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“Got a call last night from a long-standing contact of mine. Seems he’s got a problem he wants us to help him out with.”
My brow goes up. “And you’re giving it to me? Anyone would think you're taking my training wheels off.”
He snorts, his lips tugging up on the side. “You haven't needed those since the first day you walked in here and you damn well know that.”
“I was a mess,” I state matter-of-factly.
Harry pins me with a stare. “I’ve told you time and time again, the day you stop beating yourself up about things you cannot change will be the day you get a good night's sleep and stop doubting yourself.”
Now I'm the one scoffing. “You make it sound easy.”
“Probably because I've put criminals away for far worse than what you did who had far less punishment for it and they sleep fine.”
“Wish it was that simple.”
“Aiden, you made a mistake. It won't be the first time and it likely won't be the last. You wouldn't be human if you didn't fall on your ass sometimes. Tell me a man who hasn’t screwed up because of a woman and I’ll tell you you’re wrong every time.”
“OK, wise one. What do you suggest I do? I broke the law and it led to a man and a woman almost getting killed.”
“But they weren't. The bad guy was jailed. You've more than suffered the consequences of your actions. If you keep focusing on the past and not the future, you'll never sleep, you'll never live, and one day, you'll find yourself looking in the mirror at a has-been with nothing to show for his life.”
I shoot him a wry grin. “You sound like you're talking from experience when I damn well know you left the force willingly, not because you wanted to save your pension.”
“I was called in and dressed down more times than you can count, all for following my heart instead of my head. If you saw my record, your head would spin,” he chuckles.
Silence falls between us as I roll his words over in my mind. “So, this case…”
“Is the opportunity to face your past and move on from it.”
My head jerks back as a sinking feeling in my gut makes its presence known. “Tell me about it then.”
“Money is being skimmed off the top by his business partner, and not a small amount either. But he can’t trace it,” he explains.
“And that’s where I come in, I assume? You’ve seen my resume, I never worked financial crimes.”
“Ah, but you covered white collar and computer crimes at the FBI academy, didn't you? You’re many things, Aiden Lawrence, but a fraud isn’t one of them.”
I shrug because he’s not wrong. It’s still not helping the uneasy feeling in my gut. “OK, then. Give me the Cliff notes version and I'll let you know if you're barking up the wrong tree putting me on this case.”
“The client is not exactly squeaky clean, but clean enough,” Harry starts, telling me all I need to know. He may not be on the up and up, but he's up enough. Meaning as far as we know, he's not doing anything that'll hurt good people. That's something I've had to learn to get used to since becoming a PI. As a police detective, everything’s black and white--at least it was until I decided to create a whole new shade of grey. Moving on...
“This other boss, how sure is the client that it’s him doing the skimming?”
“It’s one of the two of them so I’m thinking that’s enough confirmation. He just needs proof of whatever is going on. When he has that, he can act. It’s a lucrative operation and very high profile. All you need to do is go in, tread carefully, bide your time and make sure you dot all the I’s and cross all the T’s so the client gets the information he wants. It has got to be concrete though. Open and shut.”
“How am I supposed to do that and how long do I have to do it?” My mind is already racing with possibilities. Surveillance, a confidential informant on the inside, a wiretap, dummy transactions. None of it is foolproof though.
“He wants you to go in and stay in for however long it takes.”
It takes a moment to realize what he's saying. “In as in undercover?”
“Yep. And you're the only one out of the two of us who can do it.”
I stare at him, my eyes bugging out. “Out of the two of us, sure. Out of everyone on the West Coast, no.”
“He came to me for this, Aiden. We can’t turn it down.” Harry lets those words hang in the air between us. “It’s not like I can pass for security in a club like that.”
“Club?”
