Ah, that was it. “How much?”
“Fifty bucks.”
Fifty bucks’ tip for a single pizza… of course he did. “He’s a generous guy.” Will reached for his wallet. “But since you’re doin’ me a favor by lettin’ me take it off your hands tonight, I’ll do you one too.” He handed her a hundred, glad yet again that he made it a habit to carry cash on him at all times.
She took the bill a bit gingerly. “It’s wet.”
“Yeah, I got into a fight with a fire hydrant earlier tonight and lost.”
Finally she laughed. “Sorry about that. I hope you enjoy your pizza. Say hi to Mr. Dalton for me, please.”
“Will do…” He glanced at her name tag. “Cassie. Will do. Much obliged.” He tipped his imaginary hat to her, and she laughed again before getting in her car and driving away. Will watched her go, then straightened his shoulders and headed for the front door. Time to talk his way through the next obstacle.
He didn’t even need to say anything to the man at the front desk, though. The guy saw the box and said, “Oh good, he looked hungry,” then unlocked the elevator for him.
“Thanks,” Will said. He got into the elevator and stared at the numbers for a moment, then grinned as it began moving without him even needing to touch anything. Of course Cole Dalton had an automated life. He was a man who wanted control over his surroundings; a creature who thrived on routines. Will had gotten lucky enough to sneak in to that routine at just the right time tonight. Sweet ol’ serendipity, luck taking the reins… whatever it was, he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
The elevator doors opened on the thirtieth floor—the penthouse apartments. Will was a little surprised to find out there were four of them up here; he’d expected two at most. Not as bougie as a man like Dalton could go, but maybe he was trying to distance himself a bit from his parents’ lifestyle. Now, to figure out which apartment was his. The receipt on top of the pizza box was no help. He could knock on them all, but that was risky and Will was tired and now his stomach was grumbling, too. Fucking hors d’oeuvres and goddamn crudité; that shit never filled you up.
No, it was fine, he could figure this out. Will thought about what he knew of Cole. Fancy as fuck, refined but a night owl, so it was a safe bet he liked to sleep late in the morning. He could have the mother of all light-blocking curtains, but he was thesort to think about these things, so not the east-facing side if he’d had a choice. That left two apartments, and only the ones on the north side appeared to have balconies. Was Cole the sort of man who’d appreciate a balcony?
Unbidden, the thin hair Will had honed in on when they’d gotten close came to mind. Cole might not appreciate a balcony for his own sake, but if he had the furry companion Will suspected he did, then a balcony was pure enrichment. With a smile, he moved to the northside apartment and knocked firmly on the door. He knew he was on camera, where was it, where… right up there. He grinned at the little nook and spun the pizza around on his hand. “Deliveryyy,” he sang.
The door opened, and Will found himself looking down the barrel of a matte black handgun. On the other end of it was the irate personage of Cole Dalton himself, dressed way down in sweats and a Harvard T-shirt and no less intimidating because of that.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Cole demanded through gritted teeth.
Will frowned. “Is that any way to greet the person who’s bringing you food? I was told you were nice to delivery people.” A long-haired gray cat peered around the edge of Cole’s legs.Ha, bingo.“Aw, pretty kitty. Does she like the view from your balcony?”
There went the vein in Cole’s forehead. Will felt mildly accomplished. “Where’s Cassie?”
“Probably off enjoying the hundred bucks I gave her to let me bring this in for you.” He hefted the pizza. “I promise I didn’t spit on it. I just want to talk to you about what happened tonight.”
“I saved your ass. You’re welcome. Now?—”
“The real Puffin is missing,” Will said quickly. “The fake broke at the scene, Alders is pissed beyond all belief, and Jansenand Eli got nicked. You knew the cops were going to be there. Did you know the Puffin was a fake too?”
The gun slowly lowered. “No, I didn’t. I didn’t know the cops were going to be there beforehand either—I just saw them and made the connection.”
Smart cookie. “Someone played a hell of a lot of us,” Will said. “And made off with the real statue, too.”
Cole’s posture stiffened, and he couldn’t hide that Will had his attention now. “The real—are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
“Bullshit.”
“Nope. I was trying to make my escape, and I heard Alders losing his goddamned mind over it.” Will shifted his weight. “I’d like to know who knew the one in the party was a fakeandgot their hands on the real one.” He gestured at Cole. “And two heads are better than one.”
“Not when one of them’s yours.”
“Aw, honeybee.” He put a hand over his heart. “I swear I’m not here to cause trouble for you. I just want to find out who was willing to watch me burn in order to get the grand prize.” It wasn’tsurprisingto be set up by someone—no honor among thieves and all that—but Will needed to know who it was. He needed to know the kind of guardrails that had to go up now, and more than anything he needed to make sure none of this blew back on his family. “Please,” he added, batting his eyelashes in what his sister-in-law had assured him was very adorkable.
“Fuck.” Cole sighed. “Fine. But you’re not getting any of my pizza.”
CHAPTER 3
Jesus Christ in a sparkly purple negligee, Cole’s night had gone to shit.
