Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

Keep it simple.”
     He drew a ragged breath and raised his head. “This would have been easier if you’d
     brought Cynna Weaver. She could have found…they took something of mine, you see. Something
     I want back. But you wouldn’t bring your Finder, so I have to ask for my side of the
     deal first. After that, I’ll tell you everything. Do whatever you ask.”
    Rule’s lips twisted. “We’re supposed to give you what you want and trust that you’ll
     honor your end of the deal afterward?”
    “I’m afraid so.” He glanced at Lily. “You did insist on bringing the authorities along,
     in the person of your fiancée. Once I’m all officially confessed, I may not be free
     to retrieve what’s mine.”
    “Speaking of which—” Lily began.
    “No. We won’t speak of it. Not at all.”
    Very softly she asked, “Where’s Adam?”
    His eyes widened. Just for a second, so briefly she would have missed it if she hadn’t
     been watching closely. “Out of town.”
    “They’ve got him, don’t they? Whoever ‘they’ may be, they’ve got your partner, Adam
     King.”

EIGHTEEN

    J ASPER Machek shook his head. “You’re wrong.”
    Lily studied him. He had good control, but he didn’t do stone-face as well as his
     brother. He couldn’t keep the fear out of his eyes…eyes so much like Rule’s, except
     for the crow’s-feet, the subtle toughening of skin that comes with age. “Easy enough
     to prove. A phone call would do the trick.”
    “I don’t have to prove anything.”
    “You might want to rethink that. Kidnapping’s a felony. Failure to disclose a felony
     is a felony.”
    “There’s nothing to disclose. Adam likes to get away from everything sometimes, doesn’t
     even take his cell phone. I won’t tell you where he is because, well, I don’t want
     him to know about this. Any of this.”
    “I suspect he’ll notice when you go to jail.”
    “I’m hoping you won’t arrest me.” He rubbed both hands along his thighs and essayed
     a smile, directing it at Cullen. “That would be in part up to you, I imagine. If you
     get your item back—with damages,” he added quickly. “Payment for the, uh, insult and
     inconvenience—maybe you won’t feel the need to press charges.”
    Cullen responded to that with a scornful curl of his lip.
    Machek just smiled. “Money’s useful. Think about it.”
    He didn’t really care, Lily thought. Staying out of jail wasn’t what mattered at the
     moment. Later it might, but not now. “Okay,” she said, mildly. “We won’t talk about
     Adam. How long has your stolen whatever-it-is been missing?’
    “You’ve got things switched.” He leaned back in his chair, crossing one leg at the
     knee. He had long legs, much like his brother’s, to go with a similar build—tall and
     lean, with wide shoulders and slim hips. He was lighter than Rule, though—less muscular,
     with elbows and shoulder blades and knees providing an emphatic punctuation where
     bone met bone. He slid a glance Rule’s way. “I won’t discuss my stolen property, but
     I love to talk about Adam. That would be a distraction, though, wouldn’t it? A waste
     of time, and I have a deadline. I have to give them what they want or they’ll destroy
     my property.”
    “And you don’t have the prototype anymore. Or so you told Rule.”
    “We should make that deal before I say more.”
    “My boss will have to approve any deal I make. At this point you haven’t given me
     much reason to push him for any kind of deal.”
    He frowned. Fidgeted with his hands—long fingers, a little longer than Rule’s—rubbing
     them on his legs again. “I need to stay free until my property is recovered. After
     that I can talk about all kinds of things, and we can renegotiate. If you can agree—or
     get your boss to agree—to that much, we have a deal.”
    “The timing of an arrest is up to me. I can agree to delay it until you have your
     property back.”
    “Good.” His breath gusted out. “That’s good. We have a deal.”
    “You need the prototype to get your property back, but you told Rule you don’t have
     it anymore.”
    “That’s right.”
    “Who took it? How? Where were you?”
    He shook his head. “I’ll answer all that gladly, but not yet.”
    “We can’t recover it if you won’t tell us anything.”
    “Oh, I don’t expect you to. I had to tell them the prototype was missing. These aren’t
     people you can lie to.”
    “They?”
    “Their identities