Cindrac - Mikayla Lane Page 0,100
to a drawer next to the sink, Cin grabbed the corkscrew and opened it. He set it on the counter to let it breathe and went back to the cabinet to retrieve a bold, dry red for himself.
With both bottles breathing on the counter, Cin went through the fridge and set a dozen items beside the wine. There was such a bizarre assembly of food that Lanie couldn’t begin to imagine what Cin thought to make with it all.
Twenty minutes later, they were sitting across the counter from one another sipping wine and eating half a dozen different hors d’oeuvres. Cin was joking with her about her music tastes when a warning went off in his head.
“The Sheriff is coming,” Cin warned her. “Don’t worry. We’re not in any trouble. He just wants to check on things and tell us the FBI, ATF, media, and just about everyone else is finally leaving town.”
Lanie smiled sadly and shook her head. “It’s got to suck, never being surprised by anything.”
Cin headed to the front door. “When every second of your existence is watched and ruled by someone else, the knowledge of what’s happening, and the power to change it is awe-inspiring.”
Lanie was trying to think of what it must have been like for Cindrac when the sheriff came barreling through the front door and into the kitchen. Seeing the two wine bottles, Robbie grabbed the red and chugged it down.
Cin closed the door and returned to the bar in time to see Robbie finish the bottle and set it down. Leaning both hands against the counter, Robbie glared at Cin.
“You’re gonna kill me,” Robbie accused half-heartedly. “The feds are all leaving, and we dodged a damn nightmare. What the hell were you thinking, killing a sitting Senator and her whole fucking family?” Robbie waved his hand to silence Cin. “Don’t give me the valves shit, which is another cluster fuck to deal with. And as beautiful as your girl is, no offense Lanie, she’s not it either. What the hell is going on?”
Lanie was sitting between the two men and slowly moved closer to the wall, taking her wine glass and bottle. She took a sip and looked at Cin over the rim to see what he would do or say.
Cin sighed and went into the kitchen, going straight to the liquor cabinet. “Robbie, there’s so damn much I can’t tell you. And before you flip out, I say that to protect you and this town. If it makes you feel better about what I did, I can show you the proof of the Senator and her family's extensive links to human and drug trafficking, collusion with foreign governments, and a plethora of other offenses that would never make the national news. Justice would have never been served.”
Robbie looked sick to his stomach and stared at the floor for a minute. “Cin, I don’t doubt what you have on them. The Senator was a nationally hated woman and her corrupt family as well. The problem is this whole mercenary shit you got going on in the middle of my damn town!”
Lanie snorted and shook her head, causing both men to look at her.
“What?” Lanie asked. “That’s the problem right now. Everyone saying ‘not my town.’ Whose town is good enough or bad enough for it to happen in? Who else would you wish this on?”
Neither man spoke, Cin from shock and the Sheriff from embarrassment.
Lanie looked at Robbie. “Cin and his mercenary ways aren’t the problems here. The problem is there isn’t more of him. We need more digital and citizen heroes these days. From all over the damn world, not just in America.”
Robbie threw his hands in the air, then grabbed the bottle of wine Cin pulled from the cabinet. “Great, now I got two of you here!”
Cin got another bottle from the cabinet and patted Robbie on the shoulder with his other hand. “The feds are gone, the situation is over, and I have no intention of ever doing anything similar in this town again.”
“He only did it for me,” Lanie interjected, smiling at Cin, who sat beside her at the counter.
“The biggest issue you have right now is those valves,” Cin stated, hoping to change the subject. “We’re near winter, and they all have to come out.”
Robbie ran a hand down his face then took a swig of the wine. “I know. Our city engineers verified the degradation of the metal with the ATF and other feds. We got