Character Spotlight: Minka & Wes Avery

In three weeks, Brother of Interest, the second installment in The Unde(a)feted Detective Series, will be released. To familiarize new readers with the characters and reacquaint past readers with them, I’m starting a series of three character spotlights today. First up is none other than Minka and Wes Avery, the couple at the center of it all.

Husband in Hiding gave a window into their unusual love story, which began when they were neighbors as children in a suburb of Orlando, Florida. Born deaf, Minka learned sign language from her mother, while Wes watched on from his house next door. At three years old, she struggled at times, so seven-year-old Wes would sneak over and help teach her when her mom stepped away.

Before long, Minka’s parents moved their family away, devastating young Wes. He never forgot the little girl to whom he’d grown so fond, and his experience with her inspired him to become a teacher at a school for the deaf. To his astonishment, life brought Minka back to Orlando, who’d become a police officer and was partnered with his brother, Cael. Despite their years apart, a romance soon blossomed, and they married.

Husband in Hiding left off with the couple reuniting after Wes’s stint in witness protection. Having recently found out she was pregnant, Minka decided to resign from the police force to stay home with their baby on the way. When we pick up in Brother of Interest, we find her just over a year after her daughter’s birth, still basking in the joys of new motherhood.

To catch everybody up to speed, fictitious reporter Doreen Packard interviewed the couple for an exclusive about their life today.

Minka Avery Goes from Cracking Cases to Tackling Toddlerhood

By Doreen Packard

A year and a half has passed since prominent detective Minka Avery turned in her shield to take up a bottle—a baby bottle. After devoting the previous five years to public service with the Orlando PD, Minka’s days now revolve around her fourteen-month-old daughter, Caela.

“I may not pursue criminals in high-speed chases anymore, but this little mischief-maker keeps me rolling, especially since she started walking a couple months ago,” Minka says, right as the toddler dumps a tote of toys onto the floor.

In their Ocoee home, Minka and her husband, Wes, cherish the ruckus Caela makes, a sharp contrast to the noise surrounding the former detective’s last few months on the job. As widely reported, Wes inserted himself into one of Minka’s investigation of the DeSoto family. He landed on the mafia’s hit list and had to abandon his life upon entering witness protection. Meanwhile, they let the world believe he died in a car accident.

The two have never spoken of it publicly until now.

“Faking one’s death may sound humorous, but it opened up a lot of challenges,” Minka shares. “I couldn’t tell my own family the truth, which still hurts them.”

“I hated being away from her,” Wes adds. “When they arrested DeSoto and I could come home, I was blown away. But our obstacles didn’t end there, since I didn’t know if the school where I teach would rehire me after the mess I made. Plus, we had to navigate the whole ‘I’m not dead’ conversation with everyone. Like she said, it’s not remotely as funny as it sounds.”

Wes had extra reason to worry about providing for his family, given Minka discovered she was pregnant during the two months he was away.

When asked if his wife’s news surprised him upon their reunion, Wes shakes his head. “Actually, no. I won’t go into details, but I surmised it while I was off the grid. I guess you can chalk it up to husband’s intuition. We wanted a family from our wedding day on, so I was thrilled once she confirmed it. I’ll never take for granted the opportunity we have to share Caela with each other because of how close we came to losing that chance.”

By the time matters allowed him to return home, she’d already decided to leave the police force before the little one arrived.

“My whole perspective changed because of all that happened, and I couldn’t keep a job that would endanger our family again.”

Still, I ask if she misses her days of crime-fighting.

She smiles. “I do from time to time, but I wouldn’t trade a moment with her for anything.”

“What about me?” Wes shoots her a playful grin.

Like it or not, Minka’s ties to law enforcement have recently been tangled again. Her brother, Robin Parker, is a person of interest in the assault of Stags Technology’s CEO, Perry Hamilton. Detective Cael Avery, Wes’s brother and Minka’s former partner, is heading up the investigation, in which officials have yet to uncover Parker’s whereabouts. I asked the couple for their thoughts on the matter.

Wes answers first, “We’re doing everything we can to cooperate. Minka keeps Cael in the loop on whatever she learns.”

Minka gives a simple shrug. “What can I say? The men in my life never fail to surprise me.”