Page 78 of Forbidden Need

“Not for nothing…” came a female voice, “but I learned something interesting you might like to know.”

Daly opened the car’s back door for her. “Strat’s,” she whispered to him on the descent inside. He nodded once, and she went back to her call. “Who is this?”

“Your bar buddy. You know, the colleague who didn’t get an invite to the memorial?”

What was…? “Tulip?”

“Glad I made such an impression.”

“Did you ever meet my grandfather?”

“That’s beside the point…” The woman could be really annoying unless taken in the right way. She hadn’t given it much thought, but Tulip was persistent, she had to give her that. Dogged, that was maybe a better word. Harassment with an objective. “So you want to know what I know?”

“Maybe. What’ll it cost me?”

“I scratch your back…”

“I’ve got to know how much the information is worth to me before I decide if I’ll pay.”

“To you or your boyfriend, I don’t care which of you pays the debt.”

Bringing up Conn early, hmm? Good sign or bad? “What did I tell you about saying things that could be construed as threats? Always assume someone’s listening.”

“Is that what you did when you and Ire got together?”

So not a line of conversation she wanted to continue. “What is this information?”

“Your guy’s name found its way into Wanstead’s ear after a tip from one of his CIs.”

“Wanstead’s CI?”

“Yep. Long standing relationship. I also heard, don’t know if it’s true but, this CI might’ve come into a little cash around the same time.”

Now that was interesting. “And the CI’s name?”

“Nu uh, I’m not the only one scratching here.”

“What do you want?”

“An interview.”

A blast of laughter left her. “An interview? With whom?”

“Nicole McDade has a price on her head. Why?”

Wasn’t that a question she wanted the answer to as well?

“Okay, I’ll see what I can get you,” she said. “But, Tulip, seriously, you better trust me to handle this. You start mouthing off or it gets out you have this information and aren’t sharing it, there’s more than just me interested. Sit on it for a minute. And, Tulip…?” No acknowledgement. “Thank you for bringing this to me.”

They might figure it out without going back to Tulip. Which would work in Tulip’s favor. If Conn, or an associate, decided to extract the information from her on their own, it wouldn’t be pretty.

“I’m still trying to decide if I can trust you.”

“Ditto,” she said and hung up only to dial another number.

“High Class! S’up, baby?”

“Hey, Whisper, are you coming to the meeting today?”

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