Free Finders Keepers Losers Die by Carolyn Scott Page B

head.
    I was distracted from the cooling thoughts
by a large figure looming in the open doorway. Will.
    Fuck!
    He looked like he wanted to bite someone's
head off. No prizes for guessing whose. I tried to blend into the
scenery but I guess I wasn't dressed like a cop because he spotted
me straight away. He stalked across the floor, his sharp glare
ripping through me. He stopped, hands on hips, between Scarface and
me. But instead of telling me what he thought of my entrepreneurial
activities, he turned to Scarface.
    "What's going on here?" he asked in the
tight voice he seemed to reserve for ticking me off.
    "Nice to see you too, Knight," said
Scarface. "Been a while."
    "I haven't got time for reunions, Forde. I
got a call from a Detective Stankovic that my…" His gaze slid to
me. "…employee was down here making a nuisance of herself—"
    "Hey, I'm right here!" I waved in his
face.
    Will ignored me.
    "Not exactly a nuisance," Scarface said, his
one eye grazing over my body.
    A little shiver followed in the wake of his
scrutiny, but it wasn't from being creeped out. Quite the
opposite.
    Will noticed the look too, and my reaction.
A deep frown split his forehead. "Anyone care to answer me?"
    I cleared my throat and tried to think of
something to get me out of the mess but it appeared to be one of
those rare occasions where the truth might be best. I drew Will
aside.
    "Now don't get mad—"
    "It's a little late for that."
    "I took on Roberta Scarletti as a
client."
    I expected him to lose his temper and swear
and generally act like a pig, but he merely sighed. "I thought as
much. Cat, why? After everything I said?" He looked exhausted. His
stubble could rival Scarface's for length and the spidery lines
around his bloodshot eyes were deeper than ever.
    Too bad he'd used up all my sympathy votes
in the previous couple of days.
    "She was desperate. She needed help and I
felt sorry for her. Lou is—was—awful to her." I paused but he said
nothing. "I can do this, Will. Just give me a chance."
    He held up his hands. "Let's not go into
that right now. I just want to fix this mess and get back to work.
Now," he turned to Scarface and Stankovic who'd joined us, "is Cat
in any trouble here?"
    "Her bugging device was found under the
coffee table," said Stankovic, "and I'm sure her fingerprints are
everywhere. But I doubt we'll be needing to talk to her. She
doesn't seem to know much."
    Condescending asshole.
    "Thank you," Will said on a breath. "Come
on, Cat, let's go." He strode off but I didn't follow.
    I felt like I was holding onto a slippery
pole and losing my grip fast. "Wait," I said, "I'm not finished
here."
    "I think you are."
    My blood reached boiling point. He might be
my boss but he didn't have to make me look like an idiot. A hundred
curses bubbled up inside and it was just a matter of which one
spilled out first.
    "Relax, Knight," said Scarface, getting in
first. "Let Cat finish her investigations here. She's a good
interrogator. She makes me want to tell her everything." He said it
with a cheeky grin that changed his whole appearance. He really was
quite handsome, if you could look past the scar.
    Will had been near the door but he strode
back into the living room and crossed his arms. He squared off with
Scarface and I could practically see the testosterone flying
between them. They must have had a serious history together to
dislike each other so much. Not knowing was like a red rag to a
bull. They don't call me Cat for nothing. Mom often said my
curiosity would be my downfall one day. That and my tendency to lie
through my teeth to save my butt.
    "So how do you know each other?" I
asked.
    "We used to work together," Will said
without taking his eyes off Scarface.
    "Back when he had some balls," Scarface
said.
    Oh-kay.
    "As you may have already learned, Cat," Will
said, "Forde not only thinks he's God's gift to women and the
police force, he thinks private investigators are the scum of the
earth."
    "He hasn't treated