Finders Keepers Losers Die (29 page)

I smiled at his rambling. He reminded me of
me when I got nervous. I touched his arm and he blinked dolefully
down at me. "Do you want me to tell her you were here?"

He shrugged one shoulder.

"And that you miss her?"

His gaze darted to mine then away.
Eventually, he shook his head.

"Why not?"

He sighed. "You know her, she's…beautiful.
She can have anyone in the world. A girl like Gina…doesn't like
guys like me. She likes athletes or millionaires. Not boring, over
the hill computer geeks."

"From what I hear, you're neither boring nor
over the hill."

"I am compared to her."

"Ten years is not a big deal," I heard
myself saying. "And just because you're a programmer doesn't make
you boring."

He studied his shoes, shuffling a pattern
into the floor. "How do you know? You don't know me."

"But I know Gina. And she wouldn't like you
so much if you were any of those things."

His head snapped up and his eyes twinkled.
"She likes me?" He started to grin like a schoolboy, then tried to
stop but couldn't. "She's so lovely," he gushed. "So generous and
bright and she just seems to understand me. She knows what I want
to say even when I can't express it. Do you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I do." And I could also see why he
was perfect for her, despite the obvious differences. She was so
used to the men in her life wanting her as a pretty ornament and
not for her mind or her kind heart. She was all those things he
said, and yet he was probably the first man who'd ever noticed.

Just then, she walked in. "Hey," she said
from the door. She stopped when she saw the programmer and
stiffened. "Oh. Hi."

"Tell her what you told me and everything
will be okay," I whispered. I gave him a little shove in her
direction and left the two of them alone.

Outside, I breathed in deeply, feeling good
about myself. Cat Sinclair, matchmaker extraordinaire. I was about
to enter the office again when a hand on my arm stopped me.

I froze. Even my heart stopped beating.

"Hey, Sweetheart."

Scarface. Thank Christ. "What are you doing
here?"

"Coming to see if you're okay."

"I'm fine. Now leave."

"Why? Don't want pretty boy to see me?"

"Will? No, I don't. And for now, I need him
on my side."

"What's he got against me?"

"He doesn't want me asking your advice
anymore. He thinks you're a bad influence."

A slow grin spread across his face as he
leaned closer. "Oh, I am."

"Stop with the bad boy attitude and just
go." I shoved him as the door to the office opened and Will
appeared. He stopped when he saw Scarface, still holding my
arm.

"You," he growled.

Oh fuck.

CHAPTER 16

"What's he doing here?" Will looked as
hospitable as a bear waking up from deep hibernation.

"Nothing," I said, a little too eagerly. "He
was just driving past and decided to drop by to see us."

"Us? Why?"

"Can't a guy catch up with his old buddy
just for the hell of it?" asked Scarface, playing along.

"We're not buddies—"

"We were."

"—and you never do anything just for the
hell of it."

The observation hung between them like a
rotten smell. No one tried to clear the air. It was like watching a
Western movie. Stand off at high noon, neither man wanting to draw
first.

Watching them, I realized how opposite they
were. Will stood as rigid as a plank of wood in the doorway, arms
crossed, dark thoughts flickering through his mysterious eyes.
Scarface on the other hand was loose limbed, relaxed arms by his
sides, a slight defiant smile on his lips, although his one
humorless eye gave away his real mood. Few people would dare cross
either man at that moment.

Guess I'm stupid. Or I like stirring up
trouble. "Down boys."

No response.

"Hello? I'm still here."

"Leave Cat alone, Forde," Will said,
ignoring me. "She doesn't need you getting her into trouble."

"Actually, I came to give her an
update."

"You could have done that over the
phone."

"I wanted to see her in person. I'm
concerned about her. Sorry, I didn't realize I had to sign in with
you first."

"She doesn't need your brand of concern,
Forde."

"But she needs yours?" Scarface snorted. "A
man who'd lock her inside in the hope the big bad wolf will go
away? Yeah, real helpful."

Will bristled and I thought he'd punch
Scarface's smirk off his face.

"When I first met you,” Scarface continued,
“you got the job done, no matter what it took. You jumped into any
situation, head first. But after the Firestorm Road shooting, you
started hiding behind rules and procedures and now you hide behind
your P.I. license and more rules. "No domestics," he scoffed.
"You're killing your own business by ignoring your biggest
market."

"That's my prerogative."

"You've gone soft, Knight."

Oh boy. I braced myself. But nothing
happened. Most men would blow a gasket if another male called him
soft so it was a tribute to Will's iron self-control that he
remained calm.

Too calm. Anyone who knew him, knew the
subtle stiffening of his shoulders and the slight quickening of his
breathing spelled Trouble.

He stepped toward Scarface until the two men
were toe to toe. The tension sharpened. The atmosphere sizzled. I
wasn't the only one who felt it. Passersby stopped to watch as if
sensing bloody entertainment.

"You showed me what can happen when you
break the rules, when you don't give a fuck," Will said in a
controlled, measured voice. "I don't want to be like that anymore.
And neither does Cat. Got it?"

"Let her make up her own mind."

"Oh, gee, how noble of you." I might have
sounded a little sarcastic but hey, it's not like he hadn't tried
to control my movements just as much as Will.

"Stay out of this, Cat," said Will.

"Enough!" I forced my way between them,
elbowing through the testosterone. "Now, if you two have finished
using me as a thin excuse for butting horns, I've got something I
want to say. I will
not
be told what to do. I am
not
a child. I am
not
your responsibility. This is my first case
and I'm going to make mistakes. Get used to it and shut the hell
up."

Two women in the audience applauded. Will
blinked at me as if I'd turned into a pumpkin. Scarface shook his
head in disappointment.

"All well and good," he said, "if I wasn't
worried you'd get yourself killed while making those mistakes."

"You said the person following me is only
trying to scare me, not kill me."

"And Grimes?"

"What about him?" Will asked.

"Nothing," I said.

"You don't know, do you?" Scarface gave Will
a self-satisfied smirk. "And what about the intruder last night?
Know about him?"

"Who told you about that?" I asked.

"The cops who attended your break-in
contacted me because of your link to the Scarletti case."

"Can't a girl have any privacy anymore?"

"No," both men said.

Will crossed his arms and glared at me. "So
when were you going to tell me?"

I straightened to my full height, which was
still a foot shorter than either of them. "When you stopped acting
like my father!" Okay. I'd said it. It was out there.

Fuck.

I waited for him to dispute it, but he said
nothing. He didn't move, didn't even blink as he studied me. I
couldn’t read his expression.

"Maybe if you treated her with a bit more
respect," Scarface said, "she might confide in you."

"Shutup!" Will and I shouted at him.

"Don't blame Will when you're just as bad,"
I added.

"Get out of here," Will growled at him.

Scarface held up his hands and backed away.
"I'll bow out gracefully. But you know where to reach me, Cat, if
you ever get tired of being kept in a glass cage."

"Whoa, slow down," I said. "You wanted to
update me on something?"

He pulled me aside. Will didn't protest but
he didn’t take his eyes off us.

"I can't think with that grouch listening
in," Scarface said.

"Sorry about him. But I don't think he means
to be—"

"An asshole?"

"Something like that." I looked at Will,
brooding in the doorway.

Scarface's sigh brought my attention back to
him. He pressed his finger into the scar as if it ached. Suddenly,
he looked tired and older than his thirty-odd years. It wasn’t easy
arguing with Will.

"Sorry," he said, "bad day. It's hard to
focus after…" He waved a hand dismissively.

"What? What happened?"

"A colleague was murdered."

I gasped and covered my mouth. "Not
Stankovic?"

"No, Daryl Miller." He bowed his head and
rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "Fuck it," he
muttered.

I touched his arm and frowned. That name
sounded familiar but I couldn't place it. "You don't think he had
something to do with the missing computer, do you?"

His gaze cut away, avoiding looking at me.
"I wanted to tell you about Grimes," he said, shifting the
conversation. "He was arrested last night after whipping out Mr.
Happy on The Strip and introducing him to passersby. And Mr. Happy
was in an ecstatic mood."

"Ugh. When is he going to learn that other
people don't think his dick is as interesting as he does?"

Scarface laughed softly. "Anyway, he was
arrested at ten o'clock and didn't get out of the lock up until
this morning."

"So it couldn't have been him last
night."

He lifted his eyebrows in agreement. "I have
to go." He leaned down and kissed my forehead.

"Wait a minute. That's it? You could have
told me that in front of Will."

"But I wouldn't have had the pleasure of
seeing him simmer over there. He's itching to drag you away." He
nodded at Will then sauntered off.

I joined Will, avoiding his gaze. He opened
the door for me and I ducked under his arm.

"What is your problem with him?" I
asked.

"I told you to stay away from Forde and
anything to do with the Scarletti murder." His voice dropped and
shook with barely repressed anger.

"The murder and my case are connected. Last
time we spoke about it, you understood that. You were okay with
it."

"That was before your life was in danger."
He sighed deeply and his body relaxed as if some of the tension
escaped with his breath. "Come here." He directed me to the old
couch and we sat together, not touching. "Why didn't you tell me
about the intruder? And what happened with Grimes? Did he hurt
you?"

I almost told him everything. Almost. Maybe
I should have, but what was the point? It was over. Telling him the
truth would only make him angry again. Angry at himself for not
being there to protect me.

"Grimes was just being a jerk," I said. "And
I didn't tell you about either incident because I was trying to
avoid this reaction. You might find it hard to believe, but I don't
like it when you yell at me."

He said nothing for a long time then finally
muttered an apology. "I over-reacted. Forde gets under my skin." He
flexed his fingers and spread his big palms on his knees. "He and I
go way back and our history hasn't always been pretty. I gave him
that scar."

I didn't tell him I already knew. I wanted
to hear it in his own words. As he relayed the story, pointing out
that Scarface deliberately disobeyed him, he held my hand in both
of his. I moved closer and leaned into him, listening to the subtle
nuances of his voice and the melodic hum deep in his chest.

I was so tired, it nearly lulled me to
sleep, then Carl's office door opened. I sat upright and rubbed my
eyes.

"You going out soon?" he asked Will.

Will checked his watch. "Christ!" He jumped
up. "I've got to meet Slim in ten minutes." He ran up to his office
and emerged seconds later with a file. He kissed me on the lips and
opened the front door. "Don't do anything until I get back."

"I'll make sure she stays here," Carl
said.

"Hey!" I glared at him. Traitor.

"We'll go through the case together later,
Babe," Will said, half way out the door. "It can wait an hour,
can't it?"

Yeah, it could, but it wasn't going to.
Nuh-uh. I don't mind sitting around for a while but I do mind
having a watcher. Will left and I went to grab my handbag.

"Where are you going?" Carl asked, stepping
toward me.

"Out. Work to do."

"Will said—"

"Since when are you on his side?"

"It's getting too hot for you, Cat. Stay
here where it's safe. I'll even call some of my cop buddies and see
what they know, if you like."

"I know everything there is to know. Thanks
for the offer, but I'll be okay. I won't even get out of my car." I
headed for the door but he grabbed my arm. "Carl! What are you
doing?"

The door opened and Gina entered. "Hey, Cat,
you're a star. Thanks to you, I've got a date tonight." She beamed
so hard my eyes hurt from her dazzlingly white teeth. She grabbed
my hand and dragged me outside but not before I managed to grab my
bag. "Sorry, Carl," she said over her shoulder. "I need her right
now."

Carl took my car keys off my desk and
slipped them inside his pocket. "No problem," he said with a sly
grin.

Damn.

"I take it the programmer got over his stage
fright," I said when the door closed.

"He sure did. He's taking me to Monica's
tonight."

Nice restaurant. Pricey. Snooty. Perfect for
a romantic dinner. "Hey, Gina, can I borrow your car for a few
hours?"

"Sure." She disappeared into her shop and
returned with a fat set of keys. But she held them back from my
outstretched hand. "You'll be careful, right?"