Page 7 of Diamonds (Aces Underground #2)

ALISSA

M um got her way. I’m not going to Northwestern.

Not this semester, anyway. I’ve deferred.

Her untimely death made sure of that.

We put together a nice funeral on a budget.

Correction. I put together a nice funeral on a budget.

Dad was already phoning his life in pretty hard the last few months, and he’s only become more distant since Mum died. He’s barely spoken a word since…

Since…

I can’t think about it.

I push the memory to the back of my head.

Like Mum would have wanted. Everything tidy and clean, in its proper place.

The church is outfitted in lilies, of course. I was able to negotiate a good deal with our local florist. We cremated Mum’s body and got her a nice urn. White with gold trim, a single heart on its obverse with her name engraved in it.

Her body was in no shape to be on display today, after all.

No. I’m not letting myself think of that.

I couldn’t help a macabre grin when we received her ashes, despite everything she put us through in the end.

Mum spent her whole life avoiding dust, just to become dust herself.

* * *

Maddox pumps the brakes hard, pulling me out of my thoughts. I jerk forward, and the seatbelt digs into my right shoulder.

“Maddox, what the fuck?”

He grips the steering wheel, his knuckles white as snow. “I think we just passed a cop.”

“Oh, Christ. You’re kidding.”

But he isn’t. Red and blue lights stream through the rear window of my car.

Maddox pounds a fist against my dash. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. ”

“I told you to stop driving so erratically.”

He glares at me as he pulls the car over. “Not the fucking time.” He puts the car into park. “We have to play this cool. I really don’t need to explain to this cop why we have a severed human head in the back seat.”

The cop pulls up behind us and exits his vehicle, slowly walking up to the driver-side window. He knocks gently on the glass.

Maddox rolls down the window. “Yes, Officer?”

The cop leans down, frowning at Maddox. “Do you have any idea how fast you were going, sir?”

Maddox doesn’t respond.

He doesn’t want to admit fault. But I’d much rather he admit fault to speeding so we can just get this bloody over with. If he gives this police officer a hard time, he might think we’re hiding something.

Which we very much are.

And if Rouge owns the chief of police, then we’ll get saddled with May’s death.

My heart throbs, but I do my best to keep a cool head.

The cop narrows his eyes. “Did you hear me?”

“I did, Officer.”

He looks us up and down. He’s got a thick mustache and a round face, and I can see from his badge that his last name is Brillig.

Officer Brillig sighs. “License and registration, please.”

Maddox grabs his wallet and eyes me.

I reach into the glove compartment. “It’s my vehicle, Officer. I have the registration.”

I pull out the car’s registration and give it to Maddox, who hands it and his license to the cop.

Brillig’s eyebrows raise. “Maddox Hathaway? The Maddox Hathaway?”

I purse my lips. This isn’t the first time someone has recognized Maddox’s name. My neighbor, Mrs. Tulgey, seemed to think she knew him from somewhere. He mentioned growing up in the spotlight. Was he a local celebrity or something in the past?

Maddox nods. “The one and only, I’m afraid.”

The cop furrows his brow, and he looks like he wants to say something more, but he returns to his vehicle.

“Maddox,” I whisper. “Why did he ask if you were the Maddox Hathaway? Is there something you haven’t told me?”

He runs his hands through his hair. “Christ, Alissa. We’ve only been out a couple of times. Am I supposed to have given you my entire family history by now?”

I swallow. “No.”

He takes a deep breath in through his nose and exhales through his mouth. “Sorry. I’m not trying to snap at you. Yes, there’s a reason the cop recognized my name. I’ll be happy to give you a full rundown once we get our friend in the back seat taken care of.”

My lip quivers. “I’m sorry. I suppose it feels like we’ve been on more than a few dates by now.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. These aren’t exactly normal circumstances.” He looks back. “But keep it cool. The cop is coming back.”

The cop returns, a citation in hand. “You were going sixty-five miles per hour, Mr. Hathaway. The speed limit is thirty.”

“Is that so?” Maddox asks.

God, I want to punch him in the shoulder. Just take the ticket and go, Maddox.

The cop looks in the car and gives me a slight smile. “Ma’am.”

“Officer,” I respond.

He redirects his eyes to Maddox. “This your wife?”

“Girlfriend, Officer.”

Normally the thought of Maddox Hathaway referring to me as his girlfriend would fill my entire body with fireworks, but, given the circumstances, I don’t react to his words.

“Your girlfriend’s registration is expired, Mr. Hathaway. I’m afraid I’ve had to write you a second citation for that as well.”

I’m not sure why Officer Brillig is telling this to Maddox and not to me, but I lean toward the driver’s side. “I apologize, Officer. You can give me the expired registration ticket.”

“I’m afraid it’s the responsibility of the driver to ensure that the vehicle he is driving is up to date on its registration, so the ticket will still be made out to him, Miss…”

“Maravilla. Alissa Maravilla.”

He squints his eyes. “Pretty name.”

“Thank you.”

“If you would like to reimburse your boyfriend for the cost of the ticket, that is absolutely your prerogative.” Officer Brillig points to Maddox’s name on the citation. “However, the citation will still be made in his name.”

Maddox takes the ticket. “It’s fine. Thank you, Officer.” He looks over at me. “And you don’t have to pay me back, Alissa. Just get your registration renewed.”

I blink. “Of course.”

Maddox turns back to the cop. “Will that be all, Officer?”

Officer Brillig lifts his head as if to nod, but then he peers into the back seat.

Looks right at the hatbox.

“Bit late to be shopping, isn’t it?”

Maddox widens his eyes. “We bought something earlier today and left it in the car. Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, after all. I thought a nice hat would be a great gift for Alissa.”

The cop narrows his eyes, keeping them fixed on the hatbox. “Looks expensive. You wouldn’t want to leave that in the car overnight. People might break in and steal it.”

“Excellent point, Officer,” Maddox says. “If that’s all?—”

“If I may ask, why are you driving this late at night?”

Maddox opens his mouth, but no words come out.

Looks like it’s up to me to stick the landing. I utter the first words that pop into my head.

“I’m pregnant,” I say. “I’ve been suffering from terrible morning sickness. Driving around in the car helps to settle my stomach.”

Officer Brillig looks at his watch. “But it’s nearly three in the morning.”

“Do you have kids, Officer?” Maddox asks.

He glowers at Maddox for a moment before saying, “Yes.”

“Then you know morning sickness can hit a woman at any time. For my wife here, it gets to be terrible in the middle of the night.”

Officer Brillig raises his eyebrows. “I thought you said she was your girlfriend.”

Maddox sputters for a second.

“We’re engaged, Officer. We’re going to go to the courthouse to get married this weekend, on account of the baby.” I pat my stomach. “My fiancé has been referring to me as his wife since we made the decision.”

Officer Brillig scratches his chin, a scowl forming under his thick mustache. He rakes his gaze over me. “I don’t see a ring.”

“We left it at home,” I retort. “Like you said, it’s late at night. I like to keep it locked up while I’m sleeping. Seemed like it would be foolish to have it on while we roam the Chicago streets at this hour.”

“Speaking of which, Officer, my girlfriend really should be getting her rest,” Maddox says. “Are you detaining us, or are we free to go?”

Officer Brillig lifts a hand, glaring at Maddox’s fingernails. “Have you been digging for treasure, son? Your nails are filthy.”

The muscles in Maddox’s neck tighten, but he keeps a cool head. “Gardening. My girlfriend’s friend, Dinah. We were helping her in her garden this afternoon, after we went shopping.”

“There are two shovels in the trunk if you’d like to see them,” I add.

He crosses his arms. “Gardening? In winter?”

“She has a greenhouse,” I say. “I’m happy to give you her address and you can see for yourself. She’ll vouch for us.”

Officer Brillig looks at Maddox, and then at me, and then back at Maddox. The wrinkles in his forehead are creased.

But finally, he extends an arm toward the street. “You’re free to go. That ticket is due within thirty days unless you’d like to go to court.”

“Much appreciated, Officer.”

“Take your girlfriend, or fiancée, or wife—whatever you call her—home. She needs her rest. She doesn’t need to be wandering the streets of Chicago in the middle of the night.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” I say. “It’s my fault. I’ll ask my doctor about some nausea medication.”

“A much sounder idea.” Officer Brillig tips his cap. “Evening.”

He walks slowly back to his car, and Maddox rolls the window up.

I let out a breath as I will my heart to stop pounding. “Fuck, Maddox. I hated every minute of that.”

He wipes a few beads of sweat off his brow. “So did I.”

“I don’t think he was convinced by our story.”

He rubs at the back of his neck. “I don’t think so, either. But he let us off. You okay?”

I swallow. “Just get us to that coroner. And Maddox?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Go the bloody speed limit the rest of the way.”