Page 36 of What Started In Deception

The waitress brought over his tea.

“Thanks,” Ty said.

The waitress nodded and walked off.

He nudged the glass farther to his right, not particularly interested in his drink. “For the most part, Lydia and I are sort of dating, if that’s what you want to call whatever this fucked-up situation is.”

Danny huffed out a laugh as he picked up his coffee again. “It’s definitely fucked up, but it sounds like you’re making progress.”

He nodded. “She’s stopped looking at me like she hates me, and I got her to hold my hand last night…” He shook his head, scrubbing at his face. “We’re really having this conversation right now.”

Humor twinkled in Danny’s blue eyes as he grinned. “My advice to you is to be careful. That’s one beautiful woman you’re spending time with.”

Ty shrugged. “There’s no denying that Lydia’s gorgeous. She’s funny and kind, too, but she and I are strictly business. We’re trying to build some semblance of a friendship so we can make this thing work.”

“Be careful anyway.”

He nodded, not at all worried about his current “romantic relationship.” “I’m hearing you, but Lydia and I have a job to do. When this is over, she’ll go her way, and I’ll go mine. I’m hoping I’ll be able to hop into a new case right away.”

“We’ll have to see how it all plays out.” Danny grabbed a larger yellow envelope off his bench, sliding it in Ty’s direction on the table.

Ty picked it up. “What do we have here?”

“More of the same.”

He reached in, pulling out two more pictures of Will Monroe talking to Richard Russo at The Tap Room. “Lydia’s certain that there’s nothing going on here.”

Danny huffed out another laugh. “I’m sure that’s what she wants to believe, but I don’t see how you can work in one of Boston’s top law firms and not know that Richard Russo is bad news.”

Ty frowned as he studied Will and Russo grinning as they ate their meals at the bar. “Isn’t Will a corporate attorney? It’s not like he’s spending his days in the trenches of criminal law. He’s not even a litigator.”

Danny shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. Most people know that Russo’s a bad apple.”

Ty tucked the pictures back into the envelope, sliding them Danny’s way again, not planning to mention anything about them to Lydia. They were finally getting somewhere. Bringing up Will and Richard Russo was bound to send them backward.

Danny tipped his empty cup upside down on the saucer. “Is there anything else we need to discuss?”

Ty shook his head. “Nothing’s coming to mind.”

Danny reached into his pocket, pulled a twenty out of his wallet, and tossed it onto the table. “Then I’m going home to my wife and kids.”

Ty grabbed a twenty from his wallet as well, tossing it next to Danny’s, figuring that their waitress wasn’t bound to get many more tips throughout the day.

They both stood and walked outside, heading for their vehicles.

“Keep me up to date if Ms. Monroe mentions anything.”

Ty nodded as he unlocked his truck. “If something develops, you’ll be the first person I call, but I feel confident that we won’t get our answers until we head up to Mass. If something is going on, Lydia doesn’t know anything about it.”

“That’s good information to have,” Danny said, opening his door. “I’ll reach out in a couple of days, and we’ll figure out when we want to meet up again.”

Ty nodded, opening his door as well. “Sounds good.”

“See ya,” Danny said, wasting no time closing his door and turning over his engine. He made fast work of backing up and tossing up a wave before he took a right, heading back toward the city.

Ty got in and left, glancing at the dashboard clock as he drove toward Route 66, noting that a good chunk of his afternoon was now free. He would be back in Oliver Heights in an hour and ten minutes, which left plenty of time to give Lydia a call.

Maybe they could take a walk and grab an ice cream cone at the stand if she didn’t already have plans. Or maybe they could meet up for dinner, so she could pepper him with a million more of her endless questions.