Mai Tais for the Lost by Mia V. Moss

Author:Mia V. Moss
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-63023-065-4
Publisher: Underland Press
Published: 2022-04-23T16:27:27+00:00

I found myself once again at HabSec's central office; this time I sat in a swathe of black tulle and ten inch heels, my hands cuffed in front of me to a cold metal table in a maddeningly beige room. I'd already given my full statement to a staff officer and been subjected to a bot-administered lie detector test and cross-examination.

Just as I thought about alleviating my boredom through wordless screaming, Varsity pushed briskly through the door and straddled the chair across from me. He tossed a data tablet on the table and glared expectantly at me. Overhead, stark, cold lights flickered intermittently.

"What's the deal with the power lately?" I asked him conversationally. "Someone forget to pay the bills?"

Varsity ignored the question. He took a long pull from a vape and exhaled out the side of his mouth. He stared at me like I was an incomplete table puzzle and he was trying to figure out which piece had gone missing.

"Marrow, level with me. How many more times are we going to do this in the next, say, forty-eight hours? Two? Three? Are you stalking people now? You've always been a pain in my ass, but you've never been what I'd call unhinged."

I sighed, exhausted.

"Varsity, I'm telling you, I had a legitimate invitation to be at that party. Campari sent me a message this morning, something about wanting to make amends and clear the air. You and I disagree on a lot, but when have you ever known me to crash a party? That's just bad for business. I have a reputation among my clientele to uphold." He kept staring until I wanted to bang my face on the table just to have something more interesting to do than try to reason with him. "The doorman checked a list before admitting me! It was a clambake, for fuck's sake! You don't even know the time and place unless you're invited."

"Well, I wouldn't know anything about that." He wouldn't, and it probably ate him up inside that he would never get called out to one unless a body turned up. "And you just happened to be around when the woman you attacked in a bar fight goes full goldfish?"

I didn't have time for this. I had proof of invitation and no weapon on me, not to mention both myself and Campari had been surrounded by witnesses that could attest to my innocence. Varsity didn't have anything on me, and he knew it.

"It's late and I've given you my statement. So if you have no further questions, officer, I really have to get back to work."

"Let me see it."

"See what?"

"The fucking invite to the fucking party!"

I rolled my eyes and flicked the message file, forwarding it over from my com to his. As he reviewed it, I kept my eyes focused pointedly on the door. Varsity eventually let out a long-suffering sigh, looked up at me, and came around the table to unlock my cuffs.

"Alright, Nightingale, you're free to go for now. But this is a lot of heat and a lot of publicity.

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