Page 8 of Rising Storm

“Where did you live before moving into the big house?”

Helix glared at him. “What’s with all the questions? Are we trying to be friends here or what?”

“I don’t see why we can’t try.”

Helix growled, “I’m not interested in being friends. You ask a lot of questions, Cop.”

Gareth picked up his coffee again. “Just trying to make polite conversation. We have to sit here with each other, so we may as well talk.”

“I had a crappy little apartment. Happy now?”

“Not really.” Gareth chuckled and sat down his mug. “I used to live in a crappy little apartment myself.”

“Cops don’t make much?”

“Not that much, no, but I was taking care of a family member and his care was really expensive. Took up most of my income.”

Of course he was. Helix had known about the man’s uncle dying right before he’d come to Maine to live. Though he didn’t know much more than that. But he could see this man living simply in order to help someone else. It was another reason they were so very, very different.

The only person Helix wanted to help was his brother. He didn’t even want to help himself—he didn’t deserve it.

Gareth took a deep breath. “What did Letsen have over you?”

His heart thudded hard and he glared at Gareth. “That’s not something I’m willing to discuss, so new subject.”

“At least you’re willing to talk some,” Gareth muttered.

Their food arrived and Helix bit into crispy bacon with relish, the salt exploding on his tongue. After he’d shoveled a few bites of eggs and hash browns, his growling stomach finally settled. He took a drink of his coffee and eyed Gareth. Turnabout was fair play. “Did you always want to be a cop?”

The man nodded. “For as long as I can remember. My uncle was friends with a lot of law enforcement men, so I grew up around them. Always wanted to be on the right side of the law.”

“How can you steal then?”

“I don’t look at it as stealing because we’re taking items that were stolen to begin with. But I don’t know how long I’ll do this. My uncle had just died and I’d lost my job. Quincy has been my best friend for years and I didn’t have anything else to do. Felt like I could do some good, so here I am.”

“So, you’ll eventually go back to being a cop?”

“No,” he said quietly as he moved food around on his plate. “That part of my life is done.”

“And you have no more family?”

“Quincy and my friends are my family. I’m hoping to get Liam, Carter and Isaac up there with us. Miss them.”

Helix had no intention of staying in that house if more cops showed up there to live. He could afford to find a place in town. Lane, in his genius, had set up a company that paid them all salaries. Some kind of estate thing. Hell, Helix didn’t know exactly how it worked, but it was enough to keep him comfortable even with all the trips he’d be taking—and most of those expenses were paid out of a fund as well. The guy was a fucking genius. Helix had it so much better than he ever had while under Letsen’s thumb. And he got a perverse sort of pleasure knowing he was living off money Letsen had stolen—money he’d used Helix and others to gain.

The server came to their table to refill their coffee mugs and to ask if they needed anything else. Gareth asked for the check. They finished the rest of their meal in silence. When his cell phone rang, Helix excused himself to take it outside away from the others in the restaurant.

“Hey,” Shelli said. “How did it go last night?”

He could easily picture the young woman, who liked to streak her black hair with wild colors. “Fine. We watched the building but didn’t learn all that much, so we’re going back Friday. Wearing suits and blending with the business crowd. You have any more information on the thief that’s supposedly here?”

“I do. Can you and Gareth meet him? Parking lot of a grocery store. I’ll text the address. He hasn’t told me anything about who he is and since I can’t just blurt out that Hayrick is dead, he thinks he’s meeting the man himself there.”

“When’s the meet?”

“Day after tomorrow at nine in the morning, so Thursday.” There was a noise in the background and he heard her greet Quincy. She got back on the phone. “Let me know how it goes.”

“Sure thing,” he said, hanging up. He heard a throat clearing behind him and turned to find Gareth standing there.

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