Deadly Illusions(17)

That did it, Finn was at his limit. “Do you always have to be such an ass?”

Grady reared back in the face of Finn’s vehemence. “What is your deal?”

Finn rubbed the top of his head. “Nothing … I just … I’m going to go and get something to drink from the refrigerator upstairs.”

Once he was gone, Grady turned to James with mortification in his eyes. “What did I say? I know I was crude, but I’m usually a lot cruder than that.”

James blew out a sigh, launching into the tale of Finn’s weekend. When he was done, Grady sat still, his mouth agape.

“So, you can see why Finn might not be in a good mood,” James finished.

Grady found his voice. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“What were you going to do? Besides, I didn’t want to ruin your weekend.”

“Still,” Grady said. “I would have helped.”

“I know that.”

“I wouldn’t have gone on like that if I’d known the crap factory he was working at over the past few days,” Grady said.

“I know.”

“What about him? Does he know that?” Grady looked like he wanted to follow his brother.

“Leave him alone,” James ordered. “He’s all worked up. Pushing him isn’t the answer.”

“Why is he so worked up?”

James shrugged, forcing himself to focus on the laptop in front of him.

“You know something,” Grady pressed. “What do you know?”

“I know we’ve got a relatively easy week,” James said. “That’s probably a good thing, because Finn’s new case is going to keep us busy at some point.”

“Finn’s new case?” Now Grady was definitely confused. “You mean the boat model? That is what this is all about? He’s hot for the boat model?”

James cast a long look into the room behind Grady, making sure that Finn hadn’t rejoined his brothers. “The boat model’s name is Emma and she’s … well, she’s been through a lot.”

“Because she’s a child molester’s kid? How is that our problem?”

“I would be careful saying things like that in front of Finn,” James said. “He’s feeling a little protective about Emma – even though he won’t admit it, and she doesn’t want the attention, which is just adding to the mess.”

“If she doesn’t want our help, then why are we helping her?”

“I seem to remember a reporter who didn’t want our help either,” James reminded him. “Why did we help her?”

Grady made a face. “He barely knows this woman.”

“You barely knew Sophie, and that didn’t stop you from driving down to the county building in the middle of the night to make sure she was okay,” James said.

“That was different,” Grady protested.

“Why? Because it was you?”

“No … .” Grady ran a hand through his shoulder-length hair, considering. “Okay. Let’s do this. Let’s help the boat model.”

“Emma.”

“Let’s help Emma,” Grady said. “I just hope Finn knows what he’s getting in to. The daughter of Lance Pritchard is going to come with a lot of baggage.”

“So did a certain reporter who lost her parents at a young age and was fostered by a mob family,” James said.

Grady held up his hands to signify his surrender. “I’m all in.”

What neither brother was saying out loud was that they were worried that Finn was already all in, too.



FINN had no idea what possessed him to drive to Emma’s apartment. All he knew was that, when he found the laptop sitting on James’ dining room table, he’d typed her name into a Google search, and come up with an address.

Then, when he wandered downstairs, he could hear James and Grady murmuring in quiet voices to one another – and he had no interest in hearing what they were saying.

So, instead, he’d hopped into his Escalade and driven across town.

Now, here he was, parked in front of what could only be described as a hovel. Emma’s apartment building was a three-story building that was more dilapidated than some of the worst homes in downtown Detroit. Who could live here?

Finn climbed out of his truck, locking the doors with the fob in his hand, and gazing up at the redbrick façade that covered low-rent hell. Finn swallowed his misgivings as he walked in through the front door of the building. He internally cringed when he saw two young boys playing in front of the rundown elevator – which was really just a hole in the wall with yellow caution tape in front of it – clearly oblivious to the danger associated with their actions.