Abruptly, she spun around and stalked back to her kitchen.
The Muppet went back to their conversation as if her sister hadn’t interrupted. “However, our father is being hunted by most of our family. Chances are very high he may be caught soon and quickly killed.”
“What about our sister? That just puts her in more danger.”
“If one of our family catches up with Freddy, you won’t have to worry. They’re not going to kill a pup.”
“Cub.”
“Whatever. They’ll probably just leave her there. With the body.”
“What the hell does—”
“And you know what else?” Charlie MacKilligan demanded as she stalked back into the room with a muffin pan, each cup filled with batter. He’d never seen anyone make batter that fast before. His mother baked muffins but she took way longer.
“I should have killed him when I had the chance,” she continued. “When I was, like, nine, I had the chance to take him out. Thought about it, too. But my mother took the knife out of my hand and told me I shouldn’t kill my own father. She said it was wrong. Morally. But you know what? I think she was wrong. I think I absolutely should have killed my own father. I should have! I really should have!”
And off again she went, back to her kitchen.
“I’ll put the word out with the family, though,” the Muppet said, still not freaked out by any of that muffin-baking rage. “Let them know about your sister and that she is to be brought in alive and unsoiled.”
“Wait . . . what?”
“Don’t panic. My male cousins aren’t that bad and my female cousins wouldn’t let them get away with it, anyway.”
Charlie MacKilligan returned again. This time she had a tray of freshly baked muffins.
“Blueberry?” she asked.
Completely freaked out, Keane stepped away from her. “How did you make those so fast?”
She shrugged. “These just came out of the oven. I’ve been baking all morning.” She jerked her thumb toward the windows. “I’ve got bears to feed.”
“Oh, shit!” Shay barked as Finn hissed in warning at the bears standing outside the windows gazing in.
“And just so you know,” Charlie MacKilligan said, her voice now calm again, rational, “if you’d hurt me or my sisters, those bears would have torn all of you apart. Just FYI, if you decide to come back here without an invitation. But you know what?” She handed Keane a giant blueberry muffin. “You and I understand each other perfectly. You hate Freddy MacKilligan. I hate Freddy MacKilligan. You won’t let him harm your sister. I won’t let him harm my sisters. My God, it’s like we’re twins.”
She motioned to the muffin. “Go ahead. Try it.”
Keane glanced at the Muppet, but all she did was shrug noncommittally.
He went ahead and bit into the top. After a few seconds of chewing, Keane couldn’t help but grunt a little in appreciation.
“I know, right?” MacKilligan agreed as if he’d set off fireworks and written a five-star review. “They are great! I don’t have a lot of skills, but the few I do, I’ve made sure to master.”
* * *
Max walked the Malones out to their car. She wanted to see them get into their vehicle and drive away.
“Next time, boys, if you want to come by, you should call or something. We’re not a family you want to sneak up on.”
“Our sister—”
“If we hear anything, we’ll let you know. I promise.”
The cat nodded and opened the passenger door. He was about to get in when Max asked, “Quick question: so you’re not related to Cella Malone? Because I know her already and she could probably help with this.”
“We don’t deal with that side of the family,” one of the brothers said. And the bitterness in his voice . . . damn.
“Got it.”
Without another word said, the brothers got into their giant SUV and drove away.
Once they were gone, Max dropped her head back and let the sun warm her face for a bit. It felt like things were spiraling out of control but she refused to panic.
“Hey,” she said, when she sensed Zé standing behind her.
“Hey. I need to go out.”
“Just grab a set of car keys from the table by the door and go for it.”
“Want to come with me?”
Max faced him. “Where you going?”
“The city to meet with Kamatsu. I’ve got to come up with something to tell her, thought you could keep me from putting my foot in my mouth about all this. Unless you need to stay here.”
“So I can listen to my big sister rant for the next four hours about how shitty our father is because he’s now kidnapping underage deaf girls? Which, by the way, I don’t want to discuss again.”
“Where’s that big bear of hers? Can’t he listen to her complain?”
“He’s on a job with his triplets. But he’ll be back later. Can you wait for me to shower?”
“Sure. I need a shower, too.”
He reached out and Max’s first instinct was to rear back because when people usually reached out for her, it was to punch her in the face. But she stopped herself in time and Zé placed his hand against her cheek. Big fingers slid along her jaw. His touch was gentle but she knew from last night that it didn’t have to be.
“Sorry you had such a shitty start to your day,” he murmured, still stroking her face.
“Sorry you had to experience the Freddy Effect. People come into our orbit and they are tragically swept into the gravitational pull of his idiocy.”
“Don’t sweat it. We’ve all got family members that make us want to go back in time to destroy that particular bloodline.”
Max laughed and stepped around Zé, but she stopped and added, “By the way . . . smaller cats don’t usually fuck with bigger ones. It’s a tiny matter of survival.”
“You fucked with ’em.”
“Of course I did. I’m not a cat. I’m a fuckin’ honey badger and by this claw”—she held her hand up—“I fuckin’ rule.”
chapter NINETEEN
Zé walked into Starbucks and saw Kamatsu sitting at a table, no doubt nursing one of her herbal teas.
“You want anything?” Max asked, motioning to the counter.
“Regular coffee,” he said.
“Okay.” She caught his arm before he could move off. “And don’t forget that whatever lie you tell is for the safety of others.”
“Right. I can do this.”
“You can do this.”
By the time he was heading directly to her table, Kamatsu had already spotted him. Neither of them liked to sit with their backs to the door. Wisely, she’d grabbed a round table that allowed them to sit on either side and monitor the activity around them.
Kamatsu grinned when she saw him, standing up and giving him a hug. “I’m so glad to see you.”
“I’m glad to see you, too.”
They sat down opposite each other and Kamatsu’s smile instantly faded.
“What the fuck’s going on?” she practically snarled at him, keeping her voice low so she couldn’t be heard by others over the piped-in music. “I thought you were dead. Where have you been all this time? What happened to your phone? And who was that guy who came to David’s office and took the report?”