Grace sighed again, and Hunter pulled to a stop in front of a brick building that had public service institution written all over it.
“Hey,” he said softly. “What’s wrong?”
Grace shook his head. “I’ll go get Josh,” he murmured and slid out of the door before Hunter could question him further.
His conversation with Tabby notwithstanding, he couldn’t help but feel that Hunter had more important things to do than him.
He found Josh in a tiny office, talking to a harried-looking man with messy brown hair and stubble. Nick Denning looked like every cop Grace had ever seen on television, except Nick also had baby burp on his tie.
“So Jenkins was one of yours before he started doing personal security,” Josh was saying as Grace slipped in. Nick looked up and waved, a small smile gracing his lips. What Grace hadn’t told Hunter was that Nick Denning was the only cop who had ever caught Grace and Josh in action. The good news had been that they’d been getting evidence on a school trustee who’d been blackmailing his female students into inappropriate relationships. They’d turned their evidence over to Nick, and he’d found a legitimate way to make a case. Since then, Josh and Grace had trod very carefully in Nick’s territory. He was a friend.
“Old-school,” Nick said. He looked pointedly at Grace, who closed the door behind him. “Nobody talks about him. He took early retirement when IAD told him they were looking at some of his old cases. Why? What’s he done now?”
Josh grimaced. “Well, word is he got dead. Not sure how. But before that, he was working security for a local tech firm that kept getting its tech stolen. I was figuring that if we knew who his contacts were before he left the force….”
“You might know who he was funneling tech to.” Nick sighed and dragged his hand through his messy hair, and then, at six in the evening, seemed to notice the baby burp on his tie. “Have I been running around all day with that?” he asked them both.
“Happy fatherhood,” Josh said, eyes crinkling in what looked like sympathy.
Grace knew it was sadness. Josh’s last boyfriend, Sean, had been a closeted cop. Sean’s defection to his old girlfriend might have hurt Josh, but Josh’s unrequited—and unmentioned—love of Nick Denning probably hurt more. It was funny how Josh, the son of criminals, a criminal himself and a skilled one at that, seemed to gravitate toward the law-and-order guys. Sometimes Grace felt like he’d spent their adolescence telling Josh to stay away from guys who would bust them, while Josh had been pulling him away from the really dangerous guys the cops should have been trying to stop.
“God. It does nothing for my image,” Nick said, and then, like he was finally safe, he let the goofiest smile sneak through. “Little goober has started making these sounds when he wakes up. Just sits there and makes his mouth move and then looks surprised when vowels come out. It’s amazing. I could watch him all day!”
“Yeah,” Grace said, “I know what you mean. Once I watched Josh blow snot bubbles for over an hour.”
Josh did a slow horrified pan to Grace, who gave him an unrepentant grin. Keep him from getting too sentimental—Grace was good at that.
“I disown you as my friend,” Josh said, eyes round.
“You can’t.” Grace stretched out his arms and spun a lazy pirouette. “It’s in the contract. So was Jenkins working for Kadjic, or what?”
Now Nick was staring at him with round eyes. “You think Jenkins was working for Kadjic? Which one?”
“Sergei, and we don’t think that,” Josh snapped, eyes narrowing. He shook off his sadness—and his irritation with Grace like Grace knew he would—and turned to Nick to clarify. “I think he and Kadjic wanted the same thing. Whether or not he was working with Kadjic or for an opposing party remains to be seen.”
“What was the thing?” Nick asked, and Grace felt his features melt into blankness at the same time he watched Josh’s do the exact same thing.
Nick looked from Grace to Josh and raised both eyebrows.
“Guys. Not even a hint? It’s me!”
“And you have a baby,” Josh said. “And Jenkins ended up dead. This is bad shit, Nick. Don’t go poking around until we have a chance to tell you where the snakes are.”
Nick stared at them, eyes narrowed. “You guys are what? Sixteen?”
“I’m almost twenty-two,” Grace said with a straight face.
“In ten months,” Josh agreed, and Nick let out a sigh.
“Okay, guys, how’s this? I’ll look into who had Jenkins in their pocket. You two give me any pertinent info that will help me find the guys weaseling tech. Whose tech, by the way?”
“Lucius Broadstone’s,” Josh answered, so easily Grace knew he had no worries about Nick betraying their new friend or whatever. Gah, sometimes Josh trusted so easily! Grace wondered how he did it.
Nick’s face went carefully blank. “That’s too bad,” he said sincerely. “Lucius is one of the good guys.”
Josh inspected his manicure. “Give it up, Nick. We know about Caraway House.”
“I don’t,” Grace said, suddenly perking up. “Is it like Cassowary House, where shitty birds tear apart your car?”
Josh manfully contained a smirk. “No, but thanks for playing. It’s a place for—”
Nick held out his hand. “Don’t say it here,” he murmured. “There’s a reason it’s secret.”
Josh nodded, as though suddenly remembering himself. “Anyway, Lucius is one of the good guys. And we’re looking into where the tech has been funneled, with his help. We know the delivery system—”
“Which is…?” Nick held out his hands and made a “gimme” gesture.
“Secret,” Josh said without batting an eyelash.
“But it’s so cool,” Grace told him, doing another pirouette. “You only wish you knew our secret.”
Nick gave Grace a narrow gaze. “You two still aren’t an item, right?” he asked, as though making sure.
“No,” Josh said. “He’s sleeping with a mercenary right now. It’s the healthiest relationship he’s ever had. Don’t hate.”
Nick did a slow blink. “A mercenary? Who does he work for?”
“At the moment? Himself. He likes us, though, so we’re sort of a team. Anyway, he’s a badass. He’ll keep Grace safe.”
“He even has superhero clothes,” Grace said, remembering the long leather duster. The shorter one held sentimental value, Grace had to admit. It was like Hunter had been a prince and Grace had been his other prince and Hunter hadn’t wanted him to get his feet hurt.
Nick did another slow blink. “I’m not even going to ask,” he said. “But I will help you. I’ll get you the information on Jenkins, and you tell me who to arrest when they’re in Chicago. Do we have a deal?”
Josh stuck his hand out, and a manly handshake ensued. He turned to Grace and bobbed his head, and together they headed for the front of the station, where Hunter was probably waiting impatiently.
“Thanks,” Josh said as they half jogged through the hallways, past the offices where detectives lingered over their paperwork and cups of sludge, and past the receptionist desk where the desk sergeant worked hard to keep her cool as someone obviously coming down from a high begged to speak to a cop because she had information.