Page 27 of Between the Lies

‘They?’ Robert raised an eyebrow. ‘Who’s “they”?’

Finn shrugged. ‘I don’t ask. It’s none of my business. Besides, the more I know, the more I become a liability. I’m not getting myself killed over nothing.’

It made sense. People who were looking for IDs weren’t exactly on the up and up. Making IDs for teens to get into bars was illegal, but your worse enemies were the police. When you got into the high-end stuff, you’d be dealing with all kinds of crooks.

‘When are you meeting her?’ Robert probed.

‘I don’t meet my clients.’

Robert sighed. ‘You’re just making things difficult. Look, Finn, as I told you?—’

‘It’s how my business works.’ Finn raised his voice. ‘I don’t ask questions, and I don’t meet clients once they employ me. The first meeting is necessary for me to vet them, face to face. Tech is great, but it can’t tell you everything.’

‘How do you get the papers to them?’ Robert pushed.

‘I don’t do the drops. Too risky. Most of my clients are on the run. Do you really think I’d expose myself like that?’

Robert wanted to wring the man’s neck. If he created the IDs, he had to deliver them somehow. This merry walk around the bush had to end – now. If Nina got those papers, she’d get away again, and this time there was no guarantee he’d find her.

He’d never be able to live with himself if he got so close and let her slip away again. He’d been stupid before, not now.

‘How do you deliver the papers, Finn?’ Even Robert could hear the desperation in his voice. In a minute, he’d be begging, and once you begged, you lost the upper hand. But God! He was so close to finding her.

Finn had the gall to laugh. ‘What is it with you and asking the same questions over and over? You won’t trap me in a lie.’

‘I’m trying to help you.’

Finn laughed again. ‘If I let everyone who was searching for my clients “help me”, I’d be out of business. I help people get away, not help them meet their stalkers.’

‘I’m not a stalker!’ Robert shouted. The barista looked up from her phone, again shooting him a spooked look. For fuck’s sake! ‘Finn, I’m with the police.’

‘You’re an officer gone rogue. I can’t help you.’

Robert gripped the table instead of gripping Finn’s ears and smacking his face onto his beloved laptop. Robert was tempted – really, really tempted – to give Finn’s muscles a run for their money. A fight sounded satisfying.

Dickheadson came to mind. Then Cheryl’s disapproving face. No, Robert couldn’t beat up this man, no matter how annoying he was being.

He took a breath. ‘You said you judge people based on their character. I’m sure you’ve run a background check on me, asked Daisy about me. And now you’ve met me. Do I seem like a stalker?’

Finn lifted his hand and raised one finger. ‘You’re here asking me about the address of a woman you don’t know.’ Another finger went up. ‘You carry this woman’s picture in your wallet.’ Another finger. ‘You know things about this woman she hasn’t voluntarily told you.’ Another finger. ‘You have a vendetta against her. And I’m sure she’s the last thought you think before you fall asleep, the first when you wake up, and you see her in your dreams.’

Nina in his dreams. Robert didn’t want to think about his dreams or what sort of thoughts he had about Nina, or them, together.

‘I can keep going.’ Finn smirked. ‘But I’ve run out of fingers.’

Robert didn’t need Finn to list any more reasons. So okay, he was being a bit stalkerish. But stalkers were creepy and wrong. He was doing this to find justice. Those two things were completely different.

Robert retrieved Nina’s picture and stuffed it in his wallet. ‘I can deliver those documents for you, Finn. You can say I coerced you.’

‘I don’t get coerced.’

Robert looked straight into Finn’s eyes, hoping he could somehow get the other man to comply. When Finn didn’t so much as blink, Robert growled.

‘Fine, fine!’ Robert slid the laptop back to him. When the young man reached out to snatch it away, Robert pressed his palm on the gadget, holding it in place. ‘Oh, Finn, but you forget: I have friends in the right places. If I give them a call and your name, how would that affect your wee business?’

Finn paused, then muttered a curse.

‘Aye, and I’m sure you’ve already got a sheet my pals in uniform can add to.’

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