that’s even more reason to take advantage of the help I’m offering. Your plans were interrupted because of me, so it’s only fair to let me make it up to you.”
He regarded her in silence for a while. He still wasn’t agreeing, but at least he wasn’t moving toward the door.
“Think about it, Cooper. You said you can go where I can’t. Well, that works both ways. I have connections, too. I can use them to check out whatever lead you discover.”
“If you mean your connections with the Latchford police,” he said, “then forget it. Oliver has to have people on the inside there.”
It pained her to admit it, but she was beginning to suspect that much herself. Her father had become so agitated at the idea the one time she’d mentioned it to him that she hadn’t brought it up again, yet she had to be realistic. Whatever the reason, the police hadn’t helped her so far. They would be even less likely to help her now that the trial was over.
She shook her head. “No, I meant the connections I have in the financial world. I worked as a forensic accountant in Chicago so I have a lot of experience following money trails. I can follow Oliver’s.”
“What good would that do?”
“We could get solid evidence of Oliver’s motive to kill Adam, which would prove my brother’s death wasn’t an accident. We might even be able to prove Oliver bribed his way to an acquittal.”
He raked his fingers through his hair. “This is sounding complicated.”
“It doesn’t have to be. Would Tony object if you worked with a partner?” she asked.
“Tony Monaco’s never been real particular about methods. He’s more interested in results.”
“Then there isn’t any good reason why we shouldn’t team up. You did say you would do whatever it takes to keep your bar.”
He turned back to the window and lifted a blind slat to look outside. “Yeah, I did say that.”
“Why can’t that include working with a Tavistock?”
He shook his head, muttering something under his breath.
“Well?”
The silence lasted longer this time. Finally, he left the window and strode directly to where she stood. He took her by the shoulders. “If I agree to this, you’ll keep your distance from Sproule, right?”
Her heart began to pound. She wanted to think it was from what he was saying, but she knew it was more from his touch. “I’ll stay away as long as you don’t shut me out of what you’re doing.”
“Hayley—”
“I mean it, Cooper. Don’t shut me out. I want you to keep me up to date on your progress.”
He moved his palms along her shoulders to her neck. “I’ll do more than that. Once I bring you in with me, you’ll be all the way in.”
“That’s how I want it.”
“Don’t be so fast to agree, Hayley, seeing as how you cleaned up so good and all.” He touched his fingertip to the pulse at the base of her throat. “The kind of dirt you’ll be getting into now won’t be so easy to wash off.”
Chapter 4
Cooper heard the distinctive rumble of the split carburetor well before he saw the bike’s headlight sweep past the chain-link fence to the broken gate. Nathan Beliveau was right on time, which wasn’t surprising, considering his business—he was the president of the largest courier company in the midwest. He would know about keeping schedules. But his choice of transportation was…unexpected. Cooper leaned back against the front fender of his truck and waited as the Harley Davidson coasted down the ramp into the abandoned gravel pit and slowed to a stop beside him.
The echoes of the bike’s engine faded gradually, replaced by the ticking of cooling metal. A cloud of dust tainted with exhaust floated through the headlight briefly before the beam was extinguished. The meeting place they’d agreed on was five miles out of Latchford and half a mile from the highway. The floodlight that had been mounted near the entrance when the pit had been in operation was long gone, but it was a clear night and the moon was almost full, so there was enough light to see what he needed to.
The man astride the motorcycle stretched his long legs on either side to balance the machine but made no move to get off. He could probably afford to travel by chauffeured limo, but he appeared completely at ease on the powerful bike. “You’re Webb?” he asked.
“Yeah.” Cooper made no attempt to hide his scrutiny—it would be expected. “Nice hog, Beliveau.”
“She’s a beauty, all right.” He slipped off his helmet and rested it on the gas tank in front of him. “It sure beats riding a desk.”
Cooper shifted his scrutiny from the bike to the man on it. Moonlight gleamed from his straight black hair and the sharp ridges of his cheekbones, revealing the stamp of native heritage. He would probably look just as comfortable riding bareback on an Appaloosa.
Wind rustled through the weeds that ringed the pit, muffling the distant whine of tires on the highway. Nathan lifted his face, as if testing the breeze. “Tony said you wanted televisions.”
“Know of any?”
“How about a trailer load of sixty-two-inch plasma screens?”
Cooper whistled. “That’ll do.”
“They’re at an electronics manufacturing company in Hammond where they’re scheduled for an overnight shipment to Kansas City. The pickup’s slated for ten-thirty tomorrow night. That means you should be out of there by ten.”
“Sounds good.”
“Can you handle a big rig?”
“No problem. Have you got one with a sleeper compartment?”
“There’s one at the Chicago terminal. I’ll arrange to have it parked in a rest area off the Interstate. You’ll have until seven in the morning before I’ll have to report it missing.”
Cooper calculated the time it would take him to get the truck to Hammond, do the pickup and drive back to Latchford. It would be cutting things close, especially since he would be taking detours onto secondary routes to get around the weigh stations. “I’ll have it back by then.”
“Try to keep the damage to the rig to a minimum. My insurance rates are already killing me.”
“Except for the wires, it won’t have a scratch.”
Nathan turned his head toward Cooper. His eyes were too deep-set for the moonlight to touch, making his expression inscrutable. “You better be as good as Tony said you were. I heard it’s been a few years since you did a job like this.”
“Some things you don’t forget.”
Nathan studied him. “That’s right. Some things you don’t forget.”
Cooper
