He’d said that. Right in frontof me. I hadn’t realized what he’d meant at the time, but I did now. This wasabout the money. That was why he was pushing Quinn so hard.
But then…
“Why leak the lyrics?” Iasked aloud.
Dave shrugged. “Get rid of you,I guess. You were close to figuring out it was Vincent, right? And then thewhole thing would have been over. Risky, but… for five hundred thousand? Worthit.”
Right. So that was just likeI’dthought, then.
Vincent would be very,verylucky if I didn’t put my boot on his throat by the end of this.
The whole thing was a mess.I’dbeen so close to it I hadn’t seen the forest through the trees until it wasmuch too late.
This was why you weren’t supposed tosleep with the client. Even if they weren’t technically the client.
I deserved the lecture aboutprofessionalism I was going to get for this, even if Gray had no right to giveit to me. Maybe he’d pass the job on to Logan. Logan had managed not to sleep witha client yet.
“Dave,” I said, resigning myselfto the fact that I’d exhausted the limits of his knowledge. “You’ve been veryenlightening, and I’m going to make you a deal. Swear to me that you’ll nevertell Harmony about the songs Quinn wrote, and I swear to you that I’ll nevertell a soul you were the one who gave Vincent the recordings. That work foryou?”
Dave nodded. “I wouldn’t havetold them. Those are Quinn’s songs.”
“Good lad,” I said. “Begentle with him today, eh? He’s been through a lot.”
“You’re not gonna be there?”he asked.
“I’ve been sacked,” I said. “ButI’m getting to the bottom of this.”
Dave looked at me with wideeyes. “Youreallyarea private investigator.”
I didn’t feel like oneat the moment, but I was glad to know I stillseemedlike one.
“That’s what it says on mybusiness card,” I said, remembering that I had those and fishing in my pocketfor the slim steel case I kept them in.
Dave accepted the offeredcard with a kind of reverence I’d never seen before. “Look, if you think ofanything else… let me know, okay?”
Dave nodded, taking out hiswallet to tuck the card away, and held one of his own out. I was surprised hehadone, but I accepted it anyway. Couldn’t hurt.
I stepped back, giving himspace to escape. There was no point in strangling him for his part in this.Besides, he’dcooperated. He might even have been useful in the future, depending on how thisplayed out.
“You’ll take care of him,right?” Dave asked. “Quinn, I mean. I’ve seen how he looks at you.”
The tips of my ears burned.Had it been that obvious?
“I will,” I promised.
Taking care of Quinn was thething I wanted most. Given the opportunity, I’d do anything I could.
Right now, that meantgetting his work back. The rest of it… the rest of it, we’d figure out together.
Dave ducked to the side,backing away as though he was still afraid I was going to change my mind andbreak his neck. “Good. He deserves it.”
TWENTY-THREE
QUINN
It was nothing short of amiracle that I made it into the bathroom before I started sobbing.
I’d been holding back tearsever since Fox had walked away, and deep breaths and calming thoughts weren’tas effective as they might’ve been.
