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Unfortunately, this time, even though I’d been picked up, I couldn’t honestly say that—principally because I’d been caught as a result of my own mistakes rather than any particular professionalism on the part of the guards. I’d been an idiot to snap that ceiling tile and an even bigger idiot to leave my car parked out front of the very building I was burgling—if I hadn’t done that I could probably have got in and out without being caught, even though they should have seen me on the monitors, or had some kind of alarm in place on the fire doors. You shouldn’t be able to open multiple fire exits after hours, undetected. I was going to have to ream them a new one in my report and fess up to my own incompetence. A double whammy of unpleasantness, and very likely my stupidity in getting caught would distract from the very real holes in their security and provide plausible deniability for what was, after all, a pretty sloppy setup.
I just hoped Gabe had found something to make the night worthwhile, something they couldn’t ignore with an Oh well, they caught you in the end, didn’t they? shrug. Unencrypted passwords. Sensitive client data. Some kind of admin access which would give an actual hacker the opportunity to really wreak havoc.
I was thinking about that, and wondering again why Gabe wasn’t picking up, when a familiar voice came from behind my shoulder.
“Well, well, well. Look who we’ve got here.”
I sat bolt upright and swung around, fury pulsing through me.
Jeff Leadbetter. Shit.
“If it isn’t Jack fucking Cross.” He was grinning like a cat that’s found a particularly juicy mouse in a corner it can’t escape from. “What have you done this time, Cross?”
“You know I haven’t done anything.” I folded my arms across my chest, trying not to let him see how much his presence rattled me. “I just can’t get hold of the guy who hired us.”
“Sanjay said we had a girl with a weird story about testing pens”—he gave a laugh that shook his broad shoulders—“and I thought, you don’t get too many of those around here. If you needed someone to vouch for you, why didn’t you call me?”
You know why, I thought, but I didn’t say it.
“I had no idea you’d be on duty,” I said tightly.
Jeff grinned. “Well, you know what they say. No rest for the wicked. You’re looking good, Cross. All that ducking and diving must keep you fit.”
What could I say to that? Fuck off was what I wanted to say, and he knew it. But we also both knew that wasn’t the kind of thing someone on the brink of arrest could say to a senior serving police officer. At least I could stare him out of countenance. I had nothing to be ashamed of, after all.
But Jeff was watching my hand, where I was nervously twisting the ring on my finger. I dropped my arms, cursing the stupid habit, but his eyebrow had already gone up, and now he looked at me, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face.
“Well, well, well. Engaged, Cross? Someone’s finally gonna make an honest woman out of you?”
“Married, actually,” I gritted out. Not that it’s any of your business, I wanted to add, but forced myself to shut my mouth.
“Bit less Cross these days, eh?” Jeff said, and then cracked up at his own pun.
“I didn’t change my name, if you must know.”
Jeff smirked at that. “We both know I wouldn’t have stood for that, Cross.”
Yeah, well Gabe isn’t an insecure dickhead with a patriarchy complex, I thought.
“Is she legit then, sir?” Williams’s voice broke in from behind Jeff’s shoulder, and Jeff turned and laughed.
“Yeah, she’s legit. At least, she is what she says she is, if that’s what you mean. We go back a long way, don’t we, Jack?”
“Yes.” I pressed my lips together.
“I could tell you some stories.” Jeff looked me up and down, taking in my tight-fitting blazer and stretch trousers with an expression that was only just short of outright lascivious.
I could tell some stories too, I thought, but we both knew it was too late for that. I had tried to tell those stories once before, right around the time we broke up, and it hadn’t ended well.
Of all the police stations to get hauled into, why, why, why did it have to be this one? It wasn’t even the one where he normally worked; that was over on the other side of town. Either he’d been transferred, or he was covering someone.
There was silence, and I knew what he wanted. He wanted me to ask. He wanted me to beg. He wanted me to say, Please, Jeff. Please help me.
Well, I wouldn’t say it. Not even if it meant a night in the lockup.
“So… should I release her, sir?” said the voice from behind Jeff, and I felt a surge of relief. I had almost forgotten PC Williams’s presence. Jeff couldn’t do anything while he was there. For a moment Jeff said nothing, just stood there grinning down at me, and I felt my nails dig into the desk in front of me. He couldn’t… could he? He wouldn’t make some excuse, send Williams away, make me spend the night alone in an interview room, listening to that slow, soft voice that even now sent shudders running down my spine?
But then he laughed and shrugged.
