Finders Keepers Losers Die (21 page)

"Hey," he said. He stopped tapping the
cigarette and returned it to its packet. "You look good. Insurance
clothes?"

"Do you think I can afford Prada on my
salary?"

"Not if I know Knight the way I do. I bet
he's tight."

"The tightest." Which made Tanya's betrayal
bite even harder. She knew how careful he was about spending.
Thinking of Will gave me a twinge of guilt for speaking to the one
man he told me to stay clear of. In my defense, he was the only one
who could help.

A waitress came and Scarface ordered black
coffee. I ordered a latté, an omelet, a side of fries and a salad.
That should leave just enough room for cake.

"I need some information," I said.

"And I thought you couldn't stay away from
me because you liked me."

"I do like you."

His only response was a lazy smile.

I swallowed. Maybe I shouldn't have admitted
that.

I studied the list of names Roberta had
given me to hide my burning cheeks. "Do Barry Grimes and Mad Max
have any priors? And what about Gordy 'Fat Bastard' Swinson and
Craig 'Thumper' Dunleavy? And why's he called Thumper?"

Scarface's teeth flashed in a grin. "That's
a trade secret. I haven't spent years getting in with that crowd
only to reveal it to a woman who's been around five minutes. No
offense."

"None taken. But now I'm
really
curious."

"Let's just say, it's not
just
because he likes to thump people."

"Oh-kay." Our orders arrived and I stuffed
omelet into my mouth until the hole in my stomach filled. Scarface
watched, amused.

"As to the priors," he said, "they've all
got them. Thumper and Fat Bastard for assault, Mad Max for armed
robbery and attempted murder and Grimes for indecent exposure."

"That doesn't surprise me."

He went very still. "Why?"

I waved my hand, wishing I hadn't brought it
up. "We had a chat one day and he seems to think when a woman tells
him to get fucked, she's making him an offer."

He stabbed his finger on the table. "From
now on, stay away from Grimes. He's a nasty piece of work. Indecent
exposure's just the tip of the iceberg."

"Roberta Scarletti seems to like him."

He just looked at me.

"Did Lou introduce Grimes to Max?" I
asked.

He didn't answer.

"I already know they're acquaintances. I saw
them together at The Grotto."

"You should work undercover," he said.

"Why, because I'm a good actress and blend
in?"

"Nope." He tapped the side of his head. "No
brains, no fear."

"Ha, ha, funny."

His jaw hardened and his eyes narrowed as he
leaned forward. "Listen, Cat. I don't want to see you at The Grotto
ever again. I don't want you within a mile of that place, and that
goes for Grimes, Mad Max and their buddies. Stay away. Got it?" The
menacing tone made my skin shrivel and tighten. If I were a suspect
and he was playing bad cop, I wouldn't hold up under
interrogation.

But I wasn't. I'd done nothing wrong and I
could do as I damn well pleased. Hell, if I wanted to put myself in
the line of danger, that was my prerogative. Not that I had any
intention of doing so, but there was a point in there somewhere,
damn it.

Telling him so wouldn't get him off my back,
however. In fact, it would probably make him put a man on me. How's
a girl supposed to secretly rendezvous with her boss then?

So I saluted him instead. "Yes, sir."

He growled. "Promise me, Cat, or I'll tell
Will you've been meeting with me."

Bastard. "Fine, I promise." Yeah, as if.

He pushed my empty plate aside. "Good." He
brushed my fingers with his own. "Now, let's talk about us."

"What do you mean?"

"Uh-uh. You're not getting out of this, Cat.
I've been thinking about you, and I know you want me. Meet me
tonight."

"Tonight? As in … tonight?"
Gulp
. "I
might be working late."

"No, you won't be. I'll call Knight and tell
him you've got a hot date. He'll let you off, I'm sure." His grin
was pure wickedness.

"No, you can't! He's got a meeting late
today and won't be in the office."

"Then you can sneak off, can't you?"

Damn. "I suppose."

"I'll pick you up at Gina's. Wear something
sexy." He got up, kissed me on the cheek and left.

I sat in a daze until the waitress took my
plate away. "You okay?" she asked. "You look pale."

"I think I'm about to do something very
bad," I whispered.

She looked over her shoulder at Scarface's
retreating butt and smiled. "Lucky you."

I skipped cake because my appetite had
vanished, and drove back to the office, hoping Will wouldn't be
there. I didn't want to face him while I was flustered—he'd guess I
was up to no good. So I sat in the Civic and watched people going
in and out of Gina's flower shop. Next door was quiet. Knight
Investigations' clients rarely visited the office. It was more of a
presence than a place to conduct business. Will and Carl performed
most of their work off-site or over the phone. New customers came
to us through recommendations and usually set up meetings at their
place of business. No one ever walked in off the street and hired
us on the spot.

Which made Roberta an anomaly. In our
original meeting she'd said she'd found a Sinclair Investigations
business card among Lou's things. Dad must have given it to him
after he'd gone to jail in the hope Lou would give up his
partner.

I got out of the car and went inside. Carl's
door was open and he was nowhere to be seen. Will emerged from his
own office and stormed down the hallway like a charging bull.
Christ, just what I needed. A moody Will and me on a guilt
trip.

"That was a long meeting," he said,
suspicion etched into every frown line.

"I got sidetracked."

"Who with?"

"Does it matter?"

His body went rigid and his face turned
expressionless. If it wasn't for the anger simmering in his dark
eyes, I'd have thought my challenge hadn't bothered him. But, for
whatever reason, it did and I was about to feel the brunt of
something fierce.

"Cat, last night you told me Roberta and
Grimes have a secret agenda for hiring you. Today, you spent over
three hours with her and didn't answer your phone. What am I
supposed to think?"

I rested my hand on his arm. "It's very
sweet that you were worried, Will—"

He jerked away. "Don't patronize me, Cat.
I'm not a dumb actor you can charm into believing everything you
say."

"Hey, there's no need to get derogatory.
There are many intelligent actors around." Hopefully he wouldn't
ask for names because I couldn't think of any off the top of my
head. "And if you let me finish, I was going to say don't worry
about me. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. I've
survived Hollywood for Christ sake."

"This isn't funny, Cat."

Who said I was joking? "You were okay with
me going this morning."

"I didn't know then what I know now. Grimes
is a dangerous man. I made some phone calls and found out he's got
priors for every minor sexual offense going around and he's been
held on suspicion of rape twice. He only got off because the
victims were too terrified to testify."

Scarface hadn't mentioned that part. "Look,
Will." I touched his arm again and this time he didn't shake me
off. "I don't trust them either. That's why I met Roberta in a
public place."

He said nothing.

"Anyway, it was worth it."

He cocked an eyebrow. "What did you find
out?" Once an investigator, always an investigator.

"She gave me a list of Lou's friends. And
surprise, surprise, they've
all
got priors."

"How do you know? Did she tell you
that?"

Oops. "And one other thing," I went on,
pretending I hadn't heard him. "She and Grimes said—"

"You saw Forde, didn't you?"

I tucked a stray hair behind my ear. "I sort
of bumped into him."

"Sort of? Fuck." He ground the heel of his
hand into his right eye. "
Fuck
!"

Maybe it wasn't a good time to mention I was
seeing Scarface again that night.

CHAPTER 12

"Christ, Cat, do you ever do anything I
ask?" said Will, trying to intimidate me with one of his infamous
glares.

"Maybe if you
asked
, I would."

He didn't seem to hear that. "Forde's a good
cop but he's a borderline human being. He's got an agenda of his
own. Harrison Forde only does what suits Harrison Forde. You don't
want to get messed up with him." He gripped my shoulders and held
me at arms length. "Okay?" He shook me slightly when I didn't
answer. "Cat?"

"Okay." Jeez, the green-eyed monster had
reared its ugly head, stuck out its tongue and given Will the
finger. Although a teensy part of me felt flattered that he
recognized he had competition, I mostly felt annoyed. He was my
boss and part-time lover, not my keeper.

"Good." He blew out a long breath. "You
coming over tonight?"

Yeah, straight after I visit the one guy
you want me to stay away from.
"I don't know." Before he could
object, I said, "I think I know where the jewelry might be
hidden."

His brows shot up. "Really? Where?"

"A bank's safety deposit box. And the code
number is the box's number and the key opens it."

"Safety deposit box numbers are longer than
four digits."

Damn. I'd been so sure I was on the right
track. What else could it be? Then I remembered what Roberta had
told me. The other thief. Maybe he was involved. "What about
half
a number?"

"Who has the other half?"

"Who would Lou trust that his wife doesn't
know about?"

"His girlfriend?"

"His missing partner. From the bank heist,"
I added when he shrugged again.

"Ah, so you know about the other thief?"

"Roberta told me."

"Did she also tell you the money was never
found? They got away with the lot and Scarletti wouldn't divulge
its whereabouts to the police. He claims the other guy had it."

"How do you know?"

"Like I said, I called some of my police
contacts this morning. It's all on Scarletti's file."

Which means Scarface knew about the missing
money and partner too.

"So," I said, thinking out loud, "the only
man who knows the other thief's identity is Lou and Lou won't give
him up because he wants his half of the money when he gets
out."

"They must have disposed of the money
together before Lou got caught," Will said. "That way if one got
caught, the other couldn't double cross him and take the money." He
started pacing the floor, fingering his stubble absently as he
thought.

"In a deposit box with an eight digit number
that they wrote down, tore in half and kept one half each. That way
neither man could run off with the loot."

Will kissed me fiercely on the lips. "Cat,
that sounds crazy but I think you're right."

Now that's not something I hear everyday. Or
every lifetime.

"We should tell the police," he said,
sounding like that's exactly what he didn't want to do.

"Like hell. This is my case. I had it first.
They can wait until after we find the money."

"Cat—"

"No, listen first. This is what bugged Dad.
He couldn't let the Scarletti case drop after he put Lou in
jail."

Will nodded. "He was still obsessed after I
joined the company. He even visited Scarletti in prison, although I
didn't know why. So?"

"So this is my chance to prove that I can
solve it."

"Prove? To who?"

I shrugged. I'd said more than I meant to.
"To myself, to Dad…"

"And to me," he said softly.

I didn't look at him. I couldn't.

"You don't have anything to prove to me,
Cat. I know you can do anything you put your mind to." He touched
my cheek but I drew my face away. I didn't want empty words.

"Okay," he said. "You can do it. But we're
putting a time limit on solving it and if things get any more
dangerous, you're off the case."

I blinked at him. Was this the Will I worked
for? The Will who never put a foot wrong? The Will who didn't want
to get on the wrong side of the police only a few days earlier?

"Don't look at me like that," he said.

"Sorry," I said, taking another sneak peak
at him anyway. "Thanks."

"Do you think Roberta knows?"

"I think that's what she hired me to find.
The jewelry story never felt right. Especially now I know she lied
about almost everything else."

"But is she the type? You said she was
mousy."

"She's not a mouse, she's a man-eating
lioness. Not many mousy women wear tight leather pants to go to the
market."

He shuddered. "Scary thought."

"But why not bank the money in a normal
account?"

"Banks have to report any deposits over a
hundred thousand in a normal account, but not in safety deposit
boxes."

"There's a hell of a lot of banks in
Renford, not to mention ones in other cities and even other
countries."

"Yeah, the sort that don't ask
questions…"

"So now what?" I asked.

"Now, you can come here and kiss me." He
pulled me to him and we locked lips. My feet came off the floor and
my body turned to mush as I gave into the heat. Who'd have thought,
but kissing Will was getting better and better.

Until the door opened and he dropped me. I
fell back to the floor, just managing to land on my feet. I tried
to look cool as Carl entered.

He took one look at us, rolled his eyes and
said, "Get a room you two."

So much for that secret.

He walked past us to his office. "Don't
worry. I won't tell anyone."

"You were gone a long time," said Will,
switching easily into work mode.