I was at a complete loss. “What do I do then?”
“You have surgery. You come home. You let me take care of you and heal. Then we figure it out together.”
It made me smile. I rolled over and gave her a hug.
“M? rakastan sinua,” she said.
Her Finnish was getting better all the time. “I love you, too. I’m sorry about your job.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
She took Anu from her crib, brought her into the bed with us, and we all took a nap together.
6
That evening, Milo and Sweetness came over for a planning session. I wouldn’t see them again until after my surgery. I asked them here to issue edicts, to make everything clear. When I was back in action, working under the assumption that I would be, I wanted everything running smoothly.
They sat at the dining room table. Katt perched on my shoulder. Kate sat on the couch breast-feeding Anu, her back to us. I didn’t ask her for privacy during the meeting, in the spirit of my new policy of honesty.
Milo and Sweetness showed up wearing thousand-euro suits. “Plans for the evening?” I asked.
“Yep,” Milo said. “We’re going out for a night on the town, beginning with the casino. I have a feeling Lady Fortune is with us.”
“Nice suits,” I said.
Sweetness said, “I’ve never had one before. Milo helped me pick it out. It’s a Hugo Boss. They don’t make them in my size and they had a hard time altering it. Do you think they did a good job?”
“You look great,” I said and meant it, “but you can’t go to the casino.”
Automatic, Milo went angry and defensive. The dark circles under his eyes narrowed to black pits. I wondered if he ever sleeps. “You can’t tell us what to do with our money.”
I shouldn’t have given them the money. It was bound to result in them showing it off.
Helsinki has a major casino downtown. First-class. Big money. “Have you ever been to the casino?” I asked.
“No.”
“They’re going to take your pictures so they can register you and give you membership cards. Then video cameras will record every move you make, such as plunking down a grand on a roll of the dice. Swanky entertainment on a cop’s salary. If you’re ever charged with being a dirty cop, which you now are, you can rest assured your trip to the casino will be found out and used as evidence against you. That SUPO agent you beat half to death needs his face rebuilt. You think that will be forgotten, that you won’t be watched? We can all count on being spot tailed now. Assume everything you do is known to the secret police.” I pointed at Sweetness. “And technically, you’re unemployed. You don’t even have a source of income, which in large part is why I gave you some money, not to fritter it away. How do you intend to explain your sudden rise to the high life?”
He didn’t answer, stuck some nuuska in his lip instead.
“Then what the hell is the good of having the money?” Milo asked.
“Money is always good. Just keep it invisible.”
He scratched his head, puzzled. “If we’re watched, how are we supposed to pull off these dope dealer robberies?”
“It’s taken care of. Don’t worry your pretty little head about it. And handsome though you are in them, don’t make it a habit of wearing expensive suits. Just don’t do things that call attention to yourselves.”
Milo and Sweetness looked at each other and traded grins.
“What?” I asked.
Sweetness laughed out loud.
Milo said, “Where should I begin? Let’s see. You and I were in the headlines just weeks ago for stopping that school shooting and killing a man. Your limp makes you noticeable from a mile away, and that bullet wound scar on your face is fucking scary. You’re a walking billboard that screams ‘Look at me!’ And our giant colleague makes quite an impression on people as well. You’re just being silly.”