting to be heroic and outstanding officers. In the end, the violence of the streets gave them too much trauma. They formed a bond and rewrote the rules. The squad protected each other no matter what. It was a shared crisis. For the ladies, they were in crisis control mode. Now one of them was missing, and the other one was rebelling. Queen most likely was the sensible one to bring it all together. The one determined to hold it all together.
“I can help you find your friend,” he began. “But I’m not backing down. We can go in that house together and tell Delilah everything. And even then, I’m not backing down.”
“This is all lies,” Queen said. She bent and picked up the satchel to remove the documents and spread the papers across the table. She started to read through them. She picked up one document and frowned at it, and then another. Eventually, she glanced back over at him. “You never read this?”
“I swear on my dead wife, I never looked at a single page,” he said.
“You’re a good detective Maverick,” she mumbled.
“Am I?”
“You played me well. Got me to tell you enough to confirm that we have a secret. Right? All the while, you knew our secret, damn,” Queen said.
“I’m not here to bust you or your secrets,” Maverick said.
“Oh, I believe you when you say you aren’t part of this,” Queen said.
“Why?” he asked.
“Because this information in this folder could have given you enough to grant you custodial visitation before the custody hearing. Instead, you took her offer. You came here. You didn’t have to play this game. So that means you’re telling me the truth.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” he said with a sardonic smile.
“But you want to know what I know?” Queen continued. “Armand Al Jabaar is very dangerous. He lured my friend into Mayfair for a job interview, and only a day or two after that, she disappeared. Her psychiatrist in New York is dead because he helped spring that trap. I have a recorded conversation between the dead doctor and Jaxon Price that proves they knew each other. The doctor was hired to trick Goodiva into moving back to Falcon Cove from Africa. She’s in danger because she has a secret Maverick. More personal to Jaxon Price than the one from our childhood. A secret that destroyed his life. Goodiva’s Secret started all of this.”
Maverick wiped his hand down his face. The women were far more complicated than he imagined.
“I think you may be attracted to Delilah and might even have developed feelings for her. But you won’t protect her from these people. I will,” Queen told him.
“Have you talked to her? Let her explain what is going on between us?” Maverick asked.
“You said it. We don’t talk. Not like that. Delilah shuts down. And I go for my gun.” Queen shrugged.
“She’s not pushing you away. She’s just focusing on her. That’s something you said you want for her. Right?” Maverick reminded her.
“I suppose. Look, I’m sorry,” Queen said. “For coming here with a gun. I was wrong. These people are using you, using all of us. I can see that now.”
“These Scorpions?” Maverick asked.
“Yes. I don’t know what trouble Goodiva is in, but I plan to find out.”
“What else can I do?” Maverick asked.
She looked him over. “Don’t tell Delilah any of this. Let’s work together, but we don’t bring her in until I say so.”
“Why?”
“She’s going through a lot. She loves Goodiva; she starts to believe that she is trapped in that place she will charge up that mountain herself to get her out. Trust me, this town scandal will blow over in her mind, and Goodiva will be her focus. We can hold onto this until we need to share it with her. I’ll take what we have on Armand to my contacts in the government. I’m sure they already know; maybe the fact that Armand is really in this deep and willing to come to the Cove will get them to act sooner.”