Flawless (New York Confidential #1)(78)

He didn’t have time to say anything, because Kieran spoke and suddenly the magic was gone and reality was back in charge.

“What’s up with Joe?” she asked. “Why does Detective Mayo have me looking for customers named Joe?”

He held her more tightly, picturing Maria Antonescu dead in the alley just outside the store.

“The dead girl from the last robbery, Maria Antonescu...she was seeing a guy named Joe. And,” he added almost unwillingly, “we think Finnegan’s is one of the places where he hung out. We’re trying to ID him. Any idea who Joe might be?”

She shook her head. He felt her hair shift against him as she lay with her head against his shoulder.

“I went through our credit card receipts from the past few weeks and gave everything I found to Detective Mayo. I even gave him all the information I could on the men I knew. The thing is, lots of people pay cash. Or they’re with other people and someone else picks up the bill. Even if you follow up on every Joe I found, there’s no guarantee you’re going to find the Joe you’re looking for.”

He rubbed his chin; it still smarted. “We’ll find him,” he said with complete certainty.

“Are you sure that girl’s boyfriend was involved?”

He nodded. “As sure as we can be. Maria must have turned off the alarm. There was no evidence of a break-in.”

“How do you know he gave her his real name?”

“We don’t, but we have to follow every lead.”

“Every lead,” she repeated. “With most of the leads leading to Finnegan’s?”

He hesitated, about to deny it. But his gut told him it was true. Enough leads pointed to Finnegan’s that he had no choice but to assume the place was connected somehow.

Not to mention his undercover work that day had paid off big-time.

Joey, yeah. McManus had said he knew a Joey, and the guy seemed to be a real player. Smart man, wanted to see where his money went, wanted to understand all the ins and outs, whether they were talking stocks, gold—or diamonds. There was a distinct possibility he was Maria’s Joe.

Craig trusted Kieran; he believed in her. He was worried about her safety. And he meant to use her talents, even the illegal ones.

But he still couldn’t tell her everything he knew.

“I just realized,” she said suddenly. “Mayo was there today and he didn’t recognize you, did he?”

“Neither did Eagan when he saw us yesterday,” Craig said.

She punched him lightly on the arm. “Don’t you ever do that to me again—ever. Because I’ll know. I’ll always know it’s you.”

He didn’t doubt that she would. He pulled her close. “I won’t.”

“Because you don’t want to deceive me—or because I’ll catch you anyway?”

“Both,” he told her honestly. “Kieran, I am what I am.”

“An agent first and always.”

No, not really, he thought, or I wouldn’t be here.

He pulled her closer, stroking her hair tenderly. He felt her body ease, felt her breathing grow rhythmic as she dozed.

It took him longer to sleep. And when he did, he dreamed that something was whizzing toward him through the air. Something moving faster than sound, faster than the speed of light.

But he was trying to catch it anyway. Catch it before it reached Kieran, who was standing directly in its path.

He realized then that it was a bullet.

And that no matter how fast he ran, he would never be able to stop it.

He woke drenched in sweat, frozen for a moment as he realized that they were both safe in her bed, in her apartment. She was still sleeping soundly in his arms.

And he knew that he had to make sure that bullet was never fired.

*

Kieran was never sure just how Craig always managed to see that things were arranged for her so easily—and apparently via telepathic communication. In this instance, she found Mike Dalton standing at her door just as it was time for her to go to work.

“He may be younger and cuter,” Mike told her, nodding in Craig’s direction, “but I’m your man this morning.”

He wasn’t in his usual suit; he was more casually dressed in jeans, a plaid shirt and a windbreaker.

“My man?” she asked, looking from one man to the other.

“I have to meet with Mayo this morning,” Craig said. “Mike will stay with you this morning, and this afternoon he’ll be spelled by another agent, Marty Salinger.”

“Marty is kind of a pain-in-the-ass kid, but he’s a good agent,” Mike assured her.

“I have twenty-four-hour bodyguards?” she asked.

“Someone did try to kill you—we’re all agreed on that,” Craig said.

“I didn’t say there was anything wrong with it,” Kieran told them, and smiled in unexpected relief. It was nice to feel protected. “In fact, I like it.”

“Good,” Mike said enthusiastically. “In that case, Miss Finnegan, shall we?”

“I’ll see you tonight,” Craig told her. “And you’ll know it’s me—whether it’s me or not,” he promised.

She didn’t argue with him.

“Could we stop by the hospital to see Bobby?” she asked Mike as they walked down the stairs.