Page 9 of Mimosa (Murphy's Pub #2)

Chapter Nine

Mims smiled despite the pain. “Ditto,” he managed to eke out. “Let’s do it again.”

Mims walked into the pub at six that morning, disheveled with his shoes tucked under his arm.

Haze was waiting for him like a worried parent. “Where were you?”

“If I have to tell you, then you really don’t understand the birds and bees.”

Haze was sitting at one of the tables near the kitchen, and Mims could tell he’d barely slept, if he slept at all. He sat with him, grabbing his hand. “I like him, Haze. I like really like him a lot.”

“You don’t know him, Mims. You are always falling too fast! And you get hurt every time.”

It was true. Mims fell too fast, and he jumped into bed with men too fast, but it felt different. Haze would never understand that. “If…okay if this doesn’t work, it will hurt, yeah. But, Haze, I know, okay? I already know that. And for right now, it’s fun, it’s exciting, and it’s also helping us out and the cops to bust these really bad people.”

“Shh. Not out of the room, remember?”

“Right. Sorry. But you see what I mean?”

“I do, but I’m worried about you. This all could end really bad.”

“Yeah, but I’m having fun while it lasts, and, okay, if you’d stop hating him for two minutes, can I tell you something?”

Haze glared, but nodded.

“He’s the first one that broke through my need for this old man to replace my father. I really hoped that would count for something.”

Haze pulled him until he was up, then moving onto Haze’s lap. “It counts a lot, babe. I just know that your family hurt you enough. If some guy does, it’s going to tear me up.”

“I love you, you know?”

“I love you, too. That’s why I’m worried.”

“I like that you worry, but I’m okay. I’m not totally helpless.”

Haze kissed his cheek. “You smell like dick.”

“Maybe because I got dick last night.”

“Cop dick. Gross. Go shower and meet us in the basement.”

“What’s up?”

“Things are moving on Maxfield.”

Mims forgot everything else. “No shit?”

“It was your program that caught it. I went in to check and there it was, flashing on the screen. You did it again, baby.”

Mims hopped up and started for the door. “Let’s go!”

“Shower first! You reek!”

“Right,” he said, laughing. “I’ll be down soon then.”

After a shower and change of clothes, Mims started to head down the stairs, but Abs was waiting for him on the main floor landing. Abs, however, was much different than Haze. He was smiling. “So?”

“So…we had a great time.”

Abs giggled and grabbed his arms. “Tell me everything, but not now. Murphy wants to get this painting done, and there’s a reason.”

“Reason?”

“I’ll have him tell everyone.”

Once they were in the meeting room, the secret door shut behind them. Murphy smiled at all of them, and he was ready to burst with the news.

“Some of you know, we now know who bought the painting, and what’s better, he’s a real douche. He’s such a douche that he thinks he’s well protected. Goldie is already planning to stake it out for security, and Haze is plotting out the way to get it. Mims, we need confirmation, and there are fourteen cameras around this place, or that’s what Goldie counted on a quick count. We can’t get a lot done today, as tonight is a weekend, but starting Monday morning, we’re getting ready to get this painting by Thursday.”

“What’s the rush?” Mims asked him.

Cosmo was the one to answer, “There’s a family here, and they just had a fire. They were pretty poor, and they didn’t have renter’s insurance. They lost everything. We’re going to buy them a home.”

Mims barked a laugh. “A home? Really? That’s…incredible!”

Cosmo preened, “Yeah. It’s exactly what I wanted to do, help people. Plus, we can give twenty thousand to the local shelter and that would help them for almost a year.”

“I’m in. Where is the painting?”

“It’s all on the screen, and we need you to hammer out the details. You have a few hours today, if you wanted to start, but if not, like I said, we’re getting this done by Thursday.”

“What about the fence?”

Haze told him, “I know an underground art gallery that will take it for full price. They’ll take a hefty commission, so they’re all for it. Totally skip anyone here where the BBC can fuck us over.”

“I’m starting now,” he said as he got up from his seat. “Are we done?”

“Yeah, Mims. Work with Goldie and Haze to chart a way in and then find the security system, and get Abs the information so he can be sure to get past it, once we head over there.”

“On all of it.”

In the next room, his computer was set up the way he’d done it years before. Every six months or so, he upgraded the software and some of the hardware to assure he had the best running systems available.

Setting his fingers tenderly on the keys, Mims felt at home. Sure, he loved his found family, but before them, he’d found a home on screens.

An escape from tension, from pointed fingers, from being pushed to be things he could never be. Like going into rooms to hide from monsters, that was how the computer made him feel. Rooms with blankets to keep him warm, with boyfriends to keep him from being lonely, from friends that were outcasts like him.

The lights, the movement, the speed of the thing. If one place didn’t comfort him, he could be in an entirely different place in less than a second.

Code was easy for him. People, well, they were hard, but computer code was a simple form of expression that was comfortable, whereas dealing with people, generally, was not.

As his finger flew over the keys, he calmed into a state of pure serenity. The familiarity of it made him relax, and he soon had the optics for the entire area surrounding the home where the Maxfield Parrish painting currently resided.

Sure enough, an upscale neighborhood, mostly modern designs for the homes, gated, security guards on duty twenty-four/seven.

Cameras were everywhere, much more than the fourteen that were obvious on light poles and at stop lights.

Haze sat with him and Abs stood behind him almost the second he found the many feeds. “These are all on normal frequency, but I am getting three that aren’t. They’re not at the house where the painting is, but next door, the house to the left.”

“We just avoid that house then,” Haze reasoned.

“Yes, and I think the back would be the best way to get inside, Haze, so if you can get the blueprints, I can confirm that and help you track a way inside and to get out too.”

“What about security systems?” Goldie asked.

Typing the perimeters, he saw that the community all used the same security systems, as they were included in the purchase of the homes. “Trifecta Security, Inc.”

“We’ve dealt with them before,” Abs said. “They are pretty easy to bypass, unless he’s got a backup.”

Mims didn’t see one, but that meant little. “I’ll start a search into the owner’s finances. If he added a second, third or whatever, I’ll find it by the time we go to work tonight.”

“You’re the best,” Goldie said and then left to get some sleep before the shift that night. Abs sat in the other chair after Haze left to get sleep as well.

“So?”

“He’s…God, Abs, he’s perfect.”

“No one’s perfect, but I know what you mean. Do you really like him?”

Mims sat back in the chair and smiled dreamily. “He’s no pushover. He’s tough, and he’s strict.”

“Oh, god, perfect for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“Strict daddy, even if he’s too young to be a technical daddy to you.”

“Wow, yeah, I guess you’re right. The way he fucks, I’m gonna feel it for days. It was great. Everything about him is great and he’s gonna break the fuck out of my heart.”

Abs whispered, “Not if you don’t let him.”

“How can I stop him, if he wants to boot me after all this undercover stuff is over?”

“Make sure he falls for you like you’re already falling for him. That’s all.”

“That’s all, he says. Great, Abs, well that’s easy enough!”

“Why do you do that? Think that he couldn’t possibly fall for you?”

Mims shrugged and said simply, “My history.”

Abs kissed his cheek. “I love you. I know a building full of great people that love you. Maybe remember that,” he said as he started to leave, but called back, “Get some sleep or you’re gonna be shit tonight!”

“ Get to work, go to sleep . Seems like everyone wants to tell me what to do.”

After setting the computer to work on autopilot for a bit, Mims made it to his bedroom just in time to get a call from Sonny. He smiled as he answered, “Hello.”

“Hey. I was hoping you wouldn’t be asleep yet. Just wanted to say…I don’t know. Goodnight?”

“I was just getting ready for bed and thinking about you. Will you be here tonight?”

“Wouldn’t miss it. Besides, I guess for it to look good, I should be. But…that’s not the only reason I’ll be there. You know?”

“I know. At least, I hope. Goodnight, Sonny.”