I know, for example, why he tends to veer toward law enforcement—do you?
Liam spent half his shower cursing Felix under his breath and the other half wondering what he and Josh would do next.
PLAN, APPARENTLY—at least for part of the morning.
He got out of the shower and dressed in sweats to find Josh, dressed in thieves’ clothes, munching his way through a bowl of fruit, yogurt, and granola.
“I thought you said protein,” Liam protested before throwing his underwear into the hamper in Josh’s bathroom.
“Yogurthasprotein,” he mumbled absently, studying a tablet that he must have brought in his duffel on the way over.“And also some nice bacteria that helps my stomach recoup what it lost when chemo tried to kill me.So some things you should know about last night’s fallout—grab some food and be ready.”
Liam went through the small refrigerator and found, to his delight, bagels, cream cheese, and salami.He eyed that last speculatively, and then glanced at Josh and then back into the refrigerator.
“Eat the salami,” Josh said dryly, although it did not appear he’d looked up.“If nothing else, I have breath mints.”
“Try not to kill the romance,” Liam grumbled, and when he glanced Josh’s way, Josh was giving him a mischievous grin.
“You showed up when I needed you,” Josh said happily.“Achievement unlocked.There’s only one thing I need you to do after that.”
Liam’s expression softened.He knew the answer to this one.Any idiot would.
“Stay,” he said.
Josh tilted his head.“We all have our damage.Stay.”
“Understood.What are you looking at so fiercely?”He grabbed the bagels, schmear, and spicy lunchmeat and put them all on the counter before pulling out the toaster, all while listening to Josh reading the morning family report.
“Well, Carl told us that Kadjic managed to slip out before the FBI Art Theft Division got there—”
“Big surprise,” Liam muttered.
“Yes, but also not a big surprise was that Celeste apparently didn’t even know who the guy was—her words—and she had no idea why the painting seemed to anger him so much.”
Liam snorted.“A lie?”he asked.
“Oh, definitely a lie.I heard her say his name twice a day for six weeks.She knew he was coming.”
Liam frowned.“But she obviously knew that was bad news from a LEO perspective.I never did catch whether or not the girl invited him or just ran in his circles.Howdidhe know whether to show up or not?”
“We baited the hook,” Josh said.“Danny knew that Kadjic loved Dizzy Gillespie and the Chicago jazz movement.I think it had something to do with the hats.”
Liam blinked.“Hats?”
“Fedoras?”Josh asked.“You know, all those movies with guys in fedoras and turtlenecks snapping their way through jazz clubs?Apparently Kadjic’s a fan.”
Liam gaped, nonplussed, until a bagel popped out of the toaster.
“Weird,” he managed as he turned to his breakfast.
“No, not really,” Josh murmured, making another note on his tablet.“What’syourfavorite music?”
“Punk,” Liam said, not even having to think.“But that’s sort of, you know, a London thing—even an East End thing.”
“So,” Josh said, “if, say, the lead singer of The Clash actually painted in the style of your favorite artist….”He gestured at Liam to fill that in.
“There’s a street artist I like,” Liam said.“Don’t know his name, only his tag.Coyle.”He said it with the Gaelic pronunciation, “Kelly,” and was surprised when Josh spelled it out for him.
“Yes, that’s it.How’d you know?”
