“That’s not true.”
“You and I know that, but the general public doesn’t, and until we have something concrete, we can’t do anything about it because of his position in the public eye.”
“What does something concrete mean to you?”
“The easiest thing to work with would be a confession.”
Matthew was starting to get a bad feeling about this.He disliked the expression on Alan’s face.He didn’t think he was going to like whatever was about to come out of Alan’s mouth, but he could do nothing to stop it.He doubted his mate would be happy with him if he tried.
“And how would you get a confession?”Alan asked slowly.
“He’d have to tell someone what he’s been up to.The more details we can get, the better.”
“But he won’t tell anyone.”
“We don’t think he will, no.Considering everything, we know the man is too smart to blab his mouth.He’s probably been doing this for years, yet we’ve never heard about it.”
“But he’d talk to someone he was close to, maybe someone he worked with.”Alan didn’t look at Matthew.“Maybe he’d talk to someone who already knows what he’s been up to.”
Dante did glance at Matthew, but only for a second.His full attention returned to Alan.
Matthew knew what the man was thinking.If he was good at his job, he had to know what Alan was suggesting and that it was a good idea.The only reason Matthew thought it wasn’t was that it would put his mate in danger, and that wasn’t something he wanted to happen.
Unfortunately, he didn’t think he’d have a choice.
“I heard him with that guy,” Alan said.“So I know what’s happening, and he knows I know.I could talk to him.”
“To say what?”Matthew asked.He might not be able to stop his mate, but he was still going to try.He wasn’t going to risk losing Alan.“That you want to join him?He won’t believe that.”
“I don’t think he would, no.But he might believe me if I ask him for money to keep his secret.”
“You want to blackmail him?”That sounded like averybad idea.
“It makes sense.I have plenty of student debt to pay, and he knows it.He’ll think I’m taking advantage of the situation.It’s something a lot of people would do.”
“Not you.”
“Not me, but maybe if I hadn’t been lucky enough to end up here, I would have.”
Matthew didn’t believe that.“It’s not the kind of person you are.”
“But what if I’d never met you?What if I’d been alone, with no one to ask for help and nowhere to go?Even if I’d managed to escape him the other night, I wouldn’t have been able to go home.I still can’t.I think that he’ll fall for it if I tell him that I just want to go back to a normal life.Who wouldn’t in my position?”
Matthew stared at his mate.He desperately wanted to tell him he couldn’t do this, but how could he?“I’m not going to be able to change your mind, am I?”he asked instead.
Alan turned to Dante.“Do you think there’s any other way for you to get this information?”
Dante gave Matthew an apologetic glance.“I don’t, no.This man has been doing this for a long time.That means he’s smart and knows how to keep a secret.It would take us too much time to have someone infiltrate his life and for him to be comfortable enough with them to tell them about his business.If we’re going to get a confession, it needs to be to someone Victor already knows and trusts, even if only in part.”
“And that someone is me,” Alan murmured.He turned back to Matthew.“I need to do this.”
Matthew sighed.“I know.”
“You’re not going to try and stop me?”
“Would you stop if I asked you to?”
“I can’t.”
