I was breathless when we pulled apart. “What was that for?”
“I love you.”
“I’m well aware. It’s your love that’s giving me an ulcer.”
“Maybe I just like kissing you.”
“I guess that’s not so bad.” I leaned into him for a moment. “You drive me crazy.”
“Right back at you.”
“I love you too.”
He rested his cheek on my forehead. “That’s really nice to hear, especially when you’re being such a pain.”
I pulled back, annoyance radiating from me. “You’re the one being the pain.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree. For now, how do you feel about interviewing a grifter?”
“Bring it on.”
I WASN’T SURPRISED WHEN ELIOT LED me to the gun range. As far as I could tell, he met a lot of nefarious sorts at the establishment. Apparently target practice and gossip went hand in hand.
“Which one is he?” I stood on my tiptoes to get a better look at the room.
“Knock that off.” Eliot nudged me just enough that I had no choice but to stand flat-footed. “You look like you’re casing the joint.”
“I was casing the joint.”
“Well, don’t be so obvious.” He carried his gun bag in one hand and slipped his other arm around my waist, leading me to the far end of the range. There, an older man with gray hair and a suspicious set of eyes watched us warily.
“Ray.” Eliot’s voice was even. “Thanks for meeting me here.”
“It was better than risking you showing up at my place of business at the wrong time,” the man fired back, switching his attention to me. “Is this her?”
Eliot nodded. “Ray Bennett, this is Avery Shaw.”
Ray’s glance was appraising as he looked me up and down. “She’s pretty.”
“She is,” Eliot agreed. “Don’t do that thing you do where you say slimy stuff to her.”
“It’s not slimy,” Ray countered. “The ladies love me. I’m a romantic at heart.”
“Well, don’t try it with her.”
Ray’s eyes reflected intrigue. “Will you beat me up? I’ve never seen you fight for the honor of a woman.”
“She doesn’t need me to fight for her honor.” Eliot was matter-of-fact. “She’s more than capable of taking care of herself, and any punishment she thinks up for you will be worse than anything I could do to you.”
“I don’t know. She looks awful sweet to me.” Ray sent me a leer. “What do you say, sweetheart, want to trade up?”
I hated him on sight. Even if I didn’t know he used to run cons with Beau, I would’ve despised him the moment he opened his mouth. That didn’t mean he couldn’t be useful, and that’s what I reminded myself now. “I’m happy with my lot in life,” I replied.
“Oh, baby, you’re so sweet to me.” Eliot winked and then turned back to Ray. “Just tell her about Beau. We don’t need anything else from you, and she promises not to use your name. This doesn’t have to be painful.”
Ray’s gaze was speculative as it bounced between us. “And what if I don’t want to talk to her? I’ve been thinking and I’m not sure there’s anything in this for me.”
Eliot didn’t as much as lift a shoulder. “Fair enough. But keep in mind that if you don’t help her, I’m pretty certain there won’t be any need for me to pay you for information going forward.”
Ray held his gaze a moment longer and then surrendered. “You must really like this chick to risk one of your best sources.”
“I happen to adore her.” Eliot’s smile never wavered. “Give her what she wants.”
Ray slumped. “What do you want to know?”
“What can you tell me?” I asked. “My understanding is that the two of you worked cons together.”
“Con is an ugly word. We worked jobs together.”
“Did you fleece older women out of their life savings together?”
“No, that was all him.” Ray dragged a hand through what was left of his hair. “Beau and I used to run a cemetery plot scam. And then later there was this thing with strip clubs, but that didn’t last more than a week. The cemetery plots was the big thing.”
“How do you scam people with cemetery plots?”
“You sell them plots for their loved ones that have already been sold. It’s a great scam ... until it catches up with you. You have no idea how violent grieving people can be.”
“Yeah. They’re finicky that way.”
“So, we were taking a break from the cemetery scam because you can only use it so many times before people get wise and then you have to wait for a new cemetery,” Ray explained. “I wasn’t expecting a call from him, but he said he had this great thing going. I went to check it out ... and it was dating older women.
“I’m no prude, but I was pretty grossed out by the entire thing,” he continued. “He was having sex with, like, three of these broads in the same week, pretending to be a real Romeo and stuff. All the while, he was stealing money and jewels and then moving on to the next chick.”
Eliot stirred. “Wasn’t he worried about getting caught? All of these women run in the same circles.”
“They do, but they were embarrassed about getting suckered,” Ray replied. “Beau said the key was to make sure that you took enough to make it worth your time but not enough to make it worth their time to chase you.”
“After news finally broke, he had to be persona non grata with these women,” I said. “The scam was dead in the water, right?”
“It was. They were furious.”
“Do you have names?”
“I don’t remember any. I might be able to do some digging.”
“Do that. Where was he living then?”
Ray’s grin was wide. “About three months ago, Beau contacted me. He was looking to see if I had any other scams he could get in on. I didn’t, but we talked for a good ten minutes. He said he was staying at a halfway house in Detroit.”
“A halfway house?” I flicked
