Con Man

by Amy Brent

  “She won’t let me in, Chad,” I said.

  “Sounds like she’s let you in plenty of times.”

  “I don’t mean physically,” I said. “Emotionally. Mentally. What should I do?”

  “That’s something you actually want from her?” he asked.

  “Chad—”

  “No. I’m serious. Women like Olivia don’t just let men in. They scope them out for a while. From the look of her, I’d say she’s a pretty cooped up person. She might be some hotshot real estate whatever, but she probably stays in her office a bunch. She strikes me as the type to not intentionally create emotional relationships with others, which means you’re gonna have a tough time getting her to open up to you. You gotta make sure you want it before you fight for it, because if you fight and you get it and then realize you don’t want it, the only thing you’re doing is reinforcing her worldview.”

  “I didn’t think of it like that,” I said.

  “I know you didn’t,” he said. “It’s why I’m telling you now. When do you think you’ll see her next?”

  “I don’t know. She took off as I was kissing her in the backroom, so I’m not sure if she wants to see me again. Especially since I’ve got the paperwork from her.”

  “Wait,” he said, shaking his head with a mock look of disapproval. “You kissed in my fucking back room? Dude. That’s nasty.”

  “Not as nasty as the time I walked in on Laura straddling your lap, half fucking naked back there.”

  “And holy shit, how good it felt.” Chad smiled.

  “So. What should I do?”

  “Well, you’ve got two minutes before you gotta clock back in, so throw that drink back and listen.”

  I gulped down the rest of my drink and grimaced before Chad took it from my hand. My boss tossed the plastic cup into a trash can, ice flying everywhere before I reached over the register and clocked myself back in so I could work.

  “All right, I’m listening,” I said.

  “Give her time,” he said. “If she buzzed off, that means she’s thinking too much. And she’ll continue to think too much over the course of the next couple of days. At least give her until tomorrow evening. Then call her. Don’t text her. Make her know you want to hear her voice. If she picks up, maybe ask her to just meet up and talk. Somewhere she feels safe. Uncompromised. Then talk with her. No pretext for sex. No sexy snacks you feed her. Nothing. Just sit and talk.”

  “I can do that,” I said. “But what if she doesn’t pick up my call?”

  “Then, give it another day and try again. But only one call at a time. If you bombard her, you’re gonna freak her out. One phone call lets her know you want to talk to her, but at the same time, you respect her space if she doesn’t.”

  “See, this is why I go for the older women,” I said. “They don’t play these complicated games and shit.”

  “They do when they’re falling in love with someone,” Chad said.

  “She’s not falling in love with me,” I said. “That’s crap.”

  “Who said I was talking about her?”

  “I’m not falling in love with Olivia,” I said.

  “For someone who’s only fucking around, you sure are hellbent on getting past her walls. Now, get your ass back around here and work. You’re still on for another three hours.”

  I went back behind the bar and thought about everything Chad had said to me. I could wait until tomorrow evening to give her a call, but I sure as hell wasn’t willing to admit how I felt about Olivia. How could I be in love with some woman who wouldn’t even let me in? I didn’t fall in love. I didn’t allow women to have the upper hand like that. And I sure as hell wouldn’t give that upper hand to a woman who knew so much about me.

  About my life. About my past.

  “I’m not in love with her,” I murmured to himself.

  “Then perk on up, pretty boy,” Chad said behind me. “You got a nice woman staring at you over there in the corner.”

  But even though I kept telling myself I wasn’t in love, the moment my eyes connected with the woman in the corner, I began to clock all the things about her that weren’t like Olivia.

  Which I did the rest of the night with every woman who approached me at the bar.

  Chapter 20

  Olivia

  I decided to take a drive into Los Angeles to see Destiny in person. She was traveling while her son was still in school, and she was ecstatic when I told her I’d meet her for lunch. Destiny was ready to talk about all the recent information I had found on Wesley, but the entire time, I was dreading the meeting.

  It was easier for me to keep up my ruse with Destiny over the phone, but keeping it up in person meant I would also have to control my facial expressions. That meant sitting with a straight face while Destiny shat on a man I wasn’t only coming to enjoy, but also to care for.

  I pulled into the restaurant Destiny had told me to come to. I took a few deep breaths before I grabbed my purse, but as I opened my door, I saw Destiny standing there. The woman wrapped her arms tightly around me before she started bouncing up and down, and then she took my hand and started pulling me into the restaurant.

  “Come on,” she said. “I’ve already got us a table. We’ve got so much to talk about.”

  I allowed Destiny to drag me through the restaurant until we sat down at a table in the corner. Destiny had already ordered us both a glass of white wine, and I flagged down the waitress and asked her for a glass of water as well.

  “Do the two of you want to start with an appetizer?” the waitress asked.

  “A small portion of fried thief served on a piping hot plate that’ll sizzle it right into hell,” Destiny said.

  The waitress gave her a strange look as I sighed and closed my eyes. Already, this lunch was off to a bad start, but if this was the tone Destiny was setting for the meeting, I wasn’t sure I could keep up the act. Part of me wanted to tell Destiny everything. About how Wesley wasn’t the terrible person he seemed. About how I could get her the money he stole without sending him to jail. About how I knew I could talk him out of this lifestyle he’d somehow gotten himself into.

  “An order of mozzarella sticks would be lovely,” I said.

  “A glass of water and mozza sticks coming up,” the waitress said.

  “Did you like that joke?” Destiny asked, smiling. “Oh, I thought it was too funny. So, what’s that little fucker up to now?”

  Fucking me, if you really want to know.

  “Right now, he’s just laying low,” I said instead. “I delivered those fake real estate documents to him Friday. I also went over to his house Wednesday to scope out the place a bit.”

  “He tried to put the moves on you, didn’t he?” she asked. “That fucking pig. I hope you kept your wallet and shit in the car.”

  “Actually, I took it in with me. He’d cooked dinner, so I knew right from the get-go he was expecting something. I tried to see if I could catch him in the act.”

  “Oh, shit. Did you sleep with him? Please tell me you did. Oh man, I wanna gossip about that cock so badly. Please tell me you slept with him.”

  “You know that’s not how a professional does things,” I said.

  “So, no sleeping with him, then?”

  “No, I didn’t sleep with him,” I said.

  Why I lied when Destiny gave me a perfectly good excuse to be honest, I didn’t know. Part of me wanted to tell her it happened. Part of me wanted to ride the lie Destiny had provided for me just so I could clear my conscience a bit. But I didn’t want to risk starting that kind of precedence. In the world of the private detective, men reigned supreme. It had taken me years to claw my way to the top of the reputation chain like I had, and sleeping with a man I was chasing would throw me all the way back down into the pit. I would lose my sterling reputation, along with any hope of being trustworthy enough in the eyes of my future clientele.

  “All right, what happened?” Destiny asked.

  “Water and mozzarella
sticks,” the waitress said. “Are the two of you ready to order?”

  “Yes,” Destiny began. “I would like the steak salad, cooked medium rare. No bleu cheese crumbles, please, but could you put extra cranberries on it?”

  “Of course, we can. And for you?”

  “Could I do a cup of tomato bisque soup and a side caesar salad?” I asked. “I want to keep a bit of room open for your blueberry cheesecake.”

  “It’s divine,” the waitress said. “You’ll love it. I’ll go ahead and get your orders put in.”

  She hurried away, leaving us alone again.

  “Oh, cheesecake,” Destiny said. “I might eat a bit with you, too.”

  “We can share,” I said, smiling. “My treat. All right. So, Wednesday night, he cooked. There was white wine and a candlelit dinner. I mean, he was smothering it on. So, I rolled with it.”

  “He never smothered me like that,” Destiny said.

  “Focus, sweetheart. I’m close to getting your money back.”

  I was scaring myself with how easily these lies were coming. I had no idea if I could get Destiny’s money back to her. I had no idea if he was hiding it in his house or if he had already deposited it in the bank. Enough time had passed for someone like him to feel safe enough to deposit a chunk of cash like that, especially if he was taking it with his checks from the bar. They would assume he was receiving some awesome tips, and no one would be any wiser.

  Holy shit, that had to be exactly what he was doing.

  “Did you find anything when you were snooping around?” Destiny asked.

  “A bit. I slipped off to the bathroom a couple of times and watched to see if he would make a move toward my purse. I couldn’t get him to move toward it, and when I checked my purse after I left, nothing was taken.”

  “Maybe you should’ve fucked him and then acted like you were asleep,” Destiny spat.

  “But I did get a good look around his house. If your money’s still in his house, then the only places it could be in are the kitchen or his bedroom. I didn’t really get a good look at either of those rooms.”

  “You think he’s still hanging on to it?” Destiny asked.

  “There’s a good chance he might’ve already deposited it in the bank,” I said. “After lunch, I’m gonna go back and check. I tracked down his bank account. I’ve been monitoring it as much as I can without throwing up any red flags, but I’m trying to be careful about checking it. If something tips off the bank, they not only notify me, but they notify him, too.”

  “All right. Better to stay safe. When we nail this motherfucker to the wall, I want him to be shocked while he’s bleeding from his dick.”

  I was on the verge of telling her everything. The anger and violence Destiny was speaking of was making me uncomfortable. I didn’t want to hurt Wesley. At least, not anymore. I was having an amazing time with him, and I didn’t want to compromise that. As Destiny continued to ramble on, my thoughts faded back to our night on the beach. I could feel the heat pooling between my legs as my body remembered what his felt like pressed against me. I remembered how cold the ocean water had been and how that hadn’t stopped Wesley’s desire for me. I thought about how wonderful his cock felt filling me to the brim, and a sudden heat flushed up my neck.

  I hadn’t realized how I’d let my emotions run so far out of control. Thinking about the beautiful sea of Wesley’s eyes and the way he smiled at me when we talked was something I hadn’t stopped to think about until this very moment. My heart thrummed heavily in my chest as a goofy smile peeled across my cheeks, but Destiny’s voice ripped me from my trance.

  “Olivia? Hello? You there?”

  When I came back to reality, I was breathing heavily. My palms were sweating in my lap, and suddenly, I was that self-conscious high school girl Wesley was trying to coax out of her shell. I cleared my throat as our lunch was set in front of us. I reached for my wine glass before I began to chug.

  “He’s getting to you, isn’t he?” Destiny asked.

  “No,” I said a little too quickly. “I just…”

  “He’s scum, and I know this is hard for you. I can’t imagine what it must be doing to you, knowing the type of man you’re having to flirt with to get what you need. I’m here for you, Olivia. We’re gonna take him down.”

  That was just the thing. I didn’t know if I wanted to any longer.

  “It’s not that,” I said. “I just haven’t been getting much sleep. Between the facts rolling around in my head and my software constantly going off with things, it’s been a hell of a week.”

  “Your software?” Destiny asked.

  “Broadening the search parameters for people who look like him means more options pop up that aren’t him. It’s lots of clicking and digging until I reach dead ends.”

  “Well, good thing you charge a pretty penny for that job,” Destiny said, smirking. “And don’t worry. You’re worth it.”

  I downed the rest of my wine glass as I pondered how easy it was for me to lie now. Just a week and a half ago, I was dead set against lying to any of my clients in any fashion.

  But now, it was the easiest thing I’d ever done.

  And I didn’t like it.

  “So, what else you got?” Destiny asked.

  “Well, without another trip back to his home, I won’t be able to search his kitchen or bedroom. And I have a feeling, in order to do either of those things, I’ll have to cross boundaries I’m not comfortable with.”

  “Olivia, if I might be frank,” she said. “You don’t really strike me as the kind of girl who gets out much. Maybe a little romp in the sack might do you some good.”

  “I’m not going to sleep with him to get what I need for this case. It’s not professional. As a woman PI, I’m held to a much higher standard than men.”

  “Just saying. That would be an easy way to get into his room if you needed it.”

  “But even if I can’t find the money in his home and his bank accounts don’t show anything, the information I already have on him is enough to convince your credit card companies to reimburse you for the fraud. If you want to give me their customer service numbers, I can call on your behalf later next week.”

  “That would be wonderful,” she said. “For some reason, they don’t believe me when I tell them I’ve been robbed.”

  “They’re just being cautious, especially with the amount of money that’s been taken. It’s money the company will have to insure and reimburse, which means they won’t see any fun payments from you on it.”

  “Greedy little assholes.”

  “Since when did you become so angry?” I asked.

  “Since some pathetic excuse for a man thought he could wiggle between my legs and then steal my shit. I’ll enjoy seeing him rot in prison. Maybe I could pay someone to make him their prison bitch.”

  “All right, Destiny, we need to have a talk,” I said. “It’s one thing to be upset, but some of the things you’re saying are making me question your motives for this case. Yes, you’ve got every right to be angry, but now I feel the need to tell you this. Now that you know who he is and where he works, if you reach out to him in any way, it’ll compromise this case.”

  “I know, I know.”

  “And if you threaten him in any way, and he comes after you, I can’t protect you.”

  “I hear you, I know. It’s just, one of those credit cards is the one I use every Christmas. My son’s father is completely absent. One of the reasons why we got as much money from him as we did was because he had no intentions of raising his own damn son.”

  “I know,” I said.

  “If I can’t get that card reimbursed, I’ll have to dig into one of the only two funds that are automatically at my disposal. Everything is still tied up in escrow until other things are settled.”

  “I know, Destiny. I’m going to get you your money. Next week, I’m calling the credit card companies. But your anger is worrying me. I’ve warned you, and now, it’s time to take a dee
p breath and trust me.”

  “All right, I will,” Destiny said.

  The two of us ate our lunch and split a slice of blueberry cheesecake. No more talk was dedicated to Wesley, though I could tell my friend was still upset. Little things that worked their way into the conversation worried me a bit, so I decided to keep tabs on Destiny and what she was doing for the duration of this case.

  “Lunch is on me today,” she said. “Don’t worry about it. It’s the least I can do.”

  “But none of your credit cards work.”

  “I’ve got a bit of cash and one account I still have access to. I only use it when I need to or when my son needs something for school, but I wanted to treat you to lunch. Like I said, you don’t get out much.”

  “Thanks, I think,” I said.

  “Let me know when you get home all right, okay?”

  “I will. And remember what I said.”

  The moment I left the restaurant and got into my car, my phone rang. I sighed, leaning my head against my seat before I drew my phone from my purse. Immediately, my breathing stopped. Wesley’s name was scrolling across the screen, and I considered not picking up, letting him go to voicemail. My hand was trembling and my mouth was dry, and before I could even make a decision, my body already made it for me.