#five. media

Working in the City Hall meant that Miles had gotten good at snooping and record keeping. Once he got his way around the system, just checking up on the regular man’s records was a piece of cake. Some might call it snooping, but for Miles it was just gathering intel. Years of being on his own, and then the life of crime, meant that he was always looking behind his shoulder, and being cautious. Know thy enemy. That was the only thing he cared about, knowing who his neighbours were.

So the casual snooping had gotten him the records of the Walker family; two parents, one son. What had caught his eye was Madeleine Walker though; just the angle of her face, the smile looking so familiar, till he realised where he had seen that before, on his own fucking face. It had to be a coincidence, because people looked like other people, there was nothing wrong in that. But there was something about her that bothered him so much, he decided to keep an eye on her. After all, Reina was always having these ladies over for luncheons and usually more catfights than he’d prefer. But if Madeleine was going to pose a threat to his family, he had to know about it first. After all, that’s the only reason why his gut instinct was to be trusted. 

It had been a few days before the event, actually. He was at work, typing and filing as he usually did. When his curiosity struck again, and he searched for Madeleine Walker. Reading through her history, which wasn’t a lot, he was surprised by the last name, Ellis. Not uncommon, of course, but the coincidence was too much for him to handle. He closed the file and refused to dig any deeper than he had to. Miles could sense he was digging into something that he didn’t like, and he wasn’t about to kick the hornet’s nest. 

At the event, behind all the glitz and the glamour, and the masks and all of the perfumes in the air that threaten to keel Miles over in sneezing fits as he entered the place, his steps were light and he was on guard about something. Dressed like Reina had asked him to, hand in hand with Naomi as they entered the Casino, his eyes were restless, as if he was looking out for something, or someone. His gut was telling him something wasn’t right, and he decided to ignore it. Miles thought he was just being paranoid, and he decided to focus on the party instead, feeling for his knife tucked away in a secret pocket of the blazer. 

It had been a few hours, and most of the crowd was getting tipsy when he got to the bar and ordered another alcoholic beverage, when he managed to catch someone’s attention. Madeleine Walker herself, raising her glass to him and he in turn did the same. “You know…” Miles didn’t want to talk to this woman right now, because whatever she had to say, she was going to be drunk and he didn’t have the patience for rambling. “You know...you look so much like my son…” 

Miles politely set his glass down, “maybe it’s in the hair style.” He’s met Madeleine’s son, and that boy has a good head on his shoulders. 

“No, no, not Kai. He’s his father’s boy…” Who knows why Madeleine was feeling so chatty today, she usually never talked at the luncheons. That honour went to Claire Woodrow-Marlowe, who was no doubt, eyeing this conversation with an interested gaze from underneath some mask or the other. Madeleine was still talking, but Miles had zoned her out, “....in Memphis….” His gaze snapped back to her, meeting glassy eyes with a confused stare. “Huh?” He asked, trying to make himself less sharper than his tone was. 

“I was talking about home, in Nashville. That’s where I’m from. I used to be a beauty queen, you know? Pageant princess, darling of the south and a professional at that. But then...that wretched man left me with a fucking baby. He was a friend of a friend, and my father’s employee. But he said he loved me and then left me with that squalling brat. I had to travel to Memphis to give birth. Sodding thing tore me right open…” Madeleine paused to drink, and Miles could feel the blood rushing to his head. “Two days. I took him and then I tried to be a mother, but it’s hard when you’re hungry and your Papa would give you a smack behind your ears if he heard of this. So I left the baby on the steps of a church, said some grace and hoped for the best.” 

Miles tried to keep his gaze steady, as if the story had nothing to do with him, even though his hands shook and his face had turned red as he tried to keep this all inside. “Uh huh…” He barely managed a response. Madeleine didn’t seem to care, and she was saying something more, but Miles wasn’t listening. And Claire had decided to come join the conversation, so he made his polite exit and made a beeline to the men’s room.