Read Online Need You Now by James Grippando - Free Book Online Page B

with you anytime now.”
    “She already has.”
    “Good. How did that go?”
    I hesitated a little too long.
    Andie groaned. “Don’t tell me . . .”
    “She spent the night.”
    “Men are so weak.”
    “Yes, but I’m all you’ve got. And even though we don’t see eye to eye on Lilly, I do have something useful to pass along to you.”
    “Talk to me.”
    I tugged at the collar of my sweater to reveal the powder burn on my neck.
    “What is that?” she asked.
    I wasn’t convinced of her ignorance, but I indulged her for a moment, telling her about the SUV in Times Square and the threats that had come with powder burns.
    “You should have told me about this immediately.”
    “I got a little distracted. That’s right when Lilly showed up.”
    “That’s no excuse. Forensics could have gathered gunpowder, other trace evidence. You’ve washed it all away.”
    “Yes, I’m doing fine, thank you. Very kind of you to ask.”
    “Sorry. What happened to you was unnerving, I’m sure.”
    “Lilly got the same threats in Singapore. And more.”
    “ ‘More’ in what way?”
    I essentially parroted Lilly’s description of the Treasury Department memo that the same thug had shoved in front of her face to refute her professed ignorance about Cushman. “Apparently someone inside Treasury has determined that the most promising lead on the location of the proceeds from the Cushman fraud is Lilly’s connection to Gerry Collins.”
    “Who in Treasury?”
    “I don’t have a name. Surely the memo isn’t news to you.”
    “This is the first I’ve heard of it.”
    I had expected the leak to surprise her; I had not expected any show of surprise as to the memo’s existence. “I find that hard to believe,” I said.
    “Why would I lie?”
    It was a question with many answers, but this wasn’t the first time I’d heard her complain about the lack of interagency cooperation. Still, I wasn’t sure I believed her.
    “Let’s talk logistics for a minute,” I said. “Lilly and I have gotten death threats, and now the bank has its eye on me. This changes the game.”
    “You’re in the business of making deals, Patrick. Changes in the game don’t change the deal.”
    “Deals are rewritten all the time.”
    “I’m not particularly motivated to rewrite this one.”
    That was a fair point, but I didn’t belong on Wall Street if I couldn’t find some incentive. Fortunately, I had a few cards to play.
    “I went to Central Prison this morning,” I said.
    She glanced my way and folded her arms tightly. It was getting colder by the minute, and so was her tone. “That is a complete violation of our agreement. Tony Martin is off limits.”
    “Technically, you’re right. But as of yesterday I got tired of playing by your rules.”
    “That doesn’t give you the right to hop on an airplane and visit Tony Martin in violation of our agreement. Unless you have my direct authorization, anytime you contact anyone who had anything to do with Abe Cushman and Gerry Collins, you compromise the assignment. For obvious reasons, Tony Martin is absolutely out of bounds.”
    I ignored the reprimand. “The warden told me that he passed away last night. My money says he’s still alive.”
    “I can’t discuss that, Patrick.”
    “You relocated him for protection, didn’t you? Created a phony death certificate for Tony Martin, may he rest in peace, and gave him another name?”
    “Like I said: I can’t discuss it.”
    “We need to talk about it,” I said. “I went to Raleigh because I’m more convinced than ever that the wrong man is sitting in jail for the murder of Gerry Collins.”
    “Who put that idea in your head? Lilly?”
    “I have a right to know the truth.”
    “Your job is to investigate Lilly Scanlon. So far, she has managed to take you completely off your assignment, first by sleeping with you, and now by putting ideas in your head that the wrong man is sitting in jail.”
    “What you just said is so