When he answered, Tobias looked ten years older than he had the last time Sullivan saw him—his curls were uncombed, his eyes red rimmed, and his body language managed to be lethargic and agitated at once. He still resembled a Renaissance angel in a holy war painting, but it was a war he was definitely losing.
“Wow,” Sullivan said, following him inside. “This is a relaxing getaway. Getting some good rest here?”
“I’m fine. But thank you for asking.” Tobias smiled politely, an expression which did nothing to conceal the fact that he thought Sullivan was being a dick. So much for setting up a friendly rapport.
The room had a king-size bed with the covers tugged up in a halfhearted nod to neatness, a TV, a desk, and a small closet. There was an unzipped backpack with clothes spilling out on the mattress, and the air smelled of bacon and eggs—from the takeout containers in the trash—damp canine, and bitter smoke. On the nightstand were a book, an iPod, a wallet, and a ring of keys. A plastic bag from a local corner mart sagged on the desk, revealing snacks and bottles of juice and tea.
“Are you on the run or something?” Sullivan asked.
“No.” Tobias sank onto the bed and gestured to the desk chair across from him. “It’s unrelated to the case.”
“Right.” Sullivan took the chair. “What’s up?”
Tobias pursed his lips. “You said you were at Ghost’s because you were tracking down a missing person.”
“Yeah.”
“But it’s not Ghost, is it? The person you were hired to find, I mean.”
“No. I’d love to talk to him, though, if you’ve heard from him yet.”
Tobias shook his head. “No, I—no.”
“Mind if I take a look at his phone? Maybe I can get something that’ll help both of us. Direct me to my missing person, help you find your buddy?”
Tobias ignored his question. “I want to hire you to find Ghost. And I’ll answer your questions and let you look at his phone, but only if we work together.”
“Work together.”
“Yes.”
“Like, you want to tag along? To...watch?”
“No. I want to help. I’m going to help.”
Sullivan sat back in his chair and studied him. Tobias stared back, his brow heavy and determined, his gaze almost combative. He appeared to be expecting a no, which was a good call, but Sullivan suspected he was going to have a fight on his hands, and that wouldn’t make it easy to get the answers he needed.
“I’m not going to be able to go that route.” Sullivan tried to sound apologetic instead of irritated.
“This is nonnegotiable.”
“Oh, is it?”
“It is.”
Sullivan lifted an eyebrow. “Sorry, Tobias, but I’m calling your bluff. You want your buddy safe more than you want to play detective. I’ll find Ghost for you, but I’m the professional here, and I’ll do it alone.”
Once again, Tobias ignored him. “Here’s what’s going to happen. I’m going to pay you and we’ll work together to find both of our missing people. You’ll be getting paid twice for the same work, and it’ll be easier having me on the case, because my information will save you an enormous amount of trouble. This is a good deal for you.”
On the surface maybe. Until Tobias got hurt or screwed something up, or Raina caught wind of their new teammate. The Raina part he would especially like to avoid—she’d kill him, maybe fire him, and he’d end up starting over from scratch someplace new, losing a couple of years in the process.
Just the idea of putting all of that at risk had his pulse speeding. While Sullivan considered himself a pretty easygoing guy for the most part, feeling cornered was a guaranteed way to get him to push back. Hard. “No. Answer my questions, give me the phone, and I’ll let you know if I find your buddy over the course of my investigation. Keep arguing with me, and I won’t even do that much.”
“No. I’ll pay you, I’ll give you what you need to get the job done, and you’ll let me help. That’s the deal.”
“I don’t need your help to do my job,” Sullivan said flatly. “I’ll get the answers I need without you.”
“Trust me, knowing what I know, that’s not remotely true.”
A dark thought occurred to him, and Sullivan tilted his head to one side. “Were you and Ghost in a relationship?”
It seemed to take Tobias a second to see where Sullivan was going with that, and then his jaw tightened. “I’m not a stalker. I would never hurt him.”
“But you’ll slow down my investigation so you can play junior detective?”
Tobias’s mouth went taut. “Are you agreeing or not?”
“I ought to haul your ass into the precinct. If you know something that can help resolve an open case, that’s obstruction of justice.” Sullivan was lying. Tobias wasn’t under any legal responsibility to report illegal activity, and he could lie to a PI all he wanted. The cops would laugh in their faces, but Sullivan was betting Tobias didn’t know that. “So we can have a chat here, or we can bring the cops in. What’s it going to be?”
Tobias stood, blowing out a breath like he was resigned to a fight. Sullivan rose too, not liking the way Tobias loomed over him, already considering how he’d respond if Tobias did take a swing and for a second, as Tobias shifted his body sideways to go around Sullivan, they were standing too close to each other. He could smell the cheap motel soap on Tobias’s skin, feel the warmth radiating from his body. It was claustrophobic, too much of an invasion of space for how angry Sullivan was, and he wanted to shove Tobias back, anything to get some breathing room. Or, he thought, as an old, familiar impulse rose within him, maybe he wanted to shove Tobias to his knees right at Sullivan’s feet.
Instead, he watched as Tobias walked toward the nightstand, where Tobias paused and said, “All right. We can go to the cops if you want, but it’s going to
