MARRY YOUR KILLER
Chapter Twenty-Two: The Trigger
---
The study was quiet.
Too quiet.
Jay sat at the desk, her laptop open, her phone pressed to her ear. Mica was on the line, her voice flat, reading names and numbers that didn't add up. Keifer was beside her, his head bent over the map, his finger tracing a line from Manila to Singapore to somewhere else.
The key was in his pocket. The box was on the shelf. The contract was still folded inside, waiting.
"Meridian Group has seven subsidiaries," Mica said. "Three in Singapore. Two in Hong Kong. One in Macau. One in—" She stopped.
Jay waited. "One in where?"
Mica didn't answer. There was a sound on the other end of the line. A voice. Male. Familiar.
"Is that Calix?" Jay asked.
"No."
"Is he there?"
"He's here."
"Put him on."
Mica's voice was tight. "He's not here to talk to you."
The line went silent. Jay heard something else. A shuffle. A chair scraping. A voice rising.
"Give it back."
"Calix."
"Give it back. I was using that."
"You were using my laptop. Without asking. Again."
"I was—I was just—"
"You were going through my files. Again."
Jay sat up. She looked at Keifer. He was watching her now, his hand still on the map.
"I'm going to count to three," Mica said. "And if you're not out of my chair, I'm going to pull the trigger."
The line went very quiet.
Keifer's hand stopped moving. Percy appeared in the doorway, a sandwich in his hand, his mouth open. Ci N was behind him, his phone already recording.
Jay held up her hand. She listened.
"One," Mica said.
"Okay, okay. I'm moving. I'm moving. You don't have to—"
"Two."
"It's just data. I was just looking at—"
"Two and a half."
"I'm out. I'm out. Look. I'm standing. I'm standing. You can put the gun down now."
Mica's voice was flat. "I didn't say I was putting it down."
The line went silent again. Then Calix's voice, smaller now.
"You're not going to shoot me."
"I'm not?"
"You need me. For the money. For the accounts. For—"
"I can find another accountant."
"You can't find another me."
Mica was quiet for a moment. Then she spoke. Her voice was the same as always. Flat. Professional. Cold.
"You're right. I can't find another you. That's why you're still alive."
The line clicked. She had hung up.
Jay stared at the phone. Percy was laughing. Ci N was recording. Keifer had his hand over his mouth.
"She threatened to shoot him," Percy said. "With a gun. She said she would pull the trigger."
"She said she would count to three," Ci N said. "That's very polite. Most people don't give a warning."
"She gave him two and a half. That's generous."
Jay put the phone down. She looked at Keifer.
"Your friend," she said, "is going to get himself killed."
Keifer was still covering his mouth. His shoulders were shaking.
"My friend," he said, "is already dead. He just doesn't know it yet."
---
Calix appeared in the kitchen ten minutes later.
His face was pale. His hands were empty. He walked to the coffee maker, poured a cup, stood there staring at it.
Mica came in behind him. Her laptop was under her arm. Her face was calm. Her hands were steady. She didn't look at him. She sat at the table, opened her laptop, started typing.
Calix didn't move. He stood at the counter, his coffee growing cold, his eyes fixed on her.
"You threatened to shoot me," he said.
Mica didn't look up. "I threatened to pull the trigger. There's a difference."
"You had a gun."
"I always have a gun."
"You pointed it at me."
"I pointed it at your chest. If I wanted to point it at your face, I would have."
Calix stared at her. His mouth opened. Closed. Opened again.
"That's not better," he said.
"I didn't say it was better. I said it was different."
He walked to the table. He sat across from her. His coffee was forgotten on the counter.
"You were going to shoot me."
"I was going to count to three."
"And after three?"
She looked up. Her glasses were on her nose. Her eyes were sharp.
"You don't want to know."
Calix stared at her. Then he laughed. It was a surprised sound, something that escaped before he could stop it. He put his hand over his mouth. His shoulders were shaking.
"You're insane," he said.
"No. I'm organized."
"You're insane. You're the most insane person I've ever met."
Mica's fingers stopped typing. She looked at him.
"You went through my files. You touched my laptop. You sat in my chair. Without asking. For the fourth time this week."
"I was helping."
"You were snooping."
"I was curious."
"You're going to be dead."
Calix leaned forward. His face was close to hers. His smile was wide.
"If you were going to kill me," he said, "you would have done it the first time. Or the second time. Or the third time." He put his hand on the table. Close to hers. Not touching. "You're not going to kill me, Mica."
She looked at his hand. She looked at his face. Her face was calm. Her eyes were not.
"Keep annoying me," she said. "We'll find out."
---
Ci N was in the hallway, watching through the crack in the door.
He had his phone out. He had been recording since Mica said the word trigger. Felix was beside him, his face pressed against the wall.
"She's not going to kill him," Felix whispered.
"I know."
"He's going to keep annoying her."
"I know."
"She's going to keep letting him."
Ci N looked at his phone. The screen showed Mica and Calix at the table. She was typing again. He was watching her. His hand was still close to hers. She hadn't moved it away.
"This is going to be a long two years," Ci N said.
Felix looked at the screen. At the space between their hands. At the way Calix was looking at her. At the way she wasn't telling him to stop.
"Worth it," Felix said.
---
Jay found Mica in the study later.
She was alone. Her laptop was open. Her fingers were moving. Her face was calm.
Jay sat across from her.
"You threatened to shoot him," Jay said.
Mica didn't look up. "He went through my files."
"You've let him go through your files before."
Mica's fingers stopped. She looked at Jay. Her face was the same as always. Calm. Professional. Cold.
"He's annoying," Mica said.
"Yes."
"He's loud."
"Yes."
"He doesn't respect personal space."
"He sits in your chair."
"He sits in my chair."
Jay waited. Mica looked at her hands. Her fingers were still.
"He's also brilliant," Mica said. "He sees things I don't see. Connections I don't make. He found the link to Meridian Group in three hours. It took me three days."
Jay didn't speak.
"He's the only person I've ever met who can keep up with me," Mica said. "The only person who doesn't look at my screen and get lost. The only person who—" She stopped.
Jay waited.
"The only person who makes me want to be faster," Mica said. "Sharper. Better."
Jay smiled. "You like him."
Mica looked at her. Her face didn't change. But something shifted in her eyes.
"I'm going to kill him," she said.
"You're going to let him live."
"I'm going to think about killing him."
"You're going to let him sit in your chair again."
Mica stared at her for a long moment. Then she looked back at her screen. Her fingers started moving again.
"He's still annoying," she said.
Jay stood up. She walked to the door. She looked back.
"Mica," she said.
Mica looked up.
"Keep him alive. We need him."
Mica's fingers paused. Her eyes flicked toward the door, where Calix's voice was echoing from the kitchen, something about coffee, something about sugar, something about how no one appreciated him.
"For now," Mica said.
---
Calix was in the kitchen when Mica walked in.
He was making coffee again. He had made four cups already. He was on his fifth. His hands were shaking. His face was pale. He looked at her when she walked in. He didn't move.
Mica walked to the counter. She stood beside him. She reached past him for the sugar. Her arm brushed his. He didn't move.
"You're still here," she said.
"I live here now."
"You don't live here."
"I'm thinking about it."
She looked at him. His face was close. His eyes were bright.
"You're annoying," she said.
"I know."
"You're loud."
"I know."
"You don't respect personal space."
He smiled. "I'm working on it."
She looked at him for a long moment. Then she picked up the coffee cup he had made. She took a sip.
"It's cold," she said.
"I'll make another one."
"You've made five cups already."
"The sixth will be perfect."
She looked at his hands. They were still shaking.
"You're nervous," she said.
"No."
"You're shaking."
"I'm not shaking. I'm—" He stopped. He put his hands in his pockets.
Mica set down the cup. She turned to face him.
"I'm not going to shoot you," she said.
He looked at her. "You said you would pull the trigger."
"I said I would count to three. I didn't say what would happen after."
He stared at her. "What would have happened?"
She looked at his face. At the fear in his eyes. At the way he was standing, like he was ready to run.
"I don't know," she said.
She walked away. She didn't look back. But Calix stood in the kitchen for a long time, his hands in his pockets, his coffee cold, his face slowly breaking into a smile.
---
END OF CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO