The Unknown Beloved

by Amy Harmon

The whole thing is rotten.” “It always is. The bad guy is never who the politicians need him to be. And the good guys are always a little dirty.”

“I will always live here, Tetka.” “Oh, Daniela, my dear. Don’t say that. Don’t say that,” Lenka chided. “There is a man out there for you. He is coming. I know it.” “Then he will have to move in with us,” Daniela said. “Because I live here.”

“Do you usually clear the snow by yourself?” he asked. “No. I usually pay Harry Raus to do it for me. But he’s off to college now. I haven’t found a replacement shoveler.” Malone extended his hand like they were just meeting for the first time, but she was too far away to take it. “Michael Malone, replacement shoveler, at your service.”

And I prefer brown eyes to blue, though if you can have one of each, that’s even better.” “Oh my,” Lenka said, and Dani felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

Hart Manufacturing, the place where the kid Steve Jeziorski worked along with his father and his brother. It was an interesting connection, but likely coincidental.

Narrator: It was probably not coincidental

If he was not going to talk to her like he’d promised, she was not going to respect his privacy.

What the fuck

He glowered at her. “I have tried to keep my work confidential, but you don’t seem to have any concept of that word.”

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“Wasn’t the door locked?” “Yes. But I have a key.” “And you use it anytime you want?” he snapped.

Gosh she is so annoying

“You do know that Cleveland is the most dangerous city in America,” Malone said. “Yes. And I also know your holster isn’t empty.”

“In Europe there are buildings that are hundreds of years old. In Rome, one church is built on top of another. The whole city is layers upon layers of old and older. Here . . . we tear things down when we’re through. We tear them down and clear them away, and what once was is no longer. I hate that.”

“Humans are complex creatures. We want to belong, but we can’t stand to be the same. How in the world do you force equity on humankind, when we try at every turn to differentiate ourselves from each other?

“Isn’t it magnificent?” Dani said. She’d always thought it so. “You are magnificent,” he said quietly, almost begrudgingly.

“What did you say to him?” “Imigh leat, amadán.” “Yes. That.” “I called him an idiot and told him to, uh . . .” He cleared his throat. “Sod off.” “But he said thank you,” she said. “Proof that he is, indeed, an idiot. He’s made Eliot’s life hell.”

“I have never been known, Eliot.” Ness frowned at him. “I don’t understand, Malone.” “Is it just a human trait, do you think, to think no one knows us? Really knows us, deep down. And almost being afraid that if they did, they would back away?” “She knows you. And she hasn’t backed away,” Eliot summarized.

She caught him staring once and smiled and looked away. When she realized he hadn’t stopped, she raised her hand to his chin and turned his head, and he’d laughed out loud at an inopportune juncture.