Tony gave a wolfish smile which Paul answered reflexively. The last of the tension bled from his shoulders. He went back to listen what Joel had to say, much more relaxed.
"You'll be about thirty million in the hole, then," Joel tried.
Paul rolled his eyes and growled, "Joel."
"You know, you're the only one who makes ma name sound like that, handsome. Stubborn as a mule bout somethin' you ask for. I've gotta stop givin' in or people will start thinkin' I am playin' favorites." Joel stopped, but Paul waited him out.
It was better then arguing with him, faster. Joel was the kind of guy who could talk anybody in circles, if given the chance. That had only worked with Paul once and he'd realized he was being played halfway through, thankfully managing to turn the tables on Joel. That's when Jonathan Steele became Joel Sauer.
Finally, Joel said, "Fine. Sixteen million, from you. A nice boat and two passes, from me. Tell me," he joked, "are you in the business of offerin' a pair of love birds an escape from paradise now?"
Paul ignored him. "Names: Anthony Crosse, two 's', one 'e' and Paul Andropov. A-n-d-r-o-p-o-v. I'll give you twenty million, that good enough?"
"Why didn't you say that from the beginnin'?" Joel sounded mock-wounded.
Brushing the words away with a curve of his lips, Paul asked, "Where am I transferring the money?"
"Why are you in a hurry?" asked Joel with a smidge of concern. Then, "You can't say, of course. In the usual account. What about the funds? Are they clean?"
That was a good question, not that it would make any kind of difference to Joel, but it was good to know these things. "When is money like that ever clean?" Paul challenged, but he made eye contact with Tony to make sure he understood that the question was for him.
"That dog won't hunt. I need to know, fixer-man and you won’t fool me with pretty words," answered Joel, while Tony just mouthed 'legit'.
Paul raised an eyebrow, but said, "Clean as a whistle."
"You made a funny," drawled Joel sounding nonetheless amused.
"I need them by tonight." Paul winced internally, but he didn't let anything be heard in his voice or be seen on his face.
There was a pause on the line. "Ah, I understand the extra four mil then."
"Well?" Paul demanded silently, dispassionately.
"Consider it done. Make sure I get ma money," Joel said and Paul would be willing to bet he was smirking.
"On its way," Paul said then hung up.
Paul made as if to throw the phone to Tony. His horrified face made Paul chuckle lightly. Smiling, he held up the phone and, in no time at all, had Tony next to him, seated on the bunk again. Tony sneaked glares at him, from time to time for daring to threaten the safety of Tony’s precious gadget. It was all in good fun, though, Paul could tell by the twitching of Tony's lips where they wanted to curve just slightly. And that right there, Paul knowing something about Tony without explicitly being told, them teasing each other, was something that made Paul feel incredibly warm.
"Money's in his account, I assume that you can trust him," said Tony.
Paul realized that he couldn't read even a trace of doubt in Tony's voice. Like he didn't just give away twenty million dollars.
"Not in the way that you mean. There has to be some measure of trust, but it comes with a guarantee. Which is, if we both do our parts, we're both happy. It's an arrangement that has worked for a while now. He knows how I do business and I think he'd tell me if something I asked for was impossible," explained Paul. He spent a few moments in silence trying out ways to phrase the question in his head without sounding insulting or suspicious. "Don't take it the wrong way, but why do you trust me? With twenty million dollars." he added, because it needed adding.
"These are your business contacts. You obviously know what it is to be inattentive, so I am sure the opposite is true as well," Tony shrugged. "We are under an enormous time constraint and you found us a way out of it, why would I have doubts about you now?"
It all sounded very rational. But there was something else, something that Tony wasn't telling him and Paul didn't exactly have time to find out what. He would in time, though. "That's it, then. What else do we have to plan?"
"Nothing." Tony smiled slyly, "You could give me a kiss, though. To celebrate our plan. And to give me all the good luck I need for the next phase."
A bit suspicious—especially since Tony still had the phone and was typing lazily at it without looking—Paul leaned down and kissed Tony softly on the lips. Tony gripped the front of Paul’s shirt and dragged him down. He sat yet again in Tony's lap, gently arranging himself close to the heat of Tony's body without crushing him. It took only a few breaths in this new position and Paul lost himself. He lost himself in Tony's mouth, exploring, in Tony's smell, inhaling, in touching Tony, just teasing little brushes. He lost himself in Tony.
Paul could hear Tony take a deep breath.
"Help!" Tony shouted. "Help!"
Dismayed, Paul felt himself freeze, then stumbled backwards. He lacked his usual grace and landing on his ass. He was horrified, and trying to understand where it all went wrong. When had he done something that Tony didn't agree with? Paul had thought… he had thought he had made it clear that he would stop whenever, Tony just need to say 'no'. But then again Paul hadn't said it… Tony must have known though. Paul had been clear about his feelings towards Tony. How could Tony ever have thought Paul would do anything to destroy the tentative trust that was growing between them?
Maybe Tony had gotten scared after Paul’s confession and thought that he need a professional to get Paul away from him. Still, Tony had agreed to go with Paul. Was that a lie? Was it all a charade?
Paul couldn't believe that. It didn’t seem to be something that Tony would do. So Paul just stared at him, frozen, waiting for something to give him a clue as to what exactly is going on.
Officer Reynolds entered the cell snarling, "What the fuck is going on here? I told you not to make trouble." He stopped. His eyes widened when he saw Paul on the floor and their eyes met.
Just as Officer Reynolds was preparing to turn, his body trembled and he dropped to the ground unconscious. Tony stood above him, hands clenched together as if in prayer.
"What?" Paul managed, shocked. He blinked before he understood what had happened. Tony wasn't upset with him. Wasn't afraid of him.
"I released the feeds. With my screaming for help, they looked, saw you on top of me and came to the wrong conclusions," Tony said this remorselessly while bending down and starting to strip Officer Reynolds.
Just how far was Tony willing to go for him? And a better question, how far was Paul willing to let him?
"Why?" Paul whispered.
"Because you didn't need to add assaulting a police officer to your record," Tony winked and leaned over the prone man. "Help me with his clothes?"
Gathering his wits quickly, Paul set about undressing Officer Reynolds. His mind reeled, trying to catch up with what was happening. It must have been part of Tony's plan when he had said it was all figured out. Paul would be willing to bet there would be no video of Paul helping Tony anywhere in the system. Paul could simply say he was kidnapped and there would be no proof that he tried to escape.
Paul was starting to understand the lengths Tony would go to for him. He couldn't believe that he inspired such a depth of feeling in another person. Even if it was to repay a debt. He suddenly got that he was responsible for Tony as well, because Tony wasn't thinking about himself, he was just thinking about Paul. The realization enraged him, that Tony didn't see his own worth. Paul wanted to shake Tony, yell at him to wake up and see how valuable he was. But he knew that Tony wouldn't see it that way. So he would have to be the one watching Tony’s back. Simple, right?
*~*~*
Sam used to think he was having a good day. Twenty-seven hours later, during which he'd been on the phone hurrying the guys in booking to post the fingerprints in the system, stared at a screen going through every database accessible, matching them with cold cases then finally being summoned to the Captain's office, Sam changed his mind. Now, it was about five in the morning and he would start his next shift in an hour. It wasn't a complete waste of time seeing as his doubts had been confirmed, but he was tired and a bed seemed like the best idea. However, when the Captain called, Sam, like every other police officer, had to go.
Leaving the main office when his shift ended, Sam took his laptop into the break room where there were less people fussing around. The few people there knew him well enough to leave him alone. He was lost in his thoughts when he heard his name being called.
"Detective Riff, sir?"
Sam smiled sardonically, "Detective Johnny."
Half ashamed and half angry, Detective Johnny's glare turned into a squint. "Captain Montgomery wants to see you."
"I know. I am heading there," Sam said with a roll of his eyes.
"Sir, you are still seated," Detective Johnny's words sounded uncertain.
Sam heaved a sigh and stood up. "Now I'm not." When he stepped into the main office, he found it in disarray. People shouted disconnected pieces of information at each other, papers flew around, and uniforms hurried somewhere, chaos in every sense of the word. "What's going on?"
Detective Johnny looked around hesitantly, "I think I better leave the explaining for the Captain."
"Why?" asked Sam suspiciously.
"Honestly sir, it's not my business. Here we are," Johnny said curtly before coming to a stop when they reached the Captain's office. "Good luck."
"Detective Riff!" came the yell from inside.
"Sir, you called? What's going on?" asked Sam.
"Did you or did you not arrest Joe Reeds on charges of jaywalking?" said Captain Montgomery, ignoring him.
Sam raised an eyebrow, "I did."
Captain Montgomery had his jaw clenched, "Why?"
After a few seconds of study, Sam said simply, "To get his fingerprints."
Smiling without humor, the Captain asked, "Did you?"
"Yes." Sam’s eyes narrowed.
"And?" asked Captain Montgomery, teeth bared in a smile.
"Multiple robberies, at least one of them is an armed robbery, and a few murders," Sam paused. "I believe we may have found Aaron Davies's killer. His very innocent killer," he couldn't help but add.
Captain Montgomery stared at him for a few moments, apparently speechless. "Oh," he said, then seemed to deflate.
Sam, however, felt himself growing tense, "Oh?"
"Well… he escaped," Captain Montgomery seemed to try to smile. When that failed, he just winced.
The words refused to register for Sam at first. "What?"
"We don't actually know that he escaped. He could have been taken prisoner by that hacker that the FBI wanted us to catch," Captain Montgomery explained with forced cheerfulness.
Like anything could happen around Reeds without having anything to do with that blue-eyed demon. Sam snorted.
"Yeah, we have our doubts about that, too. But the camera is pretty much useless and Officer Reynolds says that Reeds looked honestly surprised with how things were developing," the Captain said.
Sam was confused. "What?" He collapsed in a seat, next to the Captain's desk. "How?"
"Apparently, Officer Reynolds, seeing that you had arrested Joe Reeds for jaywalking, in New York," the Captain gave Sam a meaningful glance, "saw a lawsuit coming our way and did his best to protect us from it. As such, he didn't put Reeds in the tank, but in the separate cell. Which was also where we had the hacker. Somehow, the hacker got his hands on a phone and… you know everything is run on by computers nowadays. Mostly the locks and the paperwork," Captain Montgomery shrugged.
Sam felt a jarring sensation go through him. He realized it was rage. "What is being done about Officer Reynolds?"
Captain Montgomery raised his eyes from where they were lowered in thought. "He is currently being taken to the hospital, where, though weakened and under the influence of painkillers, he still gave a statement."
"What?" spat Sam.
"He did the best he could under the circumstances. There was a high probability that you wouldn't find anything. And we both know that arresting Reeds for jaywalking was absolute bullshit. It was a one way street that is always slow because it functions as a bottle neck. The only danger he presented there was to the foot traffic of cockroaches.
"Officer Reynolds did what you never do, he thought about the precinct. He is not going to get suspended or punished in any way. You might be, but if Reeds did what you claim he did, I doubt you will be." Captain Montgomery studied him in silence. "No use to dwell on the past now, I suppose. What's next?"
Sam was still seething, but tried to gather his thoughts. "His name's not Joe Reeds, for one. And before you ask, no, I don't know what it is," he said remorsefully. He considered it a personal failing. "I'll have to see what they do next to be able to predict their movements with any kind of accuracy."
"Detective Archer!" shouted Captain Montgomery, much to Sam's puzzlement.
Johnny entered. Huh.
"Please bring Detective Riff up to speed," Captain Montgomery ordered.
Johnny looked like somebody had ordered him to take out his gun and shoot his own foot off. "Well, sir," he coughed, "we have them exiting the building through the north side. That's the main door. The other was blocked some time ago, maybe they knew beforehand or perhaps they stuck with the entrance that would surely be there. We don't actually know how they got there without raising suspicions, though I'd hazard a guess and say that one of them was wearing a uniform and—"
"Who?" barked Sam.
"S-sir?" timidly came from Detective Johnny, who obviously didn't do very well once his train of thought was interrupted. Captain Montgomery huffed an 'Honestly'. Blushing, Johnny found his wits. "It is only a guess. But I think that if the hacker had been wearing it, somebody would have realized. Half the precinct was dispatched to his arrest yesterday."