Page 157 of Penny For Your Thoughts
It was my turn to approach, one slow, easy step at a time. When I was within ten feet, he retreated a step.
I stopped, satisfied that I’d gotten far enough under his skin to make him sweat. “Guys like you don’t make enough money to drive fancy cars and own expensive properties, Aaron. Your buddy went out of his way to hide his wealth behind an investment business, albeit poorly. Tell him he forgot to burn his old tax forms.”
I clucked my tongue. “A shame. They were in a box marked TO SHRED in his storage unit. It wouldn’t take a genius to pick up the discrepancies. In fact, my boyfriend, the man whose ass you fondled, figured it out at a glance. What are the chances a skilled police officer who works in IT might find inconsistencies in your finances, too? Because I know a guy. All it would take is—”
My phone buzzed against my leg with an incoming call. As much as I didn’t want to shatter the tension I’d managed to build, I worried about Tallus and what was happening on his end. His distorted voice came back to me in an instant.
“Don’t move.” I glared, removing the ringing phone from my pocket. “I have to take this call and see how your friend Luke is making out.”
Without taking my eyes off Aaron, I hit connect. “Yeah.”
Tallus answered, and a wave of relief hit me.
His speech was clearer than earlier but nasally. “You send da bolice. I doughd you said you weren’d.”
“I changed my mind.”
“I doughd you said—”
“I know. I was wrong. Why are you talking funny?”
“Luke’s beened arresded.”
“Arrested? Really?” I wasn’t sure how Tallus had swung that without a mountain of proof, but it was music to my ears.
Tallus attempted to say more, but I pressed the phone to my chest and spoke to Aaron. “Good news. Your friend has been arrested. It’s only a matter of time before the cops come for you, too.”
Aaron closed his eyes and looked like he wanted to cry.
I moved the phone back to my ear as Tallus said, “Did you heared me?”
“No. What?”
“He was arresded for assauld. Meed me ad the hospidal. I dink dey have to resed my dose.”
“What?”
“I had do go. Da bolice are coming do you.”
The line went dead, and I stared at my phone as the pieces slotted together. Hospital? Assault? Did he say something about his nose?
My gaze slipped from my phone to the stack of boxes and all they contained. The police were on the way here? I wasn’t sure how Tallus had convinced them to come, but they were coming. If I understood correctly, then the arrest wasn’t to do with the scam. And an assault charge was nothing. Lukyan had enough money to make that go away.
But…
“Do you want to spend the next twenty years in prison, Aaron?” The man had gone from gray to green and looked ready to vomit. Ididn’t wait for an answer. “The police are on their way to pick you up. I can help, but you need to do something for me in return.”
Aaron’s terrified gaze lifted to mine. “Why would you do that?”
“Because I suspect you’re as much a pawn as the kids Luke hires to run his scams. You get paid more because you let him fuck you. You keep both his dirty secrets. Am I right?”
Aaron’s Adam’s apple bobbed. He didn’t confirm or deny the truth, but I knew.
“You’re nothing but a paid whore, Aaron, and you’re going to end up in prison because of it. He doesn’t care about you. He only cares about himself and his money. I can’t make the charges go away, but I can tell you how to make it better for yourself.”
“How?”
“No way. First, you make me a deal.”
