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Although he said he didn’t like to talk, once he got started, he didn’t want to stop. His name was Willie Mahoney. He was a Chicago native who’d worked for the gas company until his retirement. His wife of forty-eight years had been a “spark plug.” His kids were grown and lived out of state. He was lonely. By the time he wound down, Piper had a parking ticket, and she’d lost her chance to shower.
She drove directly to Lakeview and picked up Coop in the alley four doors down from his condo. The image of him being led away in handcuffs was still seared on her brain, and she had to clutch the steering wheel to keep from hugging him. Fortunately, he was in a sour mood. “I don’t enjoy sneaking out of my own house.”
“You’d rather join that media
convention in your front yard?”
He grunted something and folded his big frame into the Sonata’s passenger seat. “What’s this about, and where are we going?”
She dodged both questions. “Thanks for trusting me.”
“Where did you get that idea?”
“You’re here, aren’t you?”
Barely. His eyes were bloodshot and his jaw scruffy. She wanted to comfort him—reassure him—but he wouldn’t appreciate it. “I hope you looked better when they took your mug shot.”
He almost smiled. “You have no pity.”
The last thing he wanted from her, she knew.
“And you’re not exactly looking you’re best,” he said. “As a matter of fact—”
“It’s been a long couple of days.” She flipped on KISS FM and turned up the volume to end the conversation.
She waited until she was ready to pull into the parking lot behind the building that housed Joss Investments to explain. “We’re meeting Deidre.”
“So I see.” He rubbed his eyes. “I don’t want to meet Deidre.”
“Teamwork.”
“There isn’t any teamwork happening here. I have no idea what you’re doing, and you haven’t enlightened me.”
She took in all his weary gorgeousness. “This is the last time I’ll ask you to trust me. I promise.”
He shoved open the car door. “Why the hell not? What’s another miserable day?”
She collected the laptop from the trunk. He must have thought it was hers because he didn’t ask about it. The laptop, however, was the first thing Noah spotted as Deidre’s secretary let them into her office. He came to his feet from the side table where he and Deidre had been going over some files.
Deidre greeted Coop with a cool nod, her previous warmth gone, and moved toward her desk, as if she wanted a barrier between them. “You didn’t tell me Cooper was coming, Piper. You led me to believe we’d only be meeting with you.”
“Is that what you thought? My mistake.”
Coop positioned himself between the door and an oil painting of Deidre’s father. Crossing his arms over his chest, he rested one shoulder against the wall, letting Piper take the lead. She wanted so badly to do this for him, to lay it out at his feet like a Super Bowl trophy. She handed the laptop over to Noah. “I think this belongs to you. It’s the oddest thing. Somebody left it on my doorstep last night. And don’t worry. I backed it up.”
Noah’s lower lip thinned as the corners of his mouth contracted, but he couldn’t directly accuse her of stealing without casting suspicion on himself.
Deidre steepled her fingers on the desktop. “What’s this about, Piper?”
“It’s about your right-hand man here. He’s a criminal. I’m guessing you didn’t know that?”
Noah turned vicious. “Get out of here.”
Deidre’s bewildered expression looked strange on the face of a woman accustomed to being in control. Piper confronted Noah. “Does the name Ellen Englley ring a bell?”
Noah stalked toward Deidre’s desk. “I’m calling security.”
“You know her better as Rochelle Mauvais,” Piper said. “It’s a great hooker name.”
