Sinful Love (Sinful Nights #4)(59)

“Fine, fine. Just take off,” Sophie said with a pout, shooing him away. “We were going to invite you to get a bite to eat or coffee, but now we won’t.”

Ryan laughed and tugged Sophie closer. “He hates coffee.”

“Well, he could have had soda,” she said. “But now he can’t. So toodle-oo.”

Michael smiled and pressed his palms together as if in prayer. “Rain check?”

She waved a hand as if wiping away his transgression. “You are forgiven. Oh, wait. Are you going to bring Annalise to the wedding?”

Michael stared at her like she was an oddity. That hadn’t even occurred to him. “I don’t know. I hadn’t thought about it.”

“Think about it. It would be so nice.”

Michael shifted his attention to Ryan. “I don’t believe I’ve said much about Annalise, and now you’re telling Sophie to invite her to the wedding?”

Ryan shrugged. “You don’t have to say much. Your constant texting, emailing, and Skyping says it for you. Oh, that and the fact that you were madly in love with her in high school.”

Sophie’s eyes lit up. “Tell me everything. I adore romantic tales of love rekindled.”

He shook his head. “I seriously need to go.”

“Bring her,” Sophie called out as Michael turned on his heel.

“It’s more than a month away,” he shouted back.

“Gives her time to plan.”

Michael laughed once more, pretending he had no interest in asking Annalise. But as he headed to the parking garage, he found himself considering it further. If they were really doing this long-distance thing, and it seemed they were, why not bring her to his brother’s wedding? They’d already been tossing out options for his first trip to see her in a week or so. Maybe they could plan the next one, too.

For now, though, he shifted gears, calling Mindy and picking her up along the way.

“My fingers are crossed for big news,” Michael said as he held open the car door for his friend.

She wrapped her index and middle fingers together. “Me, too.”

At the diner, Morris was working his way through a mug of coffee when Michael slid across from him, shaking his hand in greeting. Mindy said hello, too, and sat next to Michael. Fifties music played on the sound system, and waitresses took orders decked out in pink diner uniforms.

“This place has great fries. You should get some,” Morris said, sliding a well-worn menu to the two of them before scrubbing a hand across his jaw, complete with day-old stubble.

“Far be it from me to refuse great fries. Want to split a plate, Mindy?”

The blonde nodded. “That I do.”

After they ordered, Michael raised his chin. “So, what have we got?”

Morris took a deep breath, dipped a hand into his messenger bag, and pulled out a manila folder. It was so old school, and Michael kind of loved the Phillip Marlowe vibe. The guy just needed a fedora to finish the look.

Taking his time, he flipped open the folder and stabbed his finger against a photograph. It was upside-down, but Michael could tell what it was. He glanced at Mindy then at Morris, then leaned closer to study the picture, his muscles coiled, tension threaded tightly inside him. “The piano shop? The place where he buys sheet music?” he asked in a hushed tone.

Morris nodded.

“Okay. What of it?” Mindy asked.

Morris raised both eyebrows. “I’ve been casing it. And our target. All day long. All night long. Stuff cops don’t have the man hours or resources to do.”

“And?”

“There’s a lot more that goes on in the back of the store than sheet music.”

Michael swallowed. “Like what?” he asked, so f*cking eager for information.

“It’s where the Royal Sinners fence all their stolen goods. It’s their goddamn f*cking headquarters. Everything runs through there. Electronics, iPhones, all sorts of stolen shit. As well as guns. They’ve got themselves a huge illegal gun sales operation they run from this joint.” He lowered his voice even more, licked his lips, then made his pronouncement. “Bust the guns, you’ve got your man.”

Time froze…then sped up. Michael’s fingertips tingled, and the possibility of justice tore through him. A smile spread across his face, morphing into a thrilled grin. He looked at Mindy, and she beamed, too. They raised their hands, smacked palms, and treated Morris to a cheeseburger and the best fries in Vegas as he shared the rest of the details.

Later, Mindy and Michael went to meet John at a Starbucks.

“This is good stuff,” the detective said, his eyes glinting with excitement.

“Is this enough?”

“I can’t make any promises, but if I can’t at least get him in custody with this, then someone should take away my badge.”

Mindy laughed, and John turned his attention to her, as if he were seeing her for the first time. Maybe even checking her out. Well, that was certainly an interesting development, too.





CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO


Eighteen years ago

Any day now, Thomas would learn if he’d landed the promotion. The increase in salary made him even hungrier for the job, and he was sure he’d nailed the interview with his boss. Paul had seemed impressed, and had asked him a ton of questions about how he’d uncovered the discrepancy, and what they could do to prevent those sort of accounting errors in the future.